328 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The charred bones in pit 70 formed part of a burnt layer 3 inches 

 thick, which also contained bones which did not appear human. 



We found twenty-one ash pits which we considered worthy of 

 record, ranging in depth from 18 to 50 inches and '.n diameter from 

 30 to 132 inches. They have simply been holes in the ground gen- 

 erally more or less bowl-shaped, which were dug by the Indians as 

 " ovens " or roasting pits in which to cook food, or as cache pits for 

 storing corn. After more or less use they seem to have become filled 

 with refuse, and the plow coming later leveled them all off even with 

 the surrounding ground so that at the present time in sites which 

 have been cultivated they have to be searched for by the 4< posthole " 

 or trenching methods, such as are used in locating graves. 



There are several general features which characterize these pits 

 as a whole and differentiate them somewhat from those in other Iro- 

 quoian regions examined by the expedition. In the first place many 

 of the pits had a tendency to be very broad and shallow around the 

 edge, deepening only near the nrddle, then the lower part is likely 

 to contain a clear mixture of ashes and dirt without charcoal and 

 with little or nothing in the way of artifacts, the latter as a rule 

 occurring in the upper layers, in ashes and stained earth containing 

 considerable charcoal. Another peculiar fact is that many of 

 the pits are oval in ground plan instead of circular, and others are 

 very irregular. Instances occurred of two pits connected by an 

 ash layer. 



Several examples are offered here of Heath site ash pits which 

 are in a way typical, as they show most of the characteristics 

 mentioned above. 



Pit 53, found not far from the swamp on the northwest side of 

 the site, was a shallow and rather irregular form of pit, 21 inches 

 deep and an irregular oval about 4 by 5 feet in ground plan. It was 

 filled with an almost homogeneous mass of ashes mixed with a little 

 soil, broken only by occasional rough blocks of stone, and contained, 

 besides the usual charcoal, broken pnimal bones, a p'ece of pottery 

 decorated with conventional human faces, another with raised deco- 

 rations, a potterv disk and several broken bone beads. 



Pit 6 1 exemplifies the type with widespread top and shallow edges 

 and illustrates one form of the barren bottom filling occurring so 

 frequently in this s : te. In this case little was found below the layer 

 marked " clay " but in the mixed ash layer above, potsherds, pipe 

 fragments and animal bones were obtained. Among the sherds were 

 many fragments of a small neat pot. 



