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Steatite, or soapstone bowls were important because they were watertight and able to be placed right in a fire to cook stews and other foods. Another way to cook was to place hot stones into these bowls to heat the soup or stew. Native peoples of New England ate many different kinds of food. Besides corn, groups like the Pocumtucks of present day Deerfield, Massachusetts, ate plants including kidney beans, squash, and "Jerusalem" artichoke. It was a woman's job to grow all of the food and prepare it.

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