METHOD AND THEORY
Embedded Files
Throughout my career as an archaeologist, which began at a field school run by UCLA at a Fremont site in southern Utah in the summer of 1963, I have tried to keep in mind that any excavation is guided by advances in methodology and that interpretation is moulded by prevailing theories and paradigms. It is clear that we are not currently where I began some 60 years ago. Along the way, I have tried to reflect on both methodology and theory and to share my thoughts with others. Often times, "Ethnohistory" also requires methodological considerations.
ARCHAEOLOGY
Pseudo-Stratigraphy in Shallow Sites.doc"Pseudo-stratigraphy in Shallow Sites Produced by the Vertical Redistribution of Artifacts", paper presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Northeast Anthropological Association, March,
1988.
Given the fact that soil dynamics are rarely discussed as part of typical site descriptions in the Northeast, this is one article that should have been published years ago.
Smallsitescharacteristics1986.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1986 "Discerning Some Spatial Characteristics of Small, Short-Term, Single Occupation Sites: Implications for New England Archaeology." Man in the Northeast 31:99-120.
This article discusses a site where multiple occupations are represented in two distinct soil horizons in the floodplain settings in which the horizontal patterning of artifacts sometimes overlap.
The WMECO Site - 1980.docxThomas, Peter A.
1980 "the Riverside District, The WMECO Site, and Suggestions for Archaeological Modeling." Early and Middle Archaic Cultures in the Northeast. Edited by David R. Starbuck and Charles E. Bolian. Rindge, NH: Northeastern Anthropology, No. 7:73-95.
The WMECO site is composed of over four feet of black midden produced as a result of 7,500 years of spring occupations. Occupation levels were stratified in sequential alluvial deposits, but were subsequently heavily disturbed when pits were later dug into these stratified levels and the excavated soil containing artifacts was scattered on a younger surface. This articles grew out of a CRM study: "Phase I and II Assessment of Cultural Resources for a Proposed Wastewater Treatment System in the Riverside District of Gill, Massachusetts" (1977 and 1978)
HoweFarm1985evaluation.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1985 "Archaeological and Geomorphological Evaluation, Burlington M5000(3) - Northern Connector, Material Supply/Disposal Area, Howe Farm Floodplain." Department of Anthropology, University of Vermont, Report No. 54:1-40.
Tackling archaeological surveys in riverine floodplains without first understanding the underlying geomorphology is foolhardy. Such settings are dynamic and complex. In some instances it is possible to use the geomorphology to estimate the age of a floodplain and therefore its potential for containing archaeological sites. In the case of the project described here, the goal was to use a large floodplain on the west bank of the Winooski River in Burlington, VT as a borrow pit from which the Vermont Agency of Transportation could extract 95,000 cubic yards of material for a highway project. By using a series of old maps, followed by extensive trenching across portions of the floodplain, it was possible to define the boundary between areas of floodplain development during the recent historic past and older segments which might contain pre-contact archaeological sites. One site was identified in the process. This project proved to be a very successful experiment in using geomorphology as a method for assessing a large area's archaeological sensitivity.
BoltonPhaseIGeomorph.pdfDoherty, Prudence, Geraldine P. Kochan and Peter A. Thomas
1994 "Phase I Site Identification Survey and Phase 2 Site Evaluations, Bolton IR 089-2(10), Alternates N3 and S3, Bolton, Vermont." Consulting Archaeology Program, University of Vermont, Report No. 105.
This study is provided as a good example the complexity of upriver floodplains and the value of preceding an archaeological survey with backhoe trenching to expose the underlying geomorphology so that an adequate sampling strategy can be designed.
DEVELOPING MODELS AND TESTING THEORIES:
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CHITTENDEN COUNTY CIRCUMFERENTIAL HIGHWAY PROJECT
Of all the archaeological studies undertaken in western Vermont, those conducted for the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway (CCCH) provide the best opportunity to review what has been learned about the characteristics of Native American sites in the lower Winooski River valley and, by extension, the Lake Champlain Lowland. With approximately 7,864 test pits scattered across the countryside, intensive surveys of 302 acres of agricultural fields, and with roughly 1,220 m2 of excavated area to expose the internal spatial patterns of artifacts and activity areas within 13 sites, encompassing at least 35 episodes of occupation, we can have some confidence in the results and our successes.
Early Observations
UpperHousatonicValley1977.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1978 "The Upper Housatonic Valley: Archaeological Inference and the Need for Basic Research." Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, 40(1):22-26.
Recent trendsinVermontArchaeology1980.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1980 "Comments on Recent Trends in Vermont Archaeology." Man in the Northeast 19:3-14.
Hydropowerandarchaeoogy1981.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1981 "Hydroelectric Programs and Considerations of Vermont's Archaeological Resources: Case Studies from the Missisquoi, Lamoille, Black and Winooski River Valleys." Hydro Power and Its Transmission in the Lake Champlain Basin, Proceedings of the 1981 Eighth Annual Lake Champlain Basin Environmental Conference. pp 297-310. Edited by James C. Dawson.
Timberharvestingandarchaeology.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1990 "Archaeological Resources." Impact Assessment of Timber Harvesting Activity in Vermont, Executive Summary, p.4.
This summary was followed by an "Archaeological Resources" portion of Timber Harvesting in Vermont, an Interactive television workshop of local officials in the South Burlington, Randolph, Lyndonville, Newport and Springfield areas, presented by the UVM Extension Service and School of Natural Resources, April 17, 1991.
ETHNOHISTORY
Huntergathererworkshop1985.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1985 "Primary Documents as Source Materials in the Connecticut Valley." Hunter-Gatherer and History Workshop/Seminar, Peabody Museum, Invited Presentation. 25pp.
Housetypes1971.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1971 "Middle Connecticut Valley Indian House Types: A Cautionary Note." Man in the Northeast 1:48-50.
SubsistenceSettlementPatternsNonCoastal1978.pdfThomas, Peter A.
1978 "Indian Subsistence and Settlement Patterns in Non-coastal Regions: Early Historic Massachusetts." In Conservation Archaeology in the Northeast: Towards a Research Orientation. Edited by Arthur E. Spiess. Peabody Museum Bulletin 3: 17-26.
Corn or wheat at Bloody Brook - for HD - 4-9-2022.pdfThomas, Peter A.
2017 "The Meaning of Corn: Implications for Understanding the Incident at Bloody Brook during King Philip's War, September 18, 1675." MS of 7 pages to be incorporated into an expanded article to be published in the winter issue of the Historical Journal of Massachusetts, 2025, 54(1):116-137.
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