The Hamilton Site: A Late Historic Neutral Town

Abstract

<p>This thesis presents the description, analysis and interpretation of the Hamilton Site (AiHa-5), a large 6-acre Neutral Iroquois town occupied circa 1638 to 1650 A.D. Analysis of the settlement patterns and the material culture clearly indicates historic Neutral occupancy, but a significantly high (64 percent) incidence of shell tempered pottery also occurs. This presence of foreign pottery raised interpretational hypotheses to account for it, and an influx of foreign female potters is seen as the best explanation. Use of ethnohistoric documentation offers several alternatives for the identification of the foreign population. Finally, the possibility that Hamilton represents a Jesuit "mission" site is raised.</p>