THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK 35 



may best be examined, but in New York State the prehistory of the 

 Iroquois may be studied with greater advantage than in any other 

 region we now know, not even excepting the province of Ontario. 



The Iroquois were and are still the most recent aborigines to 

 occupy this region; but they are late comers. Before them were 

 other peoples. Our investigations show that long before the Iroquois 

 came, the Algonkian tribes occupied at various times almost every 

 portion of the State. There were also bands of the mound-building 

 people, and at an earlier time, wandering tribes of people who made 

 implements like the Eskimo. 



Sources of Information 



In making a systematic examination of the field, information may 

 be expected in certain definite areas and particular places. We must 

 go where the evidences are in order to discover our data. In pursuing 

 investigations and in making records, the following sources should 

 always be kept in mind : 



I General areas 



1 Inhabited areas 



a Village sites 



b Camp sites 



c Shell heaps 



d Hunting grounds 



2 Defensive works 



a Fort rings 



b Fort hills or points 



3 Places of industry 



a Workshop sites 

 b Quarries 

 c Garden beds 

 d Fishing places 



4 Places for disposing of the dead 



a Cemeteries or burial grounds 

 b Ossuaries 



5 Places of conflict 



a Battlefields 



6 Routes of traffic and travel 



a Trails 

 b Stream beds 

 c Fording places 

 3 



