The Mashantucket Pequot Reservation Archeological District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

in the northeast corner of the town of

Ledyard, Connecticut Ledyard is a Town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War officer who was killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. The population was 1 ...

. The district includes nearly of archeologically sensitive land in the northern portion of the uplands historically called ''Wawarramoreke'' by the federally recognized

Mashantucket Pequot Tribe The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut. They are descended from the Pequot people, an Algonquian-language tribe that dominated the southern New England coastal areas, and t ...

. It is within territory documented as Pequot land in the earliest-known surviving map (1614) of the region. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1986 and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1993. The district includes a significant portion of lands historically occupied by the Pequot. In 1666 the

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

set aside about of land as Pequot territory. Over the next two centuries the Pequot population dwindled, and in 1856 the state reduced the reservation size to . In the 1970s the tribe formally filed a land claim suit for the recovery of its land, eventually recovering more than under a settlement affirmed by an act of Congress. Archaeological investigations into these lands have identified more than fifteen sites of interest. The tribe considers the entire reservation to be archaeologically sensitive, requiring investigation before any significant construction projects take place on its territory. Materials found at sites investigated on the reservation include aboriginal lithic and quartz stonework, and a variety of colonial trade items believed to date as far back as the 16th century. While the earliest village sites found provide little evidence about housing, by the 18th century the Pequots were documented as living in both traditional wigwam-style structures, as well as European-style wood-frame houses. The archeological evidence of the villages shows they included large (3-4 acre) plots of farmsteads surrounded by stone walls (the walls being one place where objects of interest are often found).

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut Archaeological sites in New London County, Connecticut Archaeological sites in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut Ledyard, Connecticut Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Pequot Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut 1666 establishments in Connecticut

See also

References