Maia Sheppard, the daughter of a Williams College professor, sifts a shovelful of dirt in search of artifacts in Stockbridge on July 6. The Mohican Tribal Historic Preservation Office is conducting archaeological digs at “Indiantown” — now known as Stockbridge — to try and locate the 1739 meetinghouse site and at the site of the ox roast that was held in the town at the end of the Revolutionary War.
BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
STOCKBRIDGE — Volunteers in hiking boots and long pants dig holes marked by little orange flags among the 20th century war memorials on Main Street.
Bending over these rectangular holes, called “units,” archaeologists search the soil for evidence of the 1739 meetinghouse, an essential piece of Stockbridge’s history, which is neither publicly acknowledged in this field — aside from a small plaque on the chime tower — nor anywhere else in town.
“It’s been a longtime goal to document sites important to Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation and raise visibility of our history here, which has largely been erased in the town,” said Bonney Hartley, tribal historic preservation manager for the nation. “The town was founded for our tribe, but you don’t see that anywhere when you’re here.”
The archaeological excavation, which began Tuesday and continues this week, aims to prove the existence of the meetinghouse, and ultimately include it in the National Register of Historic Places. As of Thursday, Ann Morton, the primary investigator, said they the team had found promising, but not definitive, evidence of the meetinghouse. This evidence includes subtle soil discolorations that suggest a building’s foundations from the right time period — but not the meetinghouse itself — and wrought-iron nails.
Unlike most of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office’s projects, this one is mostly educational. It’s not to save…