(…from Bulletin of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, 1975)

 

COMMENT ON “ THE FOODS OF THE CONNECTICUT INDIANS ”

By B. W. Powell *

ABSTRACT

         In a recent article, F. W. Warner has summarized several Connecticut site reports for data bearing on foods consumed by the Indians.  Erroneous citations of facts in an earlier report by me, and curious inconsistencies and omissions are here indicated, and attention is directed to other Connecticut site reports which were au courant at the time of Warner's work and which bear on the dietary habits of the Indians.  It is hoped this comment will help correct the record and make available additional information.

IN HIS ARTICLE, "The Foods of the Connecticut Indians," in Bulletin No. 37 of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut (1972), F. W. Warner made several erroneous citations, based on an earlier report by me.

         Specifically, in referring to the Indian Field Site at Cos Cob (Powell1958), Warner stated (p. 37) that oyster was present at all sites surveyed by him except at Indian Field, and later, on the same page, states that quahog was the only type identified there.

         This is clearly in error as I indicated to Warner in a so-far-unanswered letter dated March 12, 1973.  A close reading of my paper unequivocally shows presence of clams, oysters, mussels, and whelks; many of these were also identified as to species, the identifications being made by zoologists and others with the staff of the American Museum of Natural History. My paper also specified the presence of deer, raccoon, migratory sturgeon, beaver, crab, grey fox, and other species at Indian Field, all mainly considered as presumptive food remains.

         Warner suggests that the presence of animal remains does not necessarily mean they were taken for food (p. 29).  It does not mean they were not, either.  I argue that the presence of numerous mixed animal remains in middens and aboriginal deposits is prima-facie evidence of use as food. (Pelts, skins, and other by-products were obvious uses, too, but the consumption of edible flesh by protein-hungry people may be assumed till proven otherwise, taboos and social prohibitions notwithstanding.)

         I would further note that Warner's reservation as to whether wolf was ever consumed seems curiously inconsistent with accepting statements and other data to the effect that dogs and perhaps foxes were consumed by the Northeastern tribes - the wolf is clearly a dog-like animal.  I feel that in this case "protein is protein."  He is also in error (p. 32) in saying wolf has been tentatively identified at only one archaeological site (Seaside Indian village).  I have cited same as present at the Bitter Rockshelter in Norwalk (Powell 1965a).

         Not cited by Warner in his survey, which treated food remains as noted in Connecticut site reports, are the following - all of which were au courant in the literature at the date of his article:

         1) Detailed listing of animal remains including oyster, clam, mussel, ray or stingray, fish, bird, bald eagle, turkey, turtle, wolf, wildcat, raccoon, and deer present at Bitter Rockshelter in Norwalk (Powell 1965a). Surely, most if not all of these species represent food remains.

         2) Marine clams and scallops were identified, along with valves of the freshwater mussel, Unio, and the presence of charred nutmeats of Quercus montana was noted at Mianus Gorge Rockshelter north of Stamford (Powell 1963).  A disclaimer therein (p. 149) is made relative to the nutmeats which notes they may have been introduced to the shelter by rodents.  Certainly this evidence bears on food habits of the Connecticut Indians.

         3) In a paper summarizing some Connecticut burials (Powell 1962), deer, oyster, and scallop were specifically noted as present at Burial #1 in the Stamford area.

         4) At Samp Mortar Rock in Fairfield I noted the presence of clam at the vandalized rockshelter there (Powell 1965b) but would agree that as given, the association is tenuous.

         5) Oyster valves were in, over, and around Burial #2 at the as-yet-unpublished Sasqua Hill site in East Norwalk.  The burial information, however, has been published (Powell 1965c), and while oyster is not specifically cited in the text the valves are plainly visible in the photograph of the skeleton. (Deer, dog, and various marine species are present and will be cited in the final excavation report).

         6) Most particularly, at the Spruce Swamp Site in East Norwalk (Powell1965d), there is an exhaustive commentary on marine shell species present and their ratios at this partially-drowned coastal midden.

In conclusion, I believe Warner has not fairly cited the material from Indian Field and has overlooked important evidence in other papers.

REFERENCES

         Powell, B. W.

                   1958    Preliminary Report on a Southwestern Connecticut Site, Bulletin of the ArchaeologicalSociety of Connecticut 28:12-29.

                   1962     Some Connecticut Burials. Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society,Inc 23(2): 26-32.

                   1963     The Mianus Gorge Rockshelter. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 33(3): 142-58.

                   1965a    Bitter Rock Shelter: A Stratified Connecticut Site. Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society 26(3-4): 53-63.

                   1965b    An Aboriginal Quartz Quarry at Samp Mortar Reservoir, Fairfield, Connecticut. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey.

                                 22:5-11.

                   1965c    On the Recovery of Burial Number Two at the Sasqua Hill Site, East Norwalk, Connecticut. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 35(l): 25-33.

                   1965d     Spruce Swamp: A Partially Drowned Coastal Midden in Connecticut.  American Antiquity 30(4): 460-69.

          Warner, F.  W.

                   1972. The Foods of the Connecticut Indians. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut, Inc., 37:27-47.
 

* B. W. Powell,
Director - North East Archeological Researchers,
Stonebridge Road,
Wilton, CT 06897. 
August 1974.