INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND 



49 



Iroquois and the explanation given on 

 page 40 is probably correct. 



Indian Burials. Notwithstanding 

 all the efforts of various collectors, 

 the first Indian burials to be discovered 

 on the Island were due to the activi- 

 ties of Messrs. Bolton and Calver in 

 1904. The improvement of Seaman 

 Avenue, Inwood, at that time, uncov- 

 ered many relics of the long extinct 

 Indian inhabitants among which Mr. 

 Bolton saw unmistakable signs of 



mass of oyster shells, some of which 

 were unopened, the skeleton reclined 

 on its right side, facing west. The 

 arms were flexed and crossed, the knees 

 bent and the head thrown back. No 

 traces of weapons were found, nor 

 were there any other objects found, 

 save a fragment of an animal bone. 

 "The location and position led to 

 further exploration, which, early in 

 1908, led to still more interesting dis- 

 coveries. Sunday, March 22nd, being 





INDIAN BURIAL, MANHATTAN. 



Indian graves. To quote from this 

 gentleman: "It thus became evident 

 that there were human interments 

 in the vicinity, and in August, 1907, 

 the first burial was discovered under 

 a shell pit in Corbett's garden. The 

 grading process had been extended 

 only about eighteen inches below the 

 sod, but had sufficed to destroy the 

 jaw of the skeleton which extended 

 upwards, as did also the foot bones. 

 The bones lay in and upon a close 



the first day in the field for exploration 

 for the season for 1908, W. L. Calver 

 and the writer met at Seaman Avenue 

 and Hawthorne Street, Manhattan, 

 to discuss plans for further excavations 

 on this Indian village site. The rains 

 of the winter 1907-8 had washed the 

 west bank where the layer of oyster 

 shells and black dirt lay along the 

 hill, and a patch of red burnt earth 

 was observed, which on digging out, 

 disclosed a fireplace, evidently of the 



