CCMNH: Dan Zoto on Fire and Toolstones

Cape Cod Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society
The Effects of Fire on Select Varieties of Toolstone from the Northeast
with Archaeologist Dan Zoto
 
BREWSTER, MA —The Cape Cod Chapter of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society presents The Effects of Fire on Select Varieties of Toolstone from the Northeast with Archaeologist, Dan Zoto Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 7:00 pm at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 869 Main Street/Route 6A Brewster. This program will also be available virtually to MAS Cape Cod Chapter Members.
 
This presentation is about using experimental archaeology to study archaeological site formation in New England. The talk is focused on the effects of heat on a variety of stone materials that were commonly used to make tools in the Pre-Contact Northeast. The study includes background information on the various ways that stone artifacts can be affected by heat exposure and summarizes the results of a lithic burning experiment. One purpose of the experiment was to determine the ways that stone artifacts can be altered by hearths or other burn features made by later occupants of the same site. Raw materials used in the experiment include Blue Hills rhyolite, Braintree hornfels, and cobble quartz from Massachusetts, as well as Normanskill chert from New York. The full results of the study appear in the Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society Volume 82, Number 1-2.
 
Dan Zoto earned a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master's degree in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut. He has worked as a cultural resource management archaeologist for the last 12 years. Dan's research interests include New England archaeology, stone tools, lithic sourcing, coastal archaeology, and cultural resource management.
 
$5 per person or FREE to MAS Cape Cod Chapter Members
To attend the program virtually you must be a member of the MAS Cape Cod Chapter.
 
Questions about the program or membership can be sent to: capecod@massarchaeology.org
 
 
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is located at 869 Route 6A Brewster, MA 02631