320 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the very brow of the hmestone escarpment. There was nothing to 

 encourage systematic excavation, unless perhaps in the oatfield which 

 naturally could not be disturbed. 



We passed without stopping another site listed by Squier, but 

 examined the one located on a spur of the hill north (not west) of 

 Burrs Mills, above a little creek. ^ This had evidently been a strong- 

 hold, the flat point of the hill being divided from the main plateau 

 by a ditch (and probably an embankment) now nearly obliterated. 

 The place w^as under cultivation when visited and digging was con- 

 sequently forb'dden, but we discovered the fact that hillside refuse 

 heaps or " dumps '' were neither deep nor abundant, but that there 

 had been at least one deep deposit upon the hilltop, besides the spots 

 of blackened earth which probably indicate the location of the bark 

 houses. This site, according to Mr Loveland, has been very rich in 

 bone implements. What few specimens we picked up seemed to 

 show Iroquoian culture. It was apparent that the place had been 

 nearly exhausted. 



Passing southward, the next place visited was the earthwork on 

 the brow of the high hill on what w^as once D. Talcott's farm, over- 

 looking the old lake bottom westward, and in plain view of the island- 

 dotted waters of the present Lake Ontario. This site lies about 

 6 miles southwest of Watertown, its exact location being shown on 

 the map. It has been very well described by Squier." More than half 

 of the old oval earthwork with its gateways is still distinctly trace- 

 able — the only place of the kind left in Jefferson county, so far as 

 I have been able to discover. Most of the refvise heaps have been 

 rifled and many graves opened but we found a shallow village layer 

 which yielded Iroquois pottery, a celt and a few other objects. No 

 typical ash pits were located, but a number of corn cache pits, 

 mentioned by Squier, are still visible from the surface. I doubt if 

 much could be found here now, except perhaps skeletons. We photo- 

 graphed the best preserved parts of the earthwork. 



The only other site of importance examined during the first two 

 weeks of our work, aside from the two picked out for exploration, 

 was the ancient village site on the lowlands of the old lake bottom 

 about I Yz miles north of Belleville on the old Wallace farm, now the 

 property of E. A. Nohle, the exact locat'on being shown on the map. 

 The site occupies a rather flat, sandy pasture south of a bit of 

 woods, near a large spring. The earthwork, if any existed, is gone 



^ Squier, Antiquities of the State of New York, p. 22, pi. 3, no. i. 

 2 Squier Antiquities of the State of New York, p. 17, pi. no. i. 



