34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The whites had iron, copper and tin; they had glass, certain 

 chemicals, and many manufactured articles, strange to the aborigines. 

 But the greatest possessions of the colonists were not these things, 

 unless we except iron ; their most valuable assets were three ani- 

 mals the sheep, the cow and the horse animals not found 

 indigenously upon the American continents. 



The sheep provided durable fabric as well as food, the cow gave 

 milk, valuable fats and furnished one of the most edible of meat 

 staples, and the horse was an animal able to carry or draw 

 heavy loads with greater swiftness than human beings. Speed of 

 transportation, ability to haul raw and manufactured goods was 

 thus placed within range of the white man. The horse promoted 

 both industry and exploration and thus became a valuable energizing 

 factor promoting invention and political progress. The cow, sheep, 

 pig and domestic fowl, together with the horse, stimulated agri- 

 culture, provided the means of wealth, constituted personal property, 

 and furnished an incentive to peaceful interchange of commodities. 

 All these things were natural advantages or the immediate out- 

 growths of them, that gave the colonist great superiority over the 

 native red man. 



The white man finding this region suitable for his herds, flocks and 

 horses, took possession of the land and held it by means of his 

 superior tools, and his ability to transform the raw materials of the 

 forest and the earth. With the passage of time and the continued 

 application of labor this area has become the Empire State of a 

 great Nation. Though one of the small states in acreage it has 

 attracted to itself one-tenth of the population of the country and 

 become the most flourishing agricultural, industrial and financial 

 center. 



The white man is here for the same reason that the Indian was 

 here in former days; because of the natural physical advantages of 

 the land. From the days of its first discovery by wandering red 

 men until now it has afforded a homeland for all people who 

 chose to avail themselves of its advantages. 



2 THE FIELD OF ARCHEOLOGY IN NEW YORK 

 New York State presents an inviting field for archeological inves- 

 tigation. It is not the most prolific field, to be sure, but among the 

 many areas where specific problems may be studied our field has at 

 least an important place. In Ohio the mound culture may be 

 studied with great advantage, in Tennessee the stone grave culture 



