REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I914 Jl 



The vicinity of Catskill was an important one to the aborigines 

 who reached it from the Mohawk valley by the way of the Schoharie 

 creek. It was at one time the southern border of the Iroquois pos- 

 sessions but all the specimens from this region represented in the 

 Thompson collection are pre-Iroquoian and presumably Algonkian. 



In the Director's Report of 1905 is described a copper necklace 

 taken from a grave in the vicinity of Athens. This necklace may 

 or may not be modern Algonkian. The beads and the workman- 

 ship of the shell ornaments with them are similar to those from the 

 so-called mound culture. Some of the Thompson articles are from 

 this region. 



Professor Thompson was careful to collect many hundreds of 

 fragments of flint and broken specimens of flint points. From 

 such materials we are able to determine the types of points used for 

 material selected and the various stages of manufacture. The col- 

 lection contains nearly all the tools of stone used for chipping flint. 



The L. D. Shoemaker collection. The collection acquired from 

 Mr L. D. Shoemaker of Elmira contains representative specimens 

 collected on more than thirty sites in the Chemung valley and 

 regions about Elmira. The more important specimens are polished 

 stone implements, large fragments of Algonkian pottery, cylindrical 

 pestles, flat and saucer-shaped mortars and nearly one-half of a 

 large soapstone pot. 



Specimens in the Shoemaker collection from the various sites 

 indicate that the occupation of this region was mostly Algonkian. 

 There are numerous crude axes, stone hammers and stone balls 

 with a fine representative series of flint implements and net sinkers 

 and other crude utilitarian objects. 



Curatorial work. It has been no easy task to examine the thou- 

 sands of specimens that have been acquired during the past two 

 years. The work of making complete and thorough examinations 

 of the several collections has, however, been an imperative require- 

 ment due to the necessity of selecting not only the proper material 

 for exhibition but to set aside valuable material for study. It is 

 gratifying to report that, though many other demands were made 

 upon this section of the Museum, more than thirty thousand such 

 examinations were made, and by the close of the year the Archeolo- 

 gist had selected and set aside such objects as are to be shown in 

 the exhibition compartments. The archeologic cases of the C and 

 D types, as soon as installed in the present hall of archeology, 

 were filled with specimens. The B cases containing wooden 

 steps, which had originally been ordered for the botanical exhibits, 



