The DEDIC or DEDIC/Sugarloaf Site is a

paleo-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

Clovis Clovis may refer to: People * Clovis (given name), the early medieval (Frankish) form of the name Louis ** Clovis I (c. 466 – 511), the first king of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler ** Clovis II (c. 634 – c. 657), ...

-era archaeological site in

South Deerfield, Massachusetts South Deerfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Deerfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to the Yankee Candle Company. At the 2010 census, the population of South Deerfield was 1,880. South Deerfield is part ...

. It encompasses an area of the

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and Deerfield River valleys containing evidence of relatively large-scale human habitation dating back some 10,000 years. It is located in the general vicinity of Mount Sugarloaf. Part of it is set on the lip of a ravine, apparently a site that the natives used as a kill site, since it served as a choke point in the movements of large animals. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980. The site was first identified by a survey conducted in 1978 for the Deerfield Economic Development & Industrial Corporation, a local government economic development organization. Its significance was recognized, and the site was protected by a protective covenant. Adjacent land, in private ownership, was investigated in 1995 by Dr. Richard Gramly, and was acquired by the state when it was threatened by development. The site was again excavated by Dr. Gramly in 2013. This work greatly expanded the number of finds, and is of the opinion that the site is one of largest late-Clovis sites in New England. It has yielded stone artifacts such as scrapers, drills, hammerstones, and a stone bead, with the source stone material coming from a variety of locations across

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. One of the finds is (as of 2015) the largest known fluted lance head to be found in the northeastern United States. A display of artifacts found at the site has been established in Deerfield's Conway Street municipal building.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Geography of Franklin County, Massachusetts Archaeological sites in Massachusetts Deerfield, Massachusetts Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Massachusetts

See also

References