Prehistoric Native American Sites Excavated in New Jersey

CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY—According to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer, a total of some 10,000 Native American artifacts have been uncovered from two archaeological sites in Camden. Almost 1,300 artifacts were recovered at the first site, which is thought to have been a short-term camp. Among those objects, archaeologist Ilene Grossman-Bailey found a rectangular ceramic cooking vessel and a hearth containing charcola that has been dated to 1400 B.C. The second, slightly older site may have started as a temporary camp, but then it likely became a year-round settlement. It yielded ceramics; grinding and hammer stones thought to have been used to grind maize, legumes, and barley; and the burned bones of deer and other mammals, turtles, and wild fowl. A tool bearing protein residue may have been used to process the meat. Many of the artifacts at this site were recovered from a 20-foot-long ditch. “We don’t really know what it is,” said Grossman-Bailey. “There really isn’t anything else like it in New Jersey, although similar features have been found near the Chesapeake and in New England.” She thinks it may have been part of a house.