Almost 13,000 years ago, small groups of Paleoindians endured frigid winters on the edge of a river in what would become Keene, New Hampshire. This begins the remarkable story of Native Americans in the Monadnock Region, part of the traditional homeland of the Abenaki people.
Often neglected or denied by conventional history, the long presence of Native people in southwestern New Hampshire is revealed by archaeological evidence for their deep, enduring connections to the land and the complex social worlds they inhabited. From the Tenant Swamp Site in Keene — which contained the remains of the oldest known dwellings in New England — to the 4,000-year-old Swanzey Fish Dam still visible in the Ashuelot River, A Deep Presence tells their story. This compelling book draws on Goodby’s thirty years of fieldwork and includes evidence from the archaeological record, written history, and the living traditions of today’s Abenaki people.
Robert Goodby is Professor of Anthropology at Franklin Pierce University. He earned his PhD in anthropology from Brown University and has over thirty years of experience excavating Native American archaeological sites in New England. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Archeological Society, a former Trustee of the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, and served on the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs.
Paperback. 160 pages, with 60 color illustrations. Copies may be purchased in the Museum Store at the Historical Society of Cheshire County, at Toadstool Bookshop, or online via the link below.
$28
Published by Peter E. Randall Publishing, in partnership with the Harris Center and the Historical Society of Cheshire County.
