Reconstructing Salem's lost early history
By John Goff
Preservation Perspective
Fri Oct 03, 2008
Salem - Mass.
Go to any library in Salem, and chances are you will only find local historical records dating back at most 400 years.
Yet the recorded occupational history of Salem and Naumkeag dates back, archaeologists tell us, at least 4,000 years. We know that 400 divided by 4,000 equals 1/10. So we have only saved at most 10 percent of our most recent urban history.
Where can we go to learn about the other 90 percent, the missing 3,600 or more years? A generation is typically 20 years, and 3,600 divided by 20 equals 180. Is it possible that all written records have been permanently lost relating to some 180 generations or more of earlier Native American occupation in this place?
There are five major sources of information which the enterprising historian today can consult to fill in the elusive “prehistory” blanks. These are archaeology, place-names, topography, non-English records and consultation with living Native Americans. Let us briefly consider each.
October is Archaeology Month here in Massachusetts. Archaeology refers to the scientific study of ancient objects carefully found on or pulled up from the soil. In Salem there have been thousands of pottery shards, stone chips, stone ax heads, stone sculptures, charcoal bits, scrapers, shell middens, etc. that provide striking clues as to how Native Americans lived here in Naumkeag centuries ago.
Archaeology is generally considered the key source of objective knowledge that can fill in where written records have been lost, or records distorted over time. Forensic science applied to old soils can sometimes even identify and study animal remains and plant seeds to gain detailed insights into ancient natural environments that were quite different long ago.
Place names that evolved from old native origins can also be studied to provide clues relating to past natural resources and old Native American values, land uses and traditions. Naumkeag, Massabequash, Saugus and Swampscott, for example, all contain embedded information in their ancient acoustic syllables.
A person with working knowledge of Algonquin can sometimes make old place names “speak.” Naumkeag, for example, was well known for its Namas and maritime fishing economy, common here before 1630 and that is how the place name evolved.
Topography may yet prove to be a valuable source of new knowledge about ancient times here in Salem and early Naumkeag. Given the nature of Nanepashemet and the Massachusett or Massachuseuk people to occupy strategic hilltops for defense, observation and signaling, it seems likely that future studies of hilltops and hill sightlines may yet shine light on ancient fort and signaling station locations.
We may also eventually learn more too about hill and river valley related battles anciently fought in Massachusetts, including the brutal Tarratine Wars waged to defend Nanepashemet’s homeland between about 1607 and 1635.
Based on much historical, archaeological and topographical study, I outlined a theory a few years ago for the New England Antiquities Research Association proposing that our Salem Harbor and our Forest River, although then heavily fortified, took the brunt of and ultimately fell to seaborne invaders about 1615 in a hugely disruptive Tarratine naval offensive.
“Non-English sources” acknowledges that other groups, including the French and Micmac, likely have preserved in their remote archives, museums, folklore and legends important material pertaining to life here in earliest Naumkeag. This is because for about 12 years prior to Nanepashemet’s death in 1619, Naumkeag did a booming and fabled maritime Fur Trade with the far-flung French and Tarratines (early Micmac) of what is now Maine and Canada. Old French and native records may yet be found to shed new light on early chapters of pre-English life here in Naumkeag and in the northeast.
A fifth possible resource is consultation with living Native Americans. Some may retain knowledge of the old history, language, lifestyles and beliefs prominent from the days before the Tarratine, French and English invasions. Oral history programs should be encouraged.
Other resources likely also exist for shining new light on past chapters of human life and adventure here. As our 21st-century progresses, fully reconstructing those 3,600 years of lost local history remains one of our key cultural challenges. If we succeed in better documenting Salem’s truly ancient past, we can better understand the history and later evolution of this place, gain new appreciations about Nature and the antiquity of the lands where we live and improve our education while also perhaps diversifying and strengthening Salem’s economy.
To be on most solid ground, we all need a much better understanding of ancient native times and the evolution of this place. Archaeology provides tantalizing insights.
For more on
October as Archaeology Month in Massachusetts
and the many special programs coming up, see
www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcarch/arch07/arch07idx.htmJohn Goff is the president of
Salem Preservation, Inc.,
a nonprofit organization.
He is also the principal of
Historic Preservation & Design,
a consulting business.
E-mail him at
jgoff@salempreservation.org.
