INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND 



13 



an exhibit from the remnants of the 

 Algonkin and Iroquois Indians of New 

 York State and New England, while 

 a map showing the location of most of 

 the Indian villages of Greater New 

 York and vicinity and an actual section 

 of a typical shell-heap, as well as 

 photographs and labels describing the 

 opening and excavation of the sites are 

 near at hand. Specimens typical of 

 those found in the shell-heap are also 

 exhibited. 



Of all the traces left by the aborigines 

 along the New York seacoast, the most 

 abundant and familiar are the shell- 

 heaps. These are beds of refuse mark- 



cultivation have generally made it level 

 with its surroundings (Fig. 3). Very 

 often, unless the land be plowed, no 

 shells whatever show on the surface, 

 and the only way of finding out the 

 conditions of things below the sod is 

 to test with a spade or a crowbar. If 

 shells are present, their crunching soon 

 gives notice of the fact. Sometimes 

 shell-heaps have been located by shells 

 thrown from animal burrows, or washed 

 out by the rain, or in banks broken 

 down by the surf. Some have been 

 found fronting on the open Sound, 

 but such cases are rare. These deposits 

 consist of large quantities of decayed 



CROSS SECTION OF A SHELL PIT. 



ing the sites of ancient villages, camps 

 and isolated wigwams. Wherever the 

 fresh water joins the salt; especially 

 where open water for fishing, and a 

 spring for drinking come together in 

 happy combination, there is generally 

 to be found some such evidence of 

 Indian occupation. 



The typical "shell-heap" is not a 

 heap at all, for leaf mold, the wash 

 from neighboring high ground, and often 



oyster, clam, and other marine shells 

 mixed with stained earth, with ashes, 

 charcoal, and fire-cracked stones to 

 mark the spots where ancient camp 

 fires blazed. Among the shells are 

 . usually scattered antlers of deer, bones 

 of animals, fishes, and birds, quantities 

 of pottery fragments, and broken 

 implements; in short, the imperishable 

 part of the camp refuse left by the 

 Indians. Now and then, perfect imple- 



