"Most of the work at this site, which was designated as Wapanucket No. 6, was performed by members of the Cohannet Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society. The group is composed of shoe craftsmen, electricians, a florist, a clergyman, a newspaper reporter, a professor of history, several engineers, and other laymen ranging in age from about 20 to over 60. During the five years prior to their work at Wapanucket No. 6 these amateurs had taken courses in cultural anthropology and archaeological techniques that were offered free by the Society's Bronson Museum at Attleboro. During the summers the group had also excavated a number of minor sites in the immediate vicinity, where the usual archaeological pattern of the northeastern states was found.

"In the course of this preliminary work the amateurs learned a lot about the dusty volume in which the story of man's rise is recorded, and about the characters in which the volume is written: those of stone, baked clay, bone and stained soil. They encountered at first hand the ancient authors who wrote without effort to conceal their faults or enhance their virtues. Such errors as may creep into the story, the amateurs learned, are those of translation and are chargeable to the reader. Most important, the group came to have deep respect for a unique weakness of the book: the fact that the very act of reading destroys it! No sentence, much less a paragraph, can be scanned in the original but once. They learned that those who would enjoy the thrill of being the first-and the last-to turn the ancient pages assume a heavy responsibility. They must pay for the privilege by reading carefully and recording all data in detail so precise that others in this or future generations may correct errors in the original translation.

"By the time work began at Wapanucket No. 6, much was known about the Indians who for some thousands of years had inhabited the region. But following the excavation it became apparent that a number of prior conclusions, particularly those concerning certain people who lived here some 3,000 years ago, would have to be altered considerably. In general, three cultural levels are encountered in the northeastern states. As one sinks his shovel into the earth at favored sites, arrowheads and related artifacts of the most recent Indians are turned up near the surface; at lower levels the remains of older cultures are found. The deepest layer is associated with a people who appear to have come into the area between 6000 and 5000 B.C., and it records what is called the Paleo-Indian occupation. Little is known about these ancient wanderers beyond the fact that they made fluted spear points of the Folsom type, also found in the U. S. Southwest. What may have happened to these early tribes is anybody's guess. They simply disappeared. If any clue to their fate remains, it has yet to be discovered.

"The intermediate layer, the one next above the Paleo-Indian, records the period of Archaic occupation. This culture persisted for some 4,000 years: from about 5000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. The remains of these people trace a gradual but pronounced cultural evolution. Implements made in 5000 B.C. exhibit less finish and variety than those of 1000 B.C. Distinctions between the two types of artifact have enabled archaeologists to divide the Archaic period into early and late components. Wapanucket No. 6 was the site of Late Archaic occupation. Although the nature of the period is the subject of considerable discussion among archaeologists, it is agreed in general that the economy of these Indians was based on hunting, fishing and food-gathering. Agriculture and clay pottery were unknown. The bow and arrow did not come into use until late Archaic times. Prior to this the Archaic people hunted and fought with lances and spears.

"Finally, at about 1000 B.C., the 'Woodland' cultures arose These peoples were primitive farmers who raised corn, beans, pumpkins and squash. They were also excellent potters and produced handsome clay vessels. Because of a plentiful and secure supply of food the Woodland people could live together in fairly large communities and build permanent villages. The agricultural traits of the Woodland people had a far-reaching effect on their culture. Freedom from the necessity of roaming the countryside in search of food left them time to think of nonmaterial things. After a few centuries they accordingly developed fairly complex social, religious and political systems. Their culture began to take on the aspect of what one might call a proto-civilization.

"Early explorers from Europe arrived in Massachusetts during the final stages of the Woodland period. Thus we have excellent descriptions of the lodges in which the Woodland people lived, and we know the meaning of at least part of their expressive language. Unfortunately, from the point of view of the archaeologist, the camp and village sites that appealed to the Woodland people were precisely those selected by their predecessors. Accordingly it is quite the usual thing to find a Woodland site superimposed upon one of the Archaic period. The tools left by both groups are often mixed, particularly at sites that show the mark of the Colonial plow. However, by the methods of typology-by analyzing artifacts according to types known to be the product of each culture-the archaeologist can recognize the presence of more than one assemblage of tools and can for the most part separate them into groups according to their time of origin. For example, the preference of Archaic Indians for projectile points with stems is well known; grooved axes and certain types of gouge are also characteristic of the period. Moreover, the Archaic Indians developed a special technique for sawing, grinding and polishing stone, by which they fashioned knives of a characteristic crescent shape and vessels of soapstone. These are positive clues to Archaic occupation.

"Until recently the nonmaterial aspects of the Archaic culture were practically unknown and the subject of much speculation. Because agriculture was not practiced during this period, the Archaic Indians were entirely dependent upon wild plants and animals. Any appreciable concentration of people living in such an economy would have resulted in a rapid depletion of the necessities of life, or so it was thought. In consequence the discovery of an Archaic village was considered most unlikely. Stone tools from this early period had been found in rock shelters and at open sites; it was assumed that the shelters built by the Archaic people must have been flimsy affairs of which no vestige could possibly remain. This conclusion seemed reasonable because the Archaic people were so preoccupied with the eternal quest for food and so dispersed by the environment in which they lived that they would have neither the time nor the opportunity for any but the most rudimentary social, political or religious concepts. How wrong the work of the amateurs at Wapanucket No. 6 has shown these conclusions to be!

"The site lies on the northern shore of Assawompsett Pond. Originally this area was a part of the old mother colony of Plymouth. Assawompsett is the largest natural body of fresh water in Massachusetts, covering some 2,200 acres. It forms a part of the drainage system of the Taunton River, which together with its many tributaries provided the aboriginal inhabitants with an easy means of travel. A few hours in their dugout canoes would take them to the seacoast or to interior forests.

"The northern shore of the lake is formed by a sand dune flanked by swamps and small streams. Its wave-cut front rises steeply out of the water to a height of 24 feet, and its top offers several acres of level, well-drained land. This area has been the site of aboriginal occupation, since the advent of man into New England,

"In the spring of 1956 a reconnaissance party from the Cohannet Chapter excavated several random test-squares in the wooded area just back from the lake front. The appearance of Indian refuse pits, fire-cracked stone, and chips remaining from the manufacture of stone implements quickly confirmed our hope that the area had once served as an aboriginal campsite.

"The prerequisites of a controlled archaeological 'dig' are a careful survey of the area to be examined, the determination of levels in relation to some permanent object (such as a large rock or a survey marker) and the establishment of an excavation grid or checkerboard pattern of carefully measured lines for subsequent use in charting the precise location of all objects discovered. These were the first order of business. Numbered stakes were set at two-meter intervals to outline an area 52 meters long and roughly parallel to the shore. Next the group removed a thin layer of topsoil along the first line-the so-called base line. Then it began the heavy work of scraping away larger areas of topsoil an inch at a time and examining each freshly exposed surface for evidence of human occupation. Fragments of worked stone, artifacts, hearths, pits or any other indication of aboriginal habitation were located both horizontally and vertically with reference to the numbered stakes and were entered upon printed record cards prepared for the purpose. The data from these cards were entered upon a chart or progress plan of the area; notes were kept of the type of soil encountered, the content of hearths or pits and the position of post molds: discolorations in soil marking the location of posts which had decayed to dust centuries ago. (Post molds are easy to recognize. Upon removal of the topsoil, the tops of the molds appear as dark circular stains in the surrounding yellow soil. A vertical cut then reveals the cross section of that portion of the original post which was embedded in the earth. The majority of the molds found at Wapanucket No. 6 had smooth sides which curved to a sharp point at various depths. Information of this sort, together with numerous photographs, constituted the field notes upon which the group based its final conclusions.

"As digging progressed and artifacts began to accumulate, the group became aware that none of the material was characteristic of the Woodland period; it was wholly Archaic in appearance. The trend could not be taken seriously at this early stage of excavation, but it was sufficiently pronounced to stimulate interest. The molds of posts began to form new and unfamiliar patterns in the records. As the weeks passed and the artifacts maintained their Archaic character, the group began almost unconsciously to speak of this as an Archaic site. In our more conservative moments, however, we still doubted our diagnosis. The majority of the artifacts-the tops of the post molds and of pits and hearths-were appearing at about the same depth as that at which objects typical of the Woodland period had been found at other sites in the area.

"Several perplexing questions arose. How was it possible for these evidences of occupation to have been preserved with so little disturbance since Archaic times? Why was so favorable a location free from all indication of a Woodland occupation? Were we to abandon the concepts concerning the limitations of a hunting, fishing and food-gathering economy, so firmly established by many authorities? Could we justify the existence not only of a permanent abode but also of a whole Archaic village? On the basis of our findings the answers to all of these questions had to be yes. Our charts showed undeniable evidence of at least three lodges-structures larger than any known from the Woodland period-and a floor plan that had never, so far as we could determine, been uncovered before. The implements were without exception those of a late Archaic culture. Although a respectably large area had been excavated at this stage of the work, not a single incongruous artifact had appeared.

"During the following two seasons four additional lodge floors of the same unique pattern were found. By this time a total of 556 post molds had been charted, and the excavations had been extended a reasonable distance in all directions without uncovering another floor. We agreed that the complete village had been exposed.

"The pattern of the mold array established the existence of an entirely new type of floor plan that was repeated in seven instances. In the construction of these seven houses, pairs of posts had been driven into the earth in two concentric circles. The pairs of posts were placed on radial lines from the center of the structure and driven vertically into the earth. The pointed vertical section of the molds indicated that the posts were driven rather than set in a previously prepared hole. This suggested in turn that the height of the wall was no greater than that of a post which could have been driven by a man standing on the ground. At one point in each structure the walls bypassed each other to form a short protected entranceway. Six of the structures, apparently dwellings, averaged about 81 feet in diameter. The seventh, believed to have a ceremonial function, was 66 feet in diameter and possessed internal posts not found in the smaller lodges. The accompanying plan shows the arrangement of this unique Archaic village, the first to be located in the Northeast.

"During the excavation of an Indian site certain features are encountered that in the final report are called pits or hearths, depending upon their appearance, content and vertical position in the ground. Basin-like depressions at or near the surface that contain charcoal, particularly those surrounded by hard, reddened soil, are usually called hearths. Thirty-nine such hearths are recorded at Wapanucket No. 6. Comparable but somewhat larger basins are commonly called pits. Many of these pits contain carbonized material and burned stone and are assumed to have served the final purpose of a receptacle for camp refuse. A pit numbered 29 is of particular importance at this site. The age of a sample of carbon taken from it was established by the geochronometric laboratory at the University of Michigan at 4,250 +/- 300 years (approximately 2300 B.C.).

"The burials at Wapanucket No. 6 were found a few yards south and west of Lodge Floor No. 1. These consisted of four deposits in large oval pits. The cremated remains of human skeletons had been placed in the southwestern quadrant of each pit. In two instances grave goods had also been included, and in one instance a considerable quantity of red paint in the form of iron oxide was also present. Burial No. 2 contained a deposit of four stone gouges, a stone plummet (thought to be a fishing weight) and two sharpening stones, surrounded by a mass of red paint. In burial No. 3 a large crescent-shaped knife of ground slate (called a semilunar knife) and a sharpening stone were found. Sharpening stones of this type were made only by late Archaic Indians.

"Prior to the discovery of the burials two large features had been found nearby to which our group was unable to assign a satisfactory function. They consisted of carefully laid stone platforms some 10 feet in diameter. The flat stone slabs were reddened and cracked by the intense heat, and a large amount of charcoal had accumulated about and upon the platforms. The platforms are too large to be classed as hearths, and we were at a loss to account for them. With the discovery of the cremation burials their purpose became clear. These were the crematory pits where the initial phase of the funeral rite was conducted.

"The group recovered a total of 1,167 stone artifacts from the village area, including one or more implements of each type in the basic tool kit of the inhabitants. The chipped tools included projectile points, lance or spear points, knives, drills, scrapers and assorted woodworking tools. These accounted for more than 80 per cent of the stone objects recovered. The balance of the implements were those made by the sawing, grinding and polishing techniques typical of the late Archaic period.

"Much of the information represented by the material dug up at Wapanucket No. 6 is in direct conflict with earlier ideas concerning the culture and manner of life in Archaic times. It is evident that the occupants of Wapanucket No. 6 led a semisedentary existence. That they chose this location for convenience rather than defense seems obvious. Living atop the highest ground on the shore of the lake, they would have been a conspicuous part of the landscape. The very size of these lodges creates an impression of permanence and security. They could easily have accommodated at least 100 individuals.

"The explanation doubtless lies in the size of the lake. Here at Assawompsett, with its tidal streams, was an abundant supply of food that we, in our ignorance of wilderness life, had failed to take into account. In spring the annual run of shad, and probably salmon and trout, would have provided an abundant food supply. Here migratory birds might be expected to congregate, and in the swamps surrounding the site there must have been considerable game. After a winter spent in ranging the forests to the north and west in small family groups, an ancient people would turn quite naturally to this favored site by the lake. Here could be found a welcome change from the red-meat diet of the winter. A plentiful store of smoked fish could also be prepared against a time when game was scarce. In their great ceremonial lodge the villagers could celebrate the rites required by their religious beliefs, and here those who had departed during the winter could be laid to rest.

"Thanks to the initiative and dedicated efforts of a small group of amateurs, a chapter from the ancient book has been carefully preserved and, with the help of specialists, translated. Much new knowledge has been added to our meager understanding of the northeastern Archaic occupation, and more may result from detailed study of the group's records. A full report is now in preparation and will be published shortly by the Society. In addition, the group is now constructing a complete reproduction of the village in miniature at the Bronson Museum, so that all may see how the citizens of Wapanucket village lived centuries before Tutankhamen was laid to rest in his tomb at Thebes."

The experiments in color vision described by Edwin H. Land in the May, 1959, issue of this magazine have excited considerable interest among both professional investigators and amateurs. The experiments are particularly attractive to the amateur because they can be performed with relatively simple equipment, and because they make it possible to examine certain theories of color vision. For example, what do the experiments show about the idea that color vision is mediated by specific color receptors in the retina? Nicholas J. Pastore, who teaches psychology at Queens College in New York City, has devised a technique for investigating this question which has the attractive feature that it does not require two slide projectors (or a special two-lensed projector).

"The exciting observations reported by Land," Pastore writes, "apparently imply that specific retinal color-receptors do not exist. Or, if they do exist, it would seem that they are not essential for the perception of color. It should follow that Land's results would be repeated when one eye receives stimulation through the 'long record' (with the red filter) and the other eye through the 'short record' (with the green filter).

"To investigate this assumption, experimenters can photograph a colored scene first through a red photographic filter (Wratten 25-A) and then through a green filter (Wratten 58-B). He can then insert the resulting positive transparencies, with their respective filters, in a stereoscope. When I tried this, the reds and greens were somewhat more saturated than the colors of the original scene, but the yellows and oranges were so attenuated that many subjects who were invited to look through the stereoscope could not see them. It is interesting to replace the green filter in the stereoscope with one of neutral density (Wratten 96.20 neutral density). The full range of colors, including blues, greens and yellows, is still perceived by some subjects.

"The fact that a wide array of colors can be perceived through stereoscopic fusion, even though they may not faithfully represent the object colors, would seem to indicate that the interaction of long and short wavelengths which results in the perception of color occurs in the brain, and not in the eye. Incidentally, it was observed that changes in the intensity of light produced substantial alterations in color values. This may account for differences among subjects in reporting colors. Each observer should adjust the over-all intensity of the light until the best color-balance is achieved. Individual differences have also been observed in the interval required by the eye to perceive the Land colors. Most subjects see them at once. One subject, however, reported that all scenes appeared initially in monochrome and that perception of the full range of color developed gradually over an interval of several minutes.

"The fact that Land's major results can be obtained stereoscopically simplifies the problem of repeating his experiments. Those who have mastered the knack of fusing stereoscopic pictures by crossing their eyes report that they see the colors as vividly in this way as when they use the stereoscope. It is not even necessary to use positive transparencies; contact prints serve as well. Photographs made with a stereocamera appear to be superior to those made with a conventional camera because the fusion of the images is made easier. A stereocamera is essential, of course, in the photography of live subjects or of moving objects."

Bibliography

BEGINNING IN ARCHAEOLOGY. Kathleen Mary Kenyon. Frederick A. Praeger, 1953.

NOTES ON IROQUOIS ARCHAEOLOGY. Alanson Skinner. Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1921.

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