THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NKW YORK 223 



affairs easily accounted for by the action of roots. Teeth as a rule 

 were quite sound but in the older individuals they were well worn 

 and often a few (mainly molars) were missing. The teeth of the 

 skeleton found in pit 93 were very abnormal. 



Next to the burials in point of number and interest were the ash 

 pits or fire holes. These consisted of more or less cup-shaped 

 depressions in the ground running from 18 inches to 4 feet in depth 

 and 3 to 6 feet across, filled with stained earth, ashes and charcoal 

 often laid in strata of varying thickness, conforming as a rule to 

 the curve of the bottom. Quantities of fish bones, broken pottery 

 and charred corn were taken from these pits, as well as a number 

 of split deer bones, fresh-water shells, bone awls and heads of the 

 same material, and arrow points, whole and broken, together with 

 all sorts of flint chippings, rejects and general refuse. Occasionally 

 objects like perfect pipes or jars were found but such finds were 

 very rare in the pits. Some contained almost nothing of conse- 

 quence, others much of interest, while a few were given over 

 mainly to corn. Pits 27 and 28 were good examples of this class. 

 The former, about 27 inches in diameter and 20 inches deep, con- 

 tained a large quantity of charred corn, evidently mature and shelled, 

 surrounded by fragments of bark carbonized by fire. Beneath and 

 around the corn and its bark sheathing lay gray ashes. A broken 

 metate-like stone, a muller, an arrowhead, a few fish bones and 

 some potsherds w r ere also secured. Pit 28, 20 inches deep, contained 

 in its center a quantity of ashes and burnt red- earth surmounting 

 a mass of charred green corn on the cob, as shown in figure 21. 

 The pit was lined with charred grass. 



Another interesting pit was 42, from which a cross section was 

 drawn. A typical pit in every particular, it was bowl-shaped, a 

 little more than 6 feet in diameter and attained the depth of 42 

 inches. Below the plow-torn layer the stratified structure at once 

 became evident, while at a depth of 20 inches was found an irregular 

 layer of reddish and yellow ash immediately overlaying a densely 

 black layer of charcoal, containing corn-cobs, corn, nuts, bits of 

 squash stalks and a small piece of braided corn husk, all in a charred 

 condition. Below, stained earth with scattered black streaks 

 extended down to the yellow sand in which the pit had been dug. 

 Near the charred layer were exhumed the few objects obtained in 

 this pit; a few bone beads, three arrowheads, a broken terra cotta 

 pipe stem, part of a metate-like stone, a bit of paint and some Unio 

 shells. Another pit, 47, was of somewhat different structure. It 



