Riverside Archeological District | |
Nearest city | Gill and Greenfield, Massachusetts |
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NRHP reference No. | 75000256 [1] |
Added to NRHP | July 9, 1975 |
The Riverside Archeological District is a historic archaeological site in Gill [2] and Greenfield, Massachusetts. The site added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The Riverside Archeological District encompasses a sizable tract of land north of Turners Falls, a major whitewater rapids on the Connecticut River, north of the eponymous village of Turners Falls, Massachusetts in Gill and Greenfield. Located in northern Massachusetts near the mouths of four major tributaries to the Connecticut, the area has an archaeological history known to date back to the late Pleistocene. During the earliest contacts between European colonists and Native Americans in the 17th century, the area was known to house major Native encampments, and was the site of the 1676 Battle of Turner's Falls in King Philip's War. The area has been recognized has archaeologically significant since the 19th century, with well-attested accounts of small finds and some distinctive burial sites.
Formalized archaeology in the area began in the early 20th century with the accumulation of artifacts from Gill in 1915 and 1916 that are now in the collection of the American Indian Archaeological Institute in Washington, DC. It has continued at low levels of activity throughout the 20th century.
The western boundary of the site is roughly Adams Road in Greenfield; the eastern boundary is in the Lily's Pond area of Barton Cove in Gill, a sheltered area of the Connecticut River. The northern boundary is just north of Riverside Cemetery in Gill, and the southernmost portion of the area may extend just across the river into the village of Turners Falls.
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Settled near the Connecticut River in the 17th century during the colonial era, the population was 5,090 as of the 2020 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in western Massachusetts, lying 30 miles (48 km) north of the city of Springfield.
Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,512 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name is sometimes used as a metonym for the entire town of Montague, for which it is the business district and comprises more than half the population.
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Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site is a publicly owned historic property operated by the state of Maine near Pemaquid Beach in Bristol, Maine. The site includes the reconstructed Fort William Henry, archaeological remains of 17th- and 18th-century village buildings and fortifications, and a museum with artifacts found on the site including musket balls, coins, pottery, and early hardware.
Cedar Swamp Archeological District is a prehistoric and historic archaeologically sensitive area in eastern Westborough, Massachusetts, and extending into the northwest corner of Hopkinton. Cedar Swamp is an area of more than 2,600 acres (1,100 ha) of wetlands that include the headwaters area of the Sudbury River. Archeological surveys of the environmentally sensitive and critical area have identified many Native American sites of interest. It is believed that Native Americans prized wood from the cedar trees that grew in the area. The archeological district, which encompasses much of the Cedar Swamp area, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
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The Bellows Falls Petroglyph Site is an archaeological site containing panels of precontact Native American petroglyphs in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Located near the Vilas Bridge on bedrock west of and above the Connecticut River, adjacent to Great Falls, they depict a rarely-seen assemblage of anthropomorphic figures that is believed to be unique in New England, and uncommon even in surrounding geographic areas. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
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The Lochmere Archeological District is a large archeological area on the banks of the Winnipesaukee River in Belknap County, New Hampshire, near the village of Lochmere. The area, part of which is now preserved by the state as the Brennick Lochmere Archaeological Site, is a multi-component site with evidence of human occupation from the Middle Archaic through the Late Woodland periods. The site was occupied in historic times by the Winnipesaukee sub-tribe of the Pennacook people, and is near Aquadoctan, one of the largest native towns of prehistoric New Hampshire.
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