THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK l8l 



This suggests that they were cast on the surface and afterward 

 devoured by animals or lost by decay. 



Purpose of the earth wall. The earth wall and trench are pal- 

 pably parts of a fortification. From the crest of the wall, without 

 doubt, rose a line of palisades which surrounded the inclosure. 

 Indeed, traces of these post holes were discovered all along the 

 ridge. 



One of the strange facts which at once appears a curious anomaly 

 is that if this inclosure had been a fortification why such a position 

 should have been selected, when from the hillock to the west, arrows 

 and stones or other missiles could have been easily thrown into the 

 wall-protected inclosure. This very thing would have rendered 

 the fort of little use in times of war or invasion. Two considera- 

 tions then appear : first, that it was not a true fortification designed 

 to protect the inhabitants from men only, but made for a protection 

 from the wolves and other wild beasts which infested the region 

 even in historic times; or second, that the enemies of the age held 

 the acres of the dead or sacred spots and would not under any 

 provocation desecrate the burial ground on the hill to use as a 

 vantage point from which to assail the living within the inclosure 

 which the burial knoll overlooked. 



Camp site outside of inelosiire. To the southwest of the burial 

 knoll rises another glacial kame which in length runs east and west. 

 This kame contained ten large ash pits, the one in the summit being 

 5 feet deep and filled with carbonaceous earth, burnt sandstone and 

 charred corn. Between this kame and the inclosure, the earth had 

 almost everywhere been disturbed and there was a heavy mixture 

 of white ash and charcoal as if the vegetation and trees had been 

 burned over many times. No implements were found here except 

 a celt at the west end of the kame. 



The soft mellow loam here also suggests its employment as a 

 garden spot, possibly a cornfield. Charred corn was found in some 

 of the pits. 



Age of the remains. Several considerations determine the age of 

 of the remains. The absence of European articles at this place is 

 good presumptive evidence that it is prehistoric. The similarities 

 between the characters of the occupation and those of the early 

 historic Erie point out an early Erian people. That they were 

 early Iroquoian is evident from an examination of the artifacts 

 but that they were early Erian is manifest by certain differences in 

 form of culture and occupation. The remains would seem to be at 

 least 500 years old, and even a greater age may be safely ascribed. 



