Rediscovering Settled Life Along the Connecticut River Before European Settlers

Dr. Jess Robinson, Vermont's state archaeologist, presented to a "full house" on September 26 in Lower Waterford at the Davies Memorial Library. He spoke on "The Early Native History of the Upper Connecticut River," including projected images of sites and artifacts, as well as historic details. The first half of the talk involved the Connecticut River locations he and other archaeologists have explored, looking for information to accompany the oral histories of tribal life in Vermont. Then he showed details from Lake Champlain sites (especially Swanton and Alburg, as well as South Burlington), where Abenaki settlements clearly thrived in complex and long-term forms.

Archaeology and ethnohistory details multiplied with audience questions, information from local residents, and additions from visiting archaeologists Peter Thomas (now residing south of the state line but continuing to learn and write about Native American presence, especially about the Sokokis) and Frank Cowan (of Canaan, VT).

Dr. Robinson is both a scholar and a "public archaeologist" -- someone who shares information with the community and also relies on community input. His talk began with sites north of Lower Waterford along the Connecticut River, then worked more or less south. Here are some of the details he mentioned:

* A project ongoing at the Lancaster (NH)-Guildhall (VT) bridge, where hearth (cooking area) and other materials were found that date back six thousand years.

* The Canaan (VT) bridge site, where evidence of early inhabitants had been "capped" (covered over) by material deposited during flooding -- which protected the evidence during later development. Among the evidence recently found is a nut processing site of Native American residents.

* The Carson Farm site in Newbury, where people lived 2550 years ago, connected to the long-term settlement known as Koas / Coös. At this site were found pieces of pottery of the type known as Vinette I vessels, which were made and used in "early to mid" Woodland culture. (See a recent summary here of Vinette I.) Here is a Canadian example of such pottery:

Vinette I pottery fragments; image courtesy of the Canadian Encyclopedia.

* Petroglyphs (drawings made in stone), both the well-known ones at Bellows Falls and some recently rediscovered ones where the West River meets the Connecticut River, under the water, witnessed by a diver.

* Windsor: A Skitchewaug site that dates from the late Archaic (about three thousand years ago) until "first contact" (of European settlers with Native Americans).

In addition, Dr. Robinson discussed corn kernels found in different locations, dating the use of corn as a staple food instead of just an occasional item, and the introduction of beans in the region. Until about a thousand years ago, Native Americans in our region were hunter-gatherers; corn took on cultural importance as larger, more settled villages formed (usually not year-round). This led to mention of a recently discovered set of three sites on the Otter Creek (Middlebury area), where corn was found -- and then to images and explanations of other sites along Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River.

Discussion afterward included hopes of locating any records remaining of a site exploration in the early 1970s in McIndoe Falls (a village of Barnet), and mention of early contact in town histories and journals.

The Waterford Historical Society hosted the presentation as part of Vermont Archaeology Month, and with respect for those who lived in this region for thousands of years before the era of written European-style records that form much of our known history. For more recent information specific to our region, consult Trudy Ann Parker's book Aunt Sarah: Woman of the Dawnland.