REPORT OF tHE DIRECTOR 1914 6^ 



material from the region about the Seneca .river, Onondaga lake, 

 Oneida lake and the hilly ground south of Syracuse. A field 

 examination of this area shows it to have supported large popula- 

 tions of the aborigines for lengthy periods and evidently from 

 remote times. Several considerations undoubtedly attracted these 

 early inhabitants, among them the accessibility of the various por- 

 tions of the surrounding country by means of lakes and streams, 

 the abundance of fish and game, and the rich soil for agricultural 

 purposes. Thus the larger number of specimens in the Bigelow 

 collection consists of hunting, agricultural and domestic objects. 



Four distinct cultures are represented in this collection, that termed 

 the Eskimoan, characterized by slate knives and semicircular chop- 

 ping knives, etc ; the early Algonkian ; the Mound Builder, and the 

 Iroquoian. For the sake of convenience, it is better to term these 

 occupations as pre-Iroquoian and Iroquoian. Most of the material 

 consists of stone objects, in which class the chipped chert implements 

 lead in numbers. Then follow the polished stone implements, 

 principally chisels, gouges and stone axes or celts. There is also 

 a small series of stone pipes. Among the objects having no kno,wn 

 utilitarian purpose are gorgets, banner stones, boat stones, bird 

 stones and the bar-amulets. 



In the series of more than five thousand chipped implements 

 there are many varied forms ranging from immense knives 10^ 

 inches long and 5 inches broad to tiny arrowheads but little larger 

 than those known as bird points of the Oregon type. There is a 

 wide variety of scrapers, knives, spearheads, drills and other imple- 

 ments of peculiar shape. The range of material shows that the 

 region, especially that of the Seneca river district, acquired much 

 material from foreign sources. The local material is the chert found 

 in the Onondaga limestone but the quantity and variety of extra- 

 limital material indicates a traf^c with other regions. There is a 

 certain amount of quartz presumably from quartzite boulders, tog 

 some of the quartz material may have been made from small 

 pebbles. A good share of these implements were made from yellow 

 jasper similar to that found in Berks county. Pa. There is a con- 

 siderable amount of flinty material similar to that from the Flint 

 ridge, Ohio. It is very evident from an examination of the chipped 

 implements that the common chert or flint was obtained from many 

 sources. The rare materials are moss agate, obsidian, chalcedony 

 and argillite. 



The cutting implements are hatchets, adzes and gouges of 

 several forms. Some of the gouges are flattened on each side 

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