508 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the total absence of clay pottery and of bone implements, by the 

 absence of pits except a few shallow ones containing charcoal only. 

 The village sites of this culture and occupation are situated alike 

 on hills and in valleys and seem to have been spread out rather 

 than close together. On sites of this description the gorget, bird 

 and banner stone and other polished slate articles have been found, 

 although most of the celts are of the common type, that is, symmetri- 

 cal and equilateral. Beveled back adzes are found, also. Stone 

 pipes are not uncommon, some of which are of the flat base or 

 monitor type. Alounds in which these same articles have been 

 discovered seem to indicate that the mounds are relics of this occupa- 

 tion. These mounds are nowhere so large as those of Ohio or 

 Wisconsin, and seldom exceed 50 feet in diameter and 8 or 10 feet in 

 height. On sites of this description grooved axes are sometimes 

 found although they seem to have been acquired from another cul- 

 ture elsewhere by trade or otherwise. The human remains of the 

 occupation are extremely rare and probabh' none has ever been 

 found suitable for measurement or comparison. 



The second distinct culture is that known as the early Iroquoian 

 and is susceptible of two divisions, the prehistoric and historic. The 

 historic or second stage of this culture is undoubtedly Erian, but 

 the prehistoric or first stage is better termed Iroquoian and difiPers 

 from the second in several material points. 



The third culture or occupation traceable is that of the Confeder- 

 ated Iroquois, presumably the Seneca who held tracts of land here 

 during the late part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth 

 centuries. This occupation was not of long duration nor are its 

 evidences w^idely traceable. 



The early Iroquoian occupation is characterized by inclosures 

 surrounded by low walls of earth, *by ossuary burials, by triangular 

 arrow points, by a lack of notched spears, by a lack of objects buried 

 in the graves, by Iroquoian pottery, by shallow pits containing* 

 no bone objects or bone refuse, but frequently some pottery and 

 flint chippings. The earth inclosures vary in area from less than 

 an acre to 5 or even 7 acres. When convenient, points of land 

 extending from a terrace out into the valleys were fortified at the 

 neck and cut off from the general plane. The earth circles or in- 

 closures and fortified necks are locally termed " Indian forts " and 

 some undoubtedly were such. Some old writers have called them 

 "ceremonial rings " and have expatiated on the wonders of the 

 '* true circles." Investigation, on the contrary, demonstrated 



