The data in this dissertation are the direct result of intensive archaeological survey and excavation. The study concentrated on three adjacent small river drainage basins on the southernmost eastern slope of the Connecticut River Valley. The project area presented a superior situation for the study and definition of culture systems during the Late and Terminal Archaic periods. This local study defined a complete cultural system during the Terminal Archaic Period that has been termed the Great Island Phase and represents the study area's expression of the Susquehanna tradition. This analysis has also suggested two cultural continua. One extended between the Late Archaic and Terminal Archaic periods and the second persisted through the Late and Terminal Archaic into the Early Woodland periods. The data indicate contemporaneous and therefore coexisting cultural adaptations.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

1.0 Purpose

1.1 Introduction

1.1a History of Connecticut's Archaeology

1.2 The Study of the Lowest Connecticut River Valley

1.3 Methods of Data Collection

1.4 Theoretical Foundation of the Research Problem

1.4a The Strength of Local Analysis as a Methodological Tool

1.4b Issues and Dependent Aspects

1.4c An Approach to the Solution of the Problem

2.0 Background of the Northeastern Late Archaic Period

2.1 Northeastern Late Archaic Period

2.2 Maritime Archaic Tradition

2.3 The Lake Forest Tradition

2.3a The Vergennes Phase

2.3b The Brewerton Phase

2.3c The Vosburg Phase

2.4 The Mast Forest Tradition

3.0 Introduction to the Terminal Archaic Period

3.1 The Mast Forest Tradition and the Terminal Archaic Period

3.1a The Mast Forest Tradition and the Terminal Archaic Period in Northern New England

3.1b The Mast Forest Tradition and the Terminal Archaic Period in Southern New England

3.2 General Description of the Susquehanna Tradition: Introductory comments

3.3 The Terminal Archaic Period and the Broad Spear Complex

3.4 The Broad Spear Complex as a Cultural System in the East

3.4a Economical aspects

3.4b Social Aspects

3.4c Technological Aspects

3.4d Ideological Aspects

4.0 Summary of the Late and Terminal Archaic Periods: A Generalized Perspective

5.0 The Connecticut Late and Terminal Archaic: A Mid-Range Perspective

5.1 The Connecticut Late Archaic Mast Forest Tradition

5.2 Mast Forest Related Occupations during the Terminal Archaic Period in Connecticut

5.3 The Connecticut Terminal Archaic and the River Plain Tradition

6.0 Review of the Northeastern and Connecticut Perspective: Where are the Shortcomings?

7.0 The Study Area: A Close Range Perspective

7.1 The Study Area Setting

7.2 The Study Area Research

8.0 Evidence for the Local Expression of the Lake Forest Tradition in the Study Area

8.1 Excavations in the Study Area Relating to the Local Expression of the Lake Forest Tradition

8.1a Economic Subsystem

8.1b Social Subsystem

8.1c Technological Subsystem

8.1d Ideological subsystem

8.1e Conclusion: The Duck Bay Phase and the Lake Forest Adaptation

8.2 Evidence for the Local Expression of the Mast Forest Tradition in the Study Area

8.2a Economic Subsystem

8.2b Social Subsystem

8.2c Technological Subsystem

8.2d Ideological Subsystem

8.2e Implications of Tinkham, Cedar Lake, and Brodeur Point Phase Development

8.3 Discovery of the River Plain Tradition in the Study Area

8.4 Evidence Suggesting the Local Expression of the River Plain Tradition in the Study Area

8.4a Economic Subsystem

8.4b Social Subsystem

8.4c Technological Subsystem

8.4d Ideological Subsystem

8.4e Formulation of the River Plain Adaptation

8.5 The Study Area during the Late and Terminal Archaic Periods: Temporal Position of the Reconstructed Culture Systems

8.6 The Study Area during the Late and Terminal Archaic Periods: Cultural Relationships between the Reconstructed Culture Systems

9.0 A Model of Cultural Coexistence

9.1 A Model of Duck Bay-Great Island Continuity

10.0 Conclusion: The Broader View

11.0 Concluding Remarks

12.0 Bibliography

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Dr. John E. Pfeiffer