Late Woodland Settlement and Subsistence in Southern New England Revisited: The Evidence from Coastal Rhode Island

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph N. Waller
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Southern New England

Archaeological investigations at Woodland sites in the Narragansett Bay drainage have aided in a refinement of Late Woodland settlement and subsistence models. Popular theory holds that intensive maize horticulture and the formation of tribal villages occurred relatively late in the prehistoric period or possibly were the result of European Contact. Archaeological investigations in coastal sections of Rhode Island indicate that village settlements and likely intensive maize horticulture were elements of Late Woodland settlement and subsistence behavior in and around Narragansett Bay and not Contact period phenomena.

Clay Acquisition and Vessel Distribution Patterns: Neutron Activation Analysis of Late Windsor and Shantok Tradition Ceramics from Southern New England

1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Lizee ◽  
Hector Neff ◽  
Michael D. Glascock
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Activation Analysis ◽  
Neutron Activation ◽  
New England ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Southern New England

In southern New England, typological distinctions between Niantic, Hackney Pond, and Shantok ceramics have been used to describe changing settlement patterns for the Late Woodland (500- 350 Years B.P.) and contact (post-A.D. 1600) periods. Based on the initial typologies developed by Rouse (1947) the Shantok ceramic tradition was also considered an ethnic marker of the Mohegan and Pequot tribes based on material recovered from Fort Shantok. Reexamination of stylistic data have suggested that levels of stylistic similarity between late ceramic types actually limit their use as ethnic markers in reconstructing contact period settlement patterns (Lizee 1994; McBride 1990). In this study, neutron activation analysis is employed to determine if compositional profiles correspond with identified stylistic types. The distribution of compositional groups within the region proves to be useful in describing changes in settlement during the Late Woodland and contact periods for southeastern Connecticut. Results of this study suggest that cultural factors underlying the evolution of the historic Pequot and Mohegan tribes, and locations of focal village sites, also had an impact on access to clay resource zones at the time of European contact.

scholarly journals Assessing the Multiple Impacts of Extreme Hurricanes in Southern New England, USA

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 265 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Ullman ◽  
Isaac Ginis ◽  
Wenrui Huang ◽  
Catherine Nowakowski ◽  
Xuanyu Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
The United States ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Power Outage ◽  
River Inflow ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Major Hurricane ◽  
The City

The southern New England coast of the United States is particularly vulnerable to land-falling hurricanes because of its east-west orientation. The impact of two major hurricanes on the city of Providence (Rhode Island, USA) during the middle decades of the 20th century spurred the construction of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier (FPHB) to protect the city from storm surge flooding. Although the Rhode Island/Narragansett Bay area has not experienced a major hurricane for several decades, increased coastal development along with potentially increased hurricane activity associated with climate change motivates an assessment of the impacts of a major hurricane on the region. The ocean/estuary response to an extreme hurricane is simulated using a high-resolution implementation of the ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) model coupled to the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). The storm surge response in ADCIRC is first verified with a simulation of a historical hurricane that made landfall in southern New England. The storm surge and the hydrological models are then forced with winds and rainfall from a hypothetical hurricane dubbed “Rhody”, which has many of the characteristics of historical storms that have impacted the region. Rhody makes landfall just west of Narragansett Bay, and after passing north of the Bay, executes a loop to the east and the south before making a second landfall. Results are presented for three versions of Rhody, varying in the maximum wind speed at landfall. The storm surge resulting from the strongest Rhody version (weak Saffir–Simpson category five) during the first landfall exceeds 7 m in height in Providence at the north end of the Bay. This exceeds the height of the FPHB, resulting in flooding in Providence. A simulation including river inflow computed from the runoff model indicates that if the Barrier remains closed and its pumps fail (for example, because of a power outage or equipment failure), severe flooding occurs north of the FPHB due to impoundment of the river inflow. These results show that northern Narragansett Bay could be particularly vulnerable to both storm surge and rainfall-driven flooding, especially if the FPHB suffers a power outage. They also demonstrate that, for wind-driven storm surge alone under present sea level conditions, the FPHB will protect Providence for hurricanes less intense than category five.

AN UPDATED HISTORY OF PRE-CONTACT NEW ENGLAND: NEW AMS DATES FOR THE HORNBLOWER II AND FRISBY-BUTLER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1437-1451
Author(s):  
Jessica E Watson
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Demersal Fish ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Demographic Profiles ◽  
Early Woodland ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
History Of ◽  
Autumn And Winter

ABSTRACTFaunal assemblages from the pre-Contact period sites Frisby-Butler and Hornblower II on Marthaʼs Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA, remain unstudied since excavation during the 1980s. This project establishes radiocarbon (14C) dates from faunal remains and evaluates occupation and abandonment at each site. 14C measurements were collected from 17 specimens and 13 dates from previous analyses were re-examined. Dates were identified from the archaeological time periods Transitional Archaic (2700–3700 BP), Early Woodland (2000–2700 BP), and Late Woodland (450–1200 BP) at Frisby-Butler. Occupation likely represented seasonal visitations during autumn and winter to hunt based on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) demographic profiles. A combined dataset of new and re-calibrated 14C measurements from Hornblower II date to the Late Archaic (3700–6000 BP), Early Woodland, Middle Woodland (1200–2000 BP), and Late Woodland periods. Settlement was focused on gathering warm-weather foods like demersal fish and lakebirds. Together, the sites demonstrate periodic seasonal use of the southwest coast of the island throughout the Late Holocene and fit within an established regional pattern in southern New England.

scholarly journals American lobster nurseries of southern New England receding in the face of climate change

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. i69-i78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Wahle ◽  
Lanny Dellinger ◽  
Scott Olszewski ◽  
Phoebe Jekielek
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Homarus Americanus ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Shore Crab ◽  
American Lobster ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Outer Coast

Abstract Historically, southern New England has supported one of the most productive American lobster (Homarus americanus) fisheries of the northeast United States. Recently, the region has seen dramatic declines in lobster populations coincident with a trend of increasingly stressful summer warmth and shell disease. We report significant declines in the abundance, distribution, and size composition of juvenile lobsters that have accompanied the warming trend in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, since the first comprehensive survey of lobster nurseries conducted there in 1990. We used diver-based visual surveys and suction sampling in 1990, 2011, and 2012, supplemented by post-larval collectors in 2011 and 2012. In 1990, lobster nurseries extended from the outer coast into the mid-sections of the bay, but by 2011 and 2012 they were largely restricted to the outer coast and deeper water at the mouth of the bay. Among five new study sites selected by the lobster fishing industry for the 2011 and 2012 surveys, the deepest site on the outer coast (15–17 m depth) harboured some of the highest lobster densities in the survey. Separate fixed site hydrographic monitoring at 13 locations in the bay by the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded an approximately 2.0°C increase in summer surface temperatures over the period, with 2012 being the warmest on record. Additional monitoring of bottom temperatures, dissolved oxygen and pH at our sampling sites in 2011 and 2012 indicated conditions falling below physiological optima for lobsters during summer. The invasion of the Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, since the 1990s may also be contributing to declines of juvenile lobster shallow zones (<5 m) in this region. Because lobster populations appear increasingly restricted to deeper and outer coastal waters of southern New England, further monitoring of settlement and nursery habitat in deep water is warranted.

A Quantitative Dwelling-Scale Approach to the Social Implications of Maize Horticulture in New England

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-291
Author(s):  
William A. Farley ◽  
Amy N. Fox ◽  
M. Gabriel Hrynick
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Environmental Similarity ◽  
Architectural Features ◽  
The Social ◽  
Settlement Changes ◽  
The Relationship

We compare domestic architectural features in New England and the Maritime Peninsula to investigate the relationship between the adoption of horticulture and its relationship to social and settlement change during the Woodland Period. Horticulture was not practiced on the Maritime Peninsula until after European contact, despite cultural and environmental similarity to New England. In New England, horticulture has been implicated in profound social and settlement changes. However, aggregated villages, a unit typically investigated for evidence of social change, have proven elusive in the archaeological record. We compiled and analyzed a dataset of dwelling features instead of relying on identifiable villages. This novel quantitative approach uses dwelling feature shape and size as a proxy for social and settlement change, considering these changes at the scale of the house. We find that, during the Woodland Period, dwelling size was overall slightly larger in New England than on the Maritime Peninsula, but ranges heavily overlapped. After the introduction of horticulture, however, dwellings in New England grew in size overall and assumed bimodally distinct larger and smaller forms, which likely necessitated a restructuring of social and economic behavior. This pattern correlates maize horticulture with changes in social and economic lifestyle in Late Woodland New England.

Genetic barcoding resolves the historically known red alga Champia parvula from southern New England, USA, as C. farlowii sp. nov.  (Champiaceae, Rhodymeniales)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 302 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAURA K. GRIFFITH ◽  
CRAIG W. SCHNEIDER ◽  
DANIEL I. WOLF ◽  
GARY W. SAUNDERS ◽  
CHRISTOPHER E. LANE
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New Species ◽  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Algal Species ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Red Algal ◽  
Genetic Barcoding ◽  
A New Species

Using mitochondrial COI-5P and plastid rbcL genetic markers, the red algal species historically known in southern New England, USA, as Champia parvula is found to be genetically distinct from the species to which it has historically been aligned. This necessitates the description of a new species, C. farlowii, for plants from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, USA. The new species is morphologically compared with true European C. parvula and congeners, especially those with similar features previously aligned under the same species name. Champia farlowii is a morphologically cryptic species, the sixth in the expanding C. parvula complex, with overlapping characteristic measurements despite differences at the range extremes, when compared to C. parvula.

scholarly journals Developing a wintering waterfowl community baseline for environmental monitoring of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Betty J. Kreakie ◽  
Kristopher Winiarski ◽  
Richard McKinney
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Narragansett Bay ◽  
Survey Period ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Nonparametric Approach ◽  
Community Turnover ◽  
Wintering Waterfowl

In 2004, the Atlantic Ecology Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development began an annual winter waterfowl survey of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Herein, we explore the survey data gathered from 2004 to 2011 in order to establish a benchmark understanding of our waterfowl communities and to establish a statistical framework for future environmental monitoring. The abundance and diversity of wintering waterfowl were relatively stable during the initial years of this survey, except in 2010 when there was a large spike in abundance and a reciprocal fall in diversity. There was no significant change in ranked abundance of most waterfowl species, with only Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) and Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucllatus) showing a slight yet significant upward trend during the course of our survey period. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to examine the community structure of wintering waterfowl. The results of the NMDS indicate that there is a spatial structure to the waterfowl communities of Narragansett Bay and this structure has remained relatively stable since the survey began. Our NMDS analysis helps to solidify what is known anecdotally about the bay’s waterfowl ecology, and provides a formalized benchmark for long-term monitoring of Narragansett Bay’s waterfowl communities. Birds, including waterfowl, are preferred bioindicators and we propose using our multivariate approach to monitor the future health of the bay. While this research focuses on a specific area of New England, these methods can be easily applied to novel areas of concern and provide a straightforward nonparametric approach to community-level monitoring. The methods provide a statistic test to examine potential drivers of community turnover and well-suited visualization tools.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document