Sample Excerpt:
Article for Belmont Citizen’s Forum Newsletter
November 2000
Exciting Evidence of Prehistoric Activity
Could Impact Development of the McLean Hospital Site
Imagine the area we now know as Belmont, Arlington, Waltham, Cambridge, and Watertown
8,000 years ago when the Charles River was more of a tidal estuary than a river.
Imagine the pristine and sometimes stark beauty of its forested hills, green
valleys, fertile wetlands, gleaming ponds, and sparkling, free-flowing streams.
The native people live in harmony with their natural world—until in 1600, when European settlers arrived here. In 1614, the Massachuset Indians
numbered 3000, living in 20 villages around the Boston Basin. Just 17 years later, decimated by white
man's diseases, their population had dropped to 500. By 1800, no organized groups of
the Massachuset are known to have survived. Yet traces of these early inhabitants do remain.
The impending development of the McLean Hospital site and potential irrevocable loss
of an important part of Belmont’s archaeological history, led Gayle Valiant,
then chairman of the Belmont Citizens’ Forum’s Archaeology/Historic Preservation
Committee, to write to the Belmont planning board. In April 2000, Ms. Valiant
requested that the town require an archaeological impact study, including
subsurface testing, prior to any further development of the McLean site. In her
letter, Ms. Valiant had stated that “the need for the study is threefold: 1) to
examine areas that have been indicated as potential sites of archaeological
significance, 2) to explore other areas that may be of archaeological
significance, and 3) to insure that subsequent development of these sites
acknowledges, respects, preserves, and protects the integrity of any sites
found.” Ms. Valiant’s letter asserts that “Indian artifacts have been found in
the areas along School Street and Grove Street, as well as an Indian burial
mound on property bordering Pleasant Street.” Several areas and streets in
Watertown and Belmont have been named after the Pequossett Plantation, an Indian
settlement, and Trapelo Road and Mill Street were probably originally Indian
paths. Trapelo Road is described as the “Cartway through the Pequossette
Meadow.” On page 19 of Results of An Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of
Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont and Waltham, Massachusetts by
Donald D. Jones and published by Boston University’s Office of Public
Archaeology in 1989, lists three prehistoric sites in the Beaver Brook
Reservation.
Ken Buckland of the Cecil Group, the town’s consultants on the McLean project,
stated that “this letter was one in a chain of requests for information” that
led the town to require an archaeological survey. The Massachusetts
Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) requires that an archaeological impact study be
prepared for any development project of this size. In August 2000, the
Massachusetts Historical Commission issued a permit to Public Archaeology
Laboratory, In. (PAL) of Pawtucket, RI, to undertake the archaeological study of
the site under contract from the McLean Hospital. Eric Johnson is the project
contact at the Historical Commission. When the report is complete, McLean will
be required to submit it to the Historical Commission, but locations of the
archaeologically significant sites will remain restricted
information. |
