Mashantucket — An archaeological dig on the edge of the Great Cedar Swamp of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation has uncovered a 12,000-year-old site once occupied by Paleoindians, among the earliest occupants of the area now known as New England.

The discovery, part of a two-year excavation project that initially focused on what was thought to be later occupations, made the Paleoindian connection when certain artifacts were unearthed. Kevin McBride, director of research at the Mashantucket Museum and Research Center, said excavation of distinctively Paleoindian "blades" tied the find to the Paleoindians, who occupied the site about 12,000 years ago.

"The first hint popped up that we were dealing with a 12,000-year-old site when they found a specific type of tool, or a way of making a tool, called a blade, that was very distinctive for this period," said McBride. "These are the oldest recognized tools and cultural traditions that we find in southern New England, so this site, and the scrutiny and research it will get, will be far above normal."

The archaeological work is being supervised by Zachary Singer, a doctoral student in New World Archaeology at the University of Connecticut Archaeological Field School, in concert with Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center staff. McBride said the discovery is helping to make Singer an authority on the Paleoindians and a nationally known voice on their existence.

"These Paleoindian sites are relatively rare and hard to find, so what Zach has been doing is finding a lot of evidence that there are many of these sites scattered around the reservation and that they got a lot of use during that period," said McBride, who called the find "a Paleoindian landscape" and said it appears these early people came and went from the region over a 1,000-year period.  

"We are learning more about the detail and complexity of their movements and what they were doing," he said.

Among the artifacts that have been recovered are a wide range of tools — most notably spear tips made in the unique Paleoindian "fluted point" style. 

The archaeologists have also recovered items that represent a variety of activities associated with hunting and gathering, such as tool-making and repair, butchering, hide-scraping and tanning, and clothes making. The Paleoindians who occupied the site would have relied on caribou, waterfowl and nearby wetland plants to survive, the Mashantucket Pequots said. There is evidence that they were a nomadic people, since nearly all the artifacts were made from stone originating in Pennsylvania, New York and Maine, a sign that the group traveled widely.

The tribe's 1,400-acre reservation includes a good portion, but not all, of the approximately 500-acre Great Cedar Swamp, according to McBride. The swamp was a glacier lake carved out 17,000 years ago and has always been a draw because of the resources it offers.

"This site is part of an important Paleoindian landscape, one of the earliest and most extensive ever identified in North America," McBride said.

According to the Pequots, archaeological and historical research at Mashantucket has identified more than 250 sites that span 12,000 years, and it is one of the best studied cultural landscapes in North America. The latest excavation unearthed the fourth and oldest Paleoindian site on the tribal lands and is a testament to the continuous presence of Pequots and their ancestors in the region, according to a press release from the tribe.

The Mashantucket Pequot Reservation Archaeological District is a National Historic Landmark.

The artifacts and site interpretation will eventually be exhibited at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. Visitors to the tribe's museum, which reopened May 15, can learn more about this period at the Caribou Kill exhibit.

a.baldelli@theday.com

Twitter: @annbaldelli