Archaeologist Erin Flynn of Public Archaeology Laboratory based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was the guest speaker at the Marion Natural History Museum on February 9. Flynn took her audience on a journey of many hundreds of years, a journey of our collective past but more specifically the long, ongoing journey of the First Nations People. Flynn has over 20 years of field experience pulling back the sands of time to discover bits of past lives, lives of the first people.
Flynn began with comments outlining precontact centuries (Paleoindian period 12,000 to 3,000 years ago) where hunting and fishing fed the growing, original populations. These people inhabited the south-coast region, finding it conducive for supporting life. But it wasn’t until postcontact, colonists took an interest in archaeology through the modern era that a fuller history emerged.
From artifacts uncovered in the 1800s by homeowners and others digging around in recreational, archaeological pursuits, much was learned. There is evidence that these early people traded amongst other established tribes based on the types of materials used to make spearheads and arrows. Discovery of these tools, the manner in which they were created and the organic materials used, helps Flynn and others date residential sites.
Precontact sites are where stone tools used in a variety of ways from grinding nuts and grains to cooking utensils have been found. Marion had many precontact sites at one time, but Flynn said those are all under water now as shorelines have shifted over the ages.
Retreating glaciers turned up mastodon bones, animals, Flynn said, that were surely hunted for food. More likely, however, the early people sustained themselves on small game and fish.
The Archaic Period, some 10,000 to 3,000 years ago, found First Nations People improving on earlier stone tools. During this time, they carved stone tips with bifurcated bases that made attachment to a handle or arrow more secure. Through carbon dating of charcoal and ash, scientists believe there were very large villages with many hundreds if not thousands of people living.
Flynn stated that all along the way native people were learning, experimenting, designing better tools. By the late archaic period and Transitional Period, they were using weighted nets to catch fish, carving pipes and using stones and other materials for personal adornment.
During the Woodland Period, 3,000 to 450 years ago, villages were reaching their zenith. Flynn said that there is evidence of agricultural activities and that shell pits from this period have been found. She noted that the Little Neck region and Great Hill or Stone Estate areas have produced evidence of First Nations people occupancy. Flynn said that Charles Neck, a point of land between Aucoot Cove and Sippican Harbor, was named after a person of ancestral First People lineage.
Flynn was asked what one should do if they believe they have found a First People’s site. She said that the Massachusetts Historical Commission is charged with the responsibility of collecting and confirming historical data. To contact this agency, visit .sec.state.ma.us/mhc/. And don’t forget to visit the Marion Natural History Museum to view their collection of First Nations artifacts.
By Marilou Newell