46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



twentieth of the whole 20,000 specimens. It is therefore 5 per cent 

 of the total. Continuing we find that the general frequency is: A 5 ; 

 / 5 ; M .5 ; E .05 ; U .2. This gives us a means of indicating the 

 comparative rarity or frequency of any specimen. 



3 We may wish to know how frequent a specimen is in a certain 

 cultural area ; that is, what per cent of all articles from a culture, a 

 given class of object forms. We have only to determine that 8763 

 specimens in the 20,000 are Algonkian and by taking our 1000 ham- 

 merstones find our decimal number, which is 10.35. Going through 

 the Hst we find the cultural frequency to be: A 11.4, / 12.27, M 6.21, 

 E .04, U .033. 



4 By taking the number of hammerstones from each culture and 

 comparing them with all the hammerstones found in our collection, 

 we get our class frequency which, to repeat, is: A 46.5, / 46.5, M 

 4.65, E. 465, U 1.86. 



5 By totaling all the specimens of all kinds from one specific site, 

 and finding out how many of each kind compose this total, we can 

 determine what percentage of the total any group forms. This is the 

 specific frequency. 



2 THE ALGONKIAN OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK 



Previous to the coming of the Iroquoian tribes to this region, it 

 seems to have been largely in the control of the Algonkian tribes. It 

 is quite possible, however, that portions were held by tribes not of this 

 stock, but it is nevertheless true that an examination of the field 

 shows traces of Algonkian occupation and influence from one end of 

 the State to the other and from north to south. We may safely 

 assert that when the Iroquois first entered this geographical area 

 their chief opponents, if any, were some of the Algonkian bands, 

 though it is probable, also, that there were outpost settlements of 

 tribes of the mound builder culture. 



The Algonkian occupation of New York stretches back into com- 

 paratively remote times. There must have been wave after wave of 

 these peoples, coming in band after band to hunt over the territory or 

 to make settlements. Very likely the inviting regions south of Lake 

 L'rie and the Ontario -St I.awrence basin were as nuich occupied by 

 Algonkian tribes as was New England at the time of the discovery. 



The Algonkian occupation appears to consist of several periods, 

 each of which so merges into the other that we can not tell when or 

 where one commences and the other leaves off. Even when we do 



