122 NK\V YORK STATE MUSEUM 



3 acres of ground ; or the circular fort on the Lawrence farm in the 

 Clear creek valley, near Ellington. 



Usually within these inclosures pits are found in which refuse 

 had been deposited or corn stored. The soil shows more or less 

 trace of occupation and occasionally graves are found in one por- 

 tion. Besides the choice of the spot as a natural defense there were 

 other considerations, such as proximity to good agricultural land 

 which, for primitive people with inadequate tools, must be a light 

 sandy loam; a plentiful supply of water, nearness to the proper 

 kind of timber and a location near a trail or stream navigable for 

 canoes. It is not easy to determine, however, why some localities 

 were chosen, for they are overlooked by hills from which the enemy 

 could assail the fortification or are situated in swamp lands. There 

 were probably many considerations that attracted the Indians to these 

 spots that have been obliterated with the destruction of the forests. 



The earlier sites of this character in the Iroquois district in New 

 York were upon the hilly lands south of the Great Lakes. It does 

 not appear that the Iroquois came down from their hilltop strong- 

 holds except in few remote localities until about the beginning of 

 the historic period when they began to build their towns on the 

 lowlands nearer the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. This obser- 

 vation is especially true in western and central New York but does 

 not fully apply to the Iroquoian area in Jefferson county. It is quite 

 likely that the Iroquois did not drive out all their enemies or take 

 full possession of this territory until a short period before the 

 opening of the colonial epoch. An example of village sites or earth- 

 works upon or near the lake shores is that found at Ripley, Chautau- 

 qua county. Most villages, however, were from 2 to 20 miles back 

 from the shores of Lakes Erie or Ontario. 



Mortuary customs. There seems to have been several mortuary 

 customs. Many human remains are found buried beneath the 

 ground, indicating that the body was intact when interred. Tradi- 

 tions and historical evidence point out also the custom of placing the 

 body wrapped in blankets or skins in the branches of large trees, 

 and there are preserved in the Seneca tongue the various terms 

 employed to describe the details of this type of burial. Burial houses 

 were also erected in which the bodies of the dead were placed until 

 decay had reduced them to bones. For the disposal of these bones 

 research shows that they were gathered up and buried in bundles in 

 separate graves. Sometimes several skeletons are found in bundles 



