(...from BULLETIN of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 28, No. 2, January 1967)

 

AN  ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRAVERSE OF  SANDY NECK,
CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS *

Bernard W. Powell

Abstract: Stratigraphy and context of artifacts - including pottery - in aboriginal shell heaps on Sandy Neck on the north shore of Cape Cod support the inference they were left by occupants of the Woodland  (Ceramic) period.  Lack of Archaic horizons is related to the relatively recent formation of the Neck.  The larger heaps may represent temporary - possibly seasonal- stone-working stations of migratory groups.  The smaller heaps are shelling or cooking stations.  Varying ratios of shellfish species may record temporal progression in the deposits going eastward.  It is suggested that sharpened butts of saplings, present in some quantity, may be remains of temporary windbreaks or shelters.
 

DISCOVERY of aboriginal remains on desolate Sandy Neck, lying between the Great Barnstable Marsh and Cape Cod Bay on upper Cape Cod on 11 April, 1965, prompted a foot traverse of the Neck, completed 28 June to 1 July, 1965.  Nine prehistoric stations were located along a 4 mile radius east from Bodfish Park, at the western terminus of the Neck (Fig. 7).

         Field observations substantiate and extend those of Bullen and Brooks (1948), who reported two "concentrations" of small shell deposits "about two miles west" and "about a mile and a half further west" from Sandy Neck Light, on the easternmost tip of the Neck.  Interesting comparisons may also be made with recent work elsewhere on the Cape, notably that by Moffett(1957, 1965), and more recent findings on Martha's Vineyard (Ritchie, n.d.).

         Geomorphology.  The geomorphology of Sandy Neck and the Barnstable Marsh and its estuary has recently been reported by Redfield (1965). Briefly, Sandy Neck has grown eastward as a spit from Scorton Neck through marine action on materials of the Sandwich (Wisconsin) moraine.  Redfield illustrates an early stage in formation of the Neck at 3,200 years B.P., with mean sea level 18 feet lower than present.  The Neck today is about 6 miles long, and averages less than one-half mile in width.

         A tortuous sand-hill topography occasionally reaches 80 feet above sea level, with shifting, windswept dunes - sometimes showing enigmatic horizontal beds.  Vegetation is restricted to discontinuous stands of black oak and stunted pitch pine with a more widespread ground cover of cat briar, poison ivy, beach plum and related beach xerophytes.  There is some suggestion the pine - most numerous to the east - is being succeeded by the oak, which dominates the older, western end of the Neck.

         Aboriginal Deposits.  The deposits I found can all loosely be characterized as heaps or mounds, consisting mainly of black greasy sand mixed with marine shell fragments, sparse artifacts, stone chips, and occasional bone fragments.  The heaps are numbered 1 through 9,and located as closely as possible by cross-bearings (Fig. 7) on the USGS map of the Hyannis Quadrangle.  They varied greatly in size, from the smallest, about 6 feet in diameter and 1 foot high, to the largest- in two cases, double mounds - 50 feet in diameter and up to 3 feet high. In several instances, subsidiary heaps - also noted by Bullen, et al -and isolated groups of cobbles lay at no great distance from these numbered stations.  I discriminate roughly two heap types: those with, and those without stone-working remains.  The largest station was Station 2; a description of it will serve as a prototype for the others.

         Station 2. This was a multiple mound, 50 feet across its widest dimension and 2 feet high near its center.  It lay in a dune hollow east of White Hill, a semi-permanent feature on the USGS map.  A test trench to determine stratigraphy and to sample the mound was dug along axis AB (Fig. 8).  This profile showed a top layer of black greasy sand, laden with fine charcoal granules, and somewhat firm and crusty in its upper portion.  This black sand layer was the matrix for most of the cultural debris and marine shell fragments.  It was obscured from immediate view by a light dusting of wind-blown white sand across the surface of the mound.

v:shapes="_x0000_s1026">Below the black sand layer was a thin, grey sand layer, which in places reached the surface.  I suspect the grey sand to be either a mechanical mixture of the black and the white sand, or a leaching product created from the black sand, which mostly overlay it.

            Beneath the grey sand layer was the undisturbed, natural white sand, which makes up the dunes proper.  In the northeast end of the trench, this white sand phased over without sharp demarcation to a red sand, which reached the surface near the eastern flank of the mound.  A pedologist (Hill, personal communication) opines that this red sand may be iron oxides mechanically concentrated by wind or waves.  The white and red sand stratum was sterile and was tested to minus 20 inches where the water table was intersected.

         Apparently, this heap, like the others, was formed when refuse built up over small, preexistent white sand dunes.  Primary aboriginal deposit was the black sand.  Beneath it, reddish oxidized sand may have been present naturally formed within the white sand, or it may have formed later, as most probably did the grey sand, by either mechanical or chemical processes. The more resistant black sand layer has apparently withstood wind erosion and preserved the mounds relatively intact.  This has prevented development of a full-scale fragile-pattern area, as described by Hayden (1965).

         The irregular hummocky plan of Station 2 (Fig. 8) suggests potholing or other disturbances at some time in the past.  However, I do not believe this was extensive, since stratigraphy was not chaotic, and many features- such as clusters or pits of shells - remained intact within the mound. It is difficult to determine re-weathering and in situ adjustments in sand; the main field criterion I used was consistent stratigraphy.

         A great quantity of chips, spalls, flakes, discarded cores, and battered, fire-burned stones littered the mound and lay about its base upwards of 100 feet from its northern perimeter.  These were derived from sea-worn cobbles - mainly silicates, indurated shales, and siltstones.  Many were strikingly colored.  Their counterparts are still present on the bayside beach today, and I infer that one of the main occupations of the creators of the deposits was gathering and working these stones. In some cases, chips from a single cobble lay on the surface just inches from one another, denoting in situ working of solitary stones. Some sat on little sandy pedestals, reminiscent of the Colorado and Nebraska "sand hill blowout" phenomena.  Thin elongate patches of lighter weight shell fragments lay both NE and SW of Station 2, as well as at most other stations.  It is thought that these patches were formed by the prevailing wind.

         Lithics: One cobble from Station 2, showing definite signs of battering along its periphery and  qualifies as an unmodified hammerstone (collection of R. Palson, Medfield, Mass.). The scarcity of finished pieces may suggest they were either carefully cached, or removed from the site.  One bifacially flaked, contracted-stem projectile point of purple-grey quartzite was recovered on the surface of Station 2.  Fowler (1963) believes contracted-stem points (his "Tapered Stem") to be Late Archaic to Early Ceramic in Massachusetts.  Ritchie (1961) also places these points generally in Transitional to Early Woodland times in New York State.  Bullen, et al., cite recovery by them of nine projectile points, seven of which were triangular and assigned by them to Late Prehistoric times, also one stemmed and one side-notched point from a deeper level, presumed to be earlier.  They cite five additional Large Triangular points in a local collector's keeping.

         One small chip of yellow jasper from Station 3 showing minute flaking along one edge and  is reminiscent of Pennsylvania jasper, and may not be indigenous.  Concentrations of worn pea-size gravel, sometimes equaling two or three quarts, were noted in several instances; specifically at Stations2 and 9. Their meaning is problematical, but perhaps they were tempering stock, although grit-tempered sherds were scarce.

         Ceramics.  Potsherds were present at Stations 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9, but were mainly small and non-diagnostic.  Several sherds revealed light, fine incising.  Most had shell temper and reflect well-oxidized firing, i.e., light buff-to-red, including sherd interiors.  Very few had grit temper.  They appear to conform in general to the ware, somewhat better preserved, cited by Bullen, et al., as cord-maleated semi-globular pots with constricted, chevron-incised necks and everted rims.  Such vessels are late or proto-historic at other Massachusetts sites (Bullen, et al., p. 12). [These seem now to be Stage 3 - late prehistoric pots, as deduced from more recent discoveries - Ed.]  A fragment of a ceramic pipe stem was recovered on the surface at Station 7. An undecorated, obtuse-angled pipe with stubby stem, illustrated in Willoughby (1935, p. 182, Fig. 104,e) is said to be from a shell-heap in this vicinity.

         Sharpened Butts.  Unusual items noticed by me at most Stations were a number of wooden butts, varying in length from 3 to about 6 inches, and ranging in diameter from ¾  to 2-1/2  inches. Two types were discriminated.

         The first type, to which the majority and all the larger specimens conformed, consists of tapered points on one end, with the opposite end rotted down into the heartwood, leaving a cone-shaped hollow (Fig. 9).  All were sandblasted, but on some the tapered ends show presumptive traces of cutting marks.  Most were found free at or near the surface of the heaps, or lying near their perimeters at their base.  In no case did they reveal discernible patterns or plans, but the suggestion is offered here that they may be terminal ends of saplings or posts driven in for temporary fire screens, windbreaks, drying racks, or perhaps even lodges of wickiups. When abandoned, such constructions would presumably have been reduced by the elements, leaving only the broken or sand-cut ends sticking up in the ground.  In turn, these might have rotted down into the heartwood, and in time have become covered by drifting sand and preserved beneath the dunes. Redfield (personal communication) agrees that the points have "clearly been sharpened," but questions whether they are rotted-off sapling stakes on the grounds they are too short and uniform in length.  He speculates that they may be artifacts, and notes that trees buried beneath the sand hills have been found well preserved when once again exposed.

         The second type of butt includes several members about the thickness of a man's finger, and sharpened to points on either end.  Very superficially, some resemble gorges.  Byers (personal communication) states that ". . . small wood will in time be pointed by drifting sand just as effectively as if it had been put into a gigantic pencil sharpener."  Byers also notes that "the pastures" on the Neck were once fenced in, and presumably fence posts were in use at that time.  That such explanations as blowing sand and fence-building may explain the presence and condition of the sharpened butts is acknowledged.  However, marked preponderance of both types of butts on or near the mounds and their rarity elsewhere throughout the dunes, may argue for prior association with the mounds.

         Shellfish: Gross assessments were made on shellfish remains present at all stations.  The major species appeared to be the sand clam (Mya arenaria).  Scallops (Pecten irradians) were rare. By visual estimate, over 95 percent of the shells at Stations 1 through7 were sand clam (Mya).  Station 7 was also the only heap yielding razor clams (Ensis directus).  At Station 8, only quahogs (Venus mercenaria) and mussels (Mytilus) were noted.  There is some doubt that this station is prehistoric, since the quahogs may have come from debris left by gulls.  At Station 9, a visual estimate gave about 15 percent of the shell fraction as mussel (Mytilus) and the remainder, 85 percent, as sand clam (Mya).

         Thus, the easternmost stations showed gross species differences from the more western stations.
Bullen, et al., do not give percentage estimates on shellfish remains, but do cite (p. 7) presence of oyster shells in the lower portion of their Site 1 (furthest east), and mixed "scallop, quahog, sea clam, soft shell clam, razor clam, and mussel" in the upper part.  These shell data, while not commensurate with mine, nevertheless seem to support wide species variation, and presence of mussels in particular at sites going eastward down the Neck.

         If true, this may be a significant datum.  That is, as the Neck has grown eastward over the past 3,000 years, the older, western parts have presented opportunities for use by man for a longer time.  Barring near-simultaneous deposition for all the deposits, it is conceivable my Stations 1 through 9 going eastward, and Bullen, et al's Sites 11 through1 (in this order) eastward, may represent successive stages of occupation.

         The wider species variation and greater numbers of mussel in the easternmost deposits might indicate:
1) change in aboriginal diet with time; 2) variations, perhaps due to sea level or other geomorphological changes, in shellfish habitats available for human exploitation; 3) interactions of 1) and 2).  No diagnostic artifact progression exists, which would enable one to proceed further in this line of inquiry, but future studies might illumine this suggestion.  A radiocarbon date of 625 +/- 95years B.P. (1325 A.D.) from charcoal collected by Redfield at Station 1(Sample I-1965) has recently been received.  This date supports the archaeological inferences advanced herein.

         Bone: Osseous material was sparse, but several large fragments were recovered at Stations 2 and 7.
Avian material was present, presumably including seabirds, and some large pieces may be sea mammal remains, or even human.  At Station 7, careful test pitting and a series of radiating trenches around an exposed weathered bone, resembling a human humerus, failed to disclose further remains, although it revealed a deep charcoal layer - impossible to excavate as it was below the water table.  The bone  disintegrated before it could be stabilized in Alvar 7/70. It may have been the sole remains of a human burial exposed by the shifting sands.  Over fifty years ago, Redfield noted a human tibia exposed by wind in a shell heap (Fig. 7 , “X”).  He excavated the rest of the skeleton except for a foot, and recalls that it was on its left side, flexed, with the upper end of the spinal axis pointing northwest, probably a small adult.  Parts of two or three other skeletons, including a small cranium were also found in the heap along with some chips and "arrowheads."

         Among the osseous material I identify deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and Bullen, et al., list "fish, deer, dog, racoon, turtle, heath hen, and “great auk” among species recovered by them.

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