﻿88 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  made 
  systematically. 
  Excavations 
  made 
  30 
  years 
  ago 
  in 
  some 
  sites 
  

   had 
  yielded 
  large 
  quantities 
  of 
  human 
  remains 
  and 
  the 
  ploughing 
  

   of 
  other 
  places 
  had 
  produced 
  annual 
  crops 
  of 
  relics 
  in 
  others. 
  

   Nothing 
  definite 
  was 
  known 
  of 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  these 
  places, 
  nor 
  of 
  

   the 
  stage 
  of 
  art 
  and 
  culture 
  represented 
  by 
  them. 
  Commonly 
  they 
  

   are 
  described 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  remains 
  and 
  artifacts 
  of 
  the 
  Eries 
  whom 
  

   history 
  places 
  in 
  this 
  region. 
  

  

  A 
  survey 
  of 
  Chautauqua 
  county 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  discovery 
  that 
  there 
  

   were 
  at 
  least 
  three 
  distinct 
  cultures 
  or 
  successive 
  occupations 
  of 
  

   this 
  region 
  differentiated 
  by 
  very 
  wide 
  characters. 
  There 
  seems 
  

   some 
  evidence 
  also 
  of 
  a 
  fourth 
  occupation. 
  The 
  oldest 
  occupation 
  

   definitely 
  traceable 
  is 
  that 
  characterized 
  by 
  the 
  notched 
  and 
  shoul- 
  

   dered 
  arrow 
  point 
  and 
  spear 
  point, 
  by 
  the 
  total 
  absence 
  of 
  pottery 
  

   and 
  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, 
  symmetrical 
  and 
  equilateral. 
  Stone 
  pipes 
  

   are 
  sometimes 
  found, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  mound-builder 
  

   type. 
  Mounds 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  same 
  articles 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  

   seem 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  mounds 
  are 
  relics 
  of 
  this 
  occupation. 
  

   These 
  mounds 
  are 
  nowhere 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  Ohio 
  and 
  Wis- 
  

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

   hight. 
  On 
  sites 
  of 
  this 
  description 
  grooved 
  axes 
  are 
  sometimes 
  

   found 
  although 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  acquired 
  from 
  another 
  

   culture 
  elsewhere 
  by 
  trade 
  or 
  otherwise. 
  The 
  human 
  remains 
  of 
  

   the 
  occupation 
  are 
  extremely 
  rare 
  and 
  probably 
  none 
  have 
  ever 
  

   been 
  found 
  suitable 
  for 
  measurement 
  or 
  comparison. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  distinct 
  culture 
  is 
  that 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Huron-Iroquois 
  

   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 
  Huron-Iroquois 
  

   and 
  differs 
  from 
  the 
  second 
  in 
  several 
  material 
  points. 
  

  

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

   federated 
  Iroquois, 
  presumably 
  the 
  Senecas 
  who 
  held 
  tracts 
  of 
  

   land 
  here 
  during 
  the 
  late 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  18th 
  and 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   19th 
  centuries. 
  This 
  occupation 
  was 
  not 
  of 
  long 
  duration 
  nor 
  are 
  

   its 
  evidences 
  widely 
  traceable. 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  Huron-Iroquois 
  occupation 
  is 
  characterized 
  by 
  in- 
  

   closures 
  surrounded 
  by 
  low 
  walls 
  of 
  earth, 
  by 
  ossuary 
  burials, 
  by 
  

  

  