A Short History of Jasper Cave
Before any European settlers stepped foot on this continent, Native Americans lived somewhat peacefully here. According to the Clovis theory, tribes of hunters and gatherers came to North America by the way of a land bridge that joined Siberia to Alaska about 60,000-25,000 years ago. Descendants of these peoples became the Native American Indians that we think of today. Indians came to what is now called Berlin as early as 9000 years ago to mine rhyolite, which was mistaken as jasper by the early white settlers, to make spearheads. Mt. Jasper rhyolite artifacts have been found as far north as the the Cliche-Rancourt site near Lac Megantic in southeastern Quebec and as far south as the Neponset Site in Canton, Massachusetts. There have also been some findings in Maine at Rumford, Lewiston, and Auburn. There have been some spearheads found at the Alpine Cascades on the Berlin-Gorham line also. To the west, the rhyolite has been found in the Champlain Valley area at the Mazza and Arbor Garden sites near Burlington, Vermont. The Mine – The mine at Mt. Jasper, locally known as “Jasper Cave,” was discovered in 1859 by William D. Sanborn. It is said that Mr. Sanborn, along with a mineralogist named E. S. Brown, later made a thorough exploration, using candles to light their way. The entrance, at the time covered with dirt, was so small they had to crawl on their hands and knees to get in. These two supposedly found an Indian axe and a tomahawk, such as those used during the French and Indian wars. The Summit Workshop – Archeological excavations by Richard Michael Gramly (1980 and 1984) uncovered a lithic workshop on the top of the mountain. Fifty-six square meters of surface area were excavated and designated as the Hill Workshop. This workshop was covered with dirt, and upon excavation, manufacturing debris as well as quarry waste were found. The workshop dates from the Middle and Late Archaic periods (8000 to 2000 B.C.). It is likely there are more workshops like this on top of Mt. Jasper, although only one site was excavate by Gramly. |
The Base Workshops – Situated on a very steep slope which flattens out at the Dead River floodplain, a series of lithic workshops have been unearthed during the excavations of Gramly in the 1970s. These workshops are divided into two groups, Locus Alpha and Locus Beta, and are further subdivided into Alpha-1 and Alpha-2. A series of diagnostic corner notched projectile points were uncovered by Gramly, indicating a late prehistoric era presence at these sites. Five test pits were excavated by Richard Boisvert in 1989, which unearthed manufacturing debris in the form of flakes, cores, and core fragments. On April 23, 1992, the New Hampshire State Historic Review Board approved the nomination of the Mt. Jasper Lithic Source to the National Register of Historic Places. Since then, much work has been done to preserve this ancient site. In July of 2009, 20 participants in the annual New Hampshire State Conservation and Rescue Archaeology Program arrived at the “cave” and noticed that a large boulder (Plate 3) had slipped free from the top of Mt. Jasper, due to large amounts of rain, and came to rest against a tree. This boulder has rested against this tree ever since and will someday continue its journey down the mountain when the tree dies and decays. |
References
1. The Mount Jasper Lithic Source, Berlin, New Hampshire: National Register of Historic Places Nomination and Commentary (1992) by Richard Boisvert
2. Photos of the Base Workshop excavation and the Summit Workshop artifacts are from Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production (1984) by Jonathon E. Ericson, pg. 15 and 20.
3. The New Hampshire Archeologist (November 1, 2009) by David R. Starbuck (Photo of Jasper Rhyolite locations also from this)
4. Old Photo of Mt. Jasper courtesy of Paul “Poof” Tardiff
5. Photo of Jasper Cave from http://tommclaughlin.blogspot.com/2011/09/exploring-ancient-cave.html
2. Photos of the Base Workshop excavation and the Summit Workshop artifacts are from Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production (1984) by Jonathon E. Ericson, pg. 15 and 20.
3. The New Hampshire Archeologist (November 1, 2009) by David R. Starbuck (Photo of Jasper Rhyolite locations also from this)
4. Old Photo of Mt. Jasper courtesy of Paul “Poof” Tardiff
5. Photo of Jasper Cave from http://tommclaughlin.blogspot.com/2011/09/exploring-ancient-cave.html