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Distributed for University Press of New England

Ceremonial Time

Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile

“Ceremonial time” occurs when past, present, and future can be perceived simultaneously. Experienced only rarely, usually during ritual dance, this escape from linear time is the vehicle for John Mitchell’s extraordinary writing. In this, his most magical book, he traces the life of a single square mile in New England, from the last ice age through years of human history, including bear shamans, colonists, witches, local farmers, and encroaching industrial “parks.”

256 pages | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2013

Biological Sciences: Natural History


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Table of Contents

Scratch Flat • Cast of Characters • Map of Scratch Flat • Preface to the 2013 Edition • Ceremonial Time • The Kingdom of Ice • After the Deluge • Night on Forge Pond • Archaic Interlude Eating Scratch Flat • A Woodland Nation • The White Witch • Time Travelers • The People’s Place • Tearing Down Time • Fire and Ice • The Autumn of Time • Nompenekit’s New World

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