Have You Ever Eaten Water Snake? – a talk by Shirley Blancke, sponsored by the Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

Friends of the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge present a talk by Shirley Blancke – “Have You Ever Eaten Water Snake? Native American Food 5000 Years Ago.”

Find out what archaeologists think Native Americans had for dinner 5,000 years ago along the Sudbury River at the Concord Shell Heap. First described by Henry David Thoreau, this midden (or trash heap) was at a campsite occupied for 9,000 years, one of over 100 camps in the Concord-Sudbury area. The site yielded a trove of stone artifacts and animal remains that shed light on a hunting and fishing way of life, as well as the seasonal diet at one time. Blancke will explain how archaeologists analyzed collections made over a 100-year period to create this understanding of the Native American past.

Shirley Blancke is an Associate Curator of Archaeology and Native American Studies at the Concord Museum. She has published intensive research on the ancient shell heap/midden created by Native Americans near the present location of Emerson Hospital.

A short business meeting and refuge update will precede featured speaker.