Category Archives: Tools

Marc Banks and Lucianne Lavin

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Banks, Marc and Lucianne Lavin. Archaeological Site Sensitivity Analysis of the Town of Simsbury. Simsbury, CT: Simsbury Planning Department, 2002.

Banks and Lavin write a summary of an archaeological survey of Simsbury. Included are old maps, copies of deeds from the natives, and descriptions of finds based chronologically. What might be extremely useful are maps of Simsbury that indicate what locations had finds, and which locations might have the most finds if excavated. This source might tell us the most specifically about the Massacoes that lived here for thousands of years.

Lucianne Lavin

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Lavin, Lucianne. “The Morgan Site, Rocky Hill, Connecticut: A Late Woodland Farming Community in the Connecticut River Valley”. ASC 51 (1988): 7-22

Dr. Lavin does not provide information on Simsbury or the Massacoes in this essay, but does give insight into finds at a comparable site along the Connecticut River. This work is important because Lavin provides comparisons between inland finds and coastal finds.

Kenneth Feder

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Feder, Ken. “The Glazier Blade Cache: Thirty Remarkable Blades Found in Granby, Connecticut”. ASC 66 (2004): 101-113.

Feder’s essay is fascinating because he writes about a huge prehistoric find in Granby, Connecticut. Feder recounts how with assistance he unearths thirty blades made with high skill that date to around 425 AD and 450 AD.

Marc Banks and Kenneth Feder

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Banks, Marc & Kenneth Feder. “Archaeological Survey of the McLean Game Refuge, Granby and Simsbury, Connecticut”.  ASC 59 (1996): 39-52.

Written in 1996, this Archaeological Survey is very important to understanding the natives who lived in Simsbury and Granby. Banks and Feder provide details of their finds from the McLean Game Refuge, which includes conclusions that the natives used the area as a seasonal, repetitive campsite.

 

Nicholas F. Bellantoni

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Bellantoni, Nicholas F. Nicholas F. Bellantoni to Mark Williams, March 18, 1991. Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby, CT.

This is a letter written by the state archaeologist at the time, Bellantoni, to Mr. Williams regarding certain archaeological sites in Granby. Mr. Bellantoni writes that there are two main sites, West Point Site and Mechanics Point Site. At both sites, discoveries included stone and flint tools.

Ann McMullen

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McMullen, Ann. Native Basketry, Basketry Styles, and Changing Group Identity in Southern New England to Algonkians of New England: Past and Present. Boston, MA: Boston University Press, 1993.

McMullen does not specifically mention Simsbury or the Massacoe natives, but does write an important article on basketry west of the Connecticut River. The author delves into how baskets had been crafted, and the difference in basket making depending on tribe or region.

Julius Gay

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Gay, Julius. “The Tunxis Indians: An Historical Address.” Address, Annual Meeting of the Village Library Company, Farmington, CT, September 11, 1901.

The author’s address presents the details of how Farmington was founded through deeds with the natives. Gay proceeds to talk about the legacy of the Farmington Indians up until the 1700’s.

Lucianne Lavin

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Lavin, Lucianne. Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013.

Dr. Lavin provides an important source of ancient Native American history based largely on archaeological finds. Although Simsbury is not specifically mentioned, Lavin discusses in length about finds in Farmington, Windsor, South Windsor and other surrounding towns that give clues to what life must have been like for the indigenous peoples over the course of thousands of years up until contact. Specific finds, such as food and tools, suggest what the natives in the Farmington Valley ate, and how the acquisition of complex tools through development and trade led to an evolving lifestyle.