PROTEIN RESIDUE ANALYSIS OF LITHIC SAMPLES FROM THE HAWTHORNE LANE EAST SITE, MANSFIELD, CONNECTICUT

The Hawthorne Lane East site, a collection of multiple pre-contact campsites, is situated on an elevated sandy outwash terrace overlooking the Mt. Hope River Segment of the Mansfield Hollow Lake in Mansfield Hollow State Park, Connecticut. A high density of pre-contact lithics, bone and shell fragments, a chopper, a nutting stone, a gouge, and fire-cracked rock were recovered from the site during Phase 1b testing conducted by Raber Associates and the Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL). Three features also identified during excavations include a rock-constructed cooking feature and two pits containing charcoal. AMS testing has returned dates of 8290–8450 B.P. for the two pits, and a date of 1880 B.P. for the rock-constructed cooking feature. Diagnostic artifacts at the site indicate a Late Archaic to Woodland Period affiliation. The artifacts and features at the site reflect tool manufacture and maintenance activities as well as on-site food processing and consumption. Lithic tool samples collected from four separate units during excavation were submitted for protein residue analysis to gather information about subsistence practices.