Gunflint Production and Lithic Tool Use at the Monhantic Fort Site, a Mashantucket Pequot Fortified Village (1675–1677)

Abstract

The Monhantic Fort site is a Mashantucket Pequot fortified village occupied during King Philip’s War (1675–1677). Archaeological investigations resulted in the recovery of over 900 pieces of European flint (English and continental European) derived from ballast cobbles, believed to be primarily associated with the wartime production of gunflints. The majority of the gunflints are bifacial (86%), indicating a process of manufacture distinct from contemporaneous English manufacture. While many lithic tools had been replaced with European metal tools by this time, the flint assemblage also contains a number of objects indicating use of lithic tools in domestic contexts. Spatial analysis of the flint assemblage in the context of domestic and nondomestic spaces indicates individual production of gunflints and tools, rather than specialized production confined to a single workshop area by a limited number of individuals. Comparison of the flint assemblage at Monhantic Fort with a contemporaneous domestic site at Mashantucket and the Aptucxet Trading Post in Bourne, Massachusetts, supports the contention that the fort assemblage was the result of the wartime production of gunflints.