﻿AN 
  ERIE 
  INDIAN 
  VILLAGE 
  AND 
  BURIAL 
  SITE 
  473 
  

  

  Part 
  2 
  

   RECORD 
  OF 
  EXCAVATIONS 
  AT 
  RIPLEY 
  

  

  A 
  foreword 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  designed 
  in 
  this 
  account 
  to 
  present 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  treatise 
  

   on 
  the 
  Eries 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  classes 
  of 
  objects 
  discovered. 
  Our 
  

   purpose 
  is 
  merely 
  to 
  set 
  forth 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  done 
  

   and 
  briefly 
  describe 
  the 
  specimens 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  explora- 
  

   tion, 
  adding 
  such 
  supplementary 
  matter 
  as 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  immediate 
  

   importance 
  for 
  a 
  proper 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  operations 
  and 
  the 
  

   results. 
  The 
  record 
  of 
  this 
  expedition 
  with 
  those 
  which 
  have 
  pre- 
  

   ceded 
  it 
  and 
  those 
  which 
  follow 
  in 
  the 
  Erie 
  region 
  will 
  form 
  the 
  

   base 
  of 
  a 
  special 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  Eries 
  and 
  in 
  that 
  work 
  the 
  various 
  

   Erie 
  sites 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Erie 
  artifacts 
  will 
  be 
  fully 
  discussed. 
  

   This 
  account, 
  therefore, 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  report 
  of 
  progress 
  

   rather 
  than 
  as 
  a 
  complete 
  and 
  final 
  treatise. 
  

  

  General 
  region 
  

  

  Along 
  the 
  southern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  between 
  Westfield 
  and 
  

   State 
  Line, 
  and 
  extending 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  from 
  these 
  points, 
  is 
  a 
  

   high 
  bluff 
  of 
  Chemung 
  shale 
  rising 
  almost 
  sheer 
  from 
  the 
  water. 
  

   In 
  various 
  places 
  it 
  is 
  from 
  15 
  to 
  65 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  lake 
  level. 
  It 
  

   forms 
  a 
  most 
  effectual 
  barrier 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  might 
  wish 
  to 
  reach 
  the 
  

   land 
  from 
  the 
  water 
  or 
  the 
  water 
  from 
  the 
  land. 
  The 
  soil 
  above 
  the 
  

   shale 
  in 
  general 
  is 
  a 
  loose 
  water-washed 
  sand 
  and 
  gravel 
  beneath 
  

   which 
  is 
  a 
  substratum 
  of 
  Erie 
  clay 
  which 
  outcrops 
  at 
  denuded 
  

   places. 
  In 
  this 
  lake 
  border 
  region 
  are 
  numerous 
  springs 
  and 
  brooks. 
  

   Two 
  miles 
  back 
  from 
  the 
  lake 
  rise 
  the 
  steep 
  Chautauqua 
  hills 
  which 
  

   form 
  the 
  watershed 
  that 
  sends 
  the 
  streams 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  into 
  the 
  Alle- 
  

   gheny 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries 
  and 
  finally 
  into 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico 
  and 
  

   those 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  into 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  and 
  finally 
  into 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  St 
  

   Lawrence. 
  This 
  region 
  by 
  reason 
  of 
  its 
  physical 
  features 
  afforded 
  

   an 
  ideal 
  retreat 
  for 
  the 
  tribes 
  of 
  men 
  who 
  found 
  their 
  way 
  there 
  

   after 
  the 
  subsidence 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  glacial 
  lakes, 
  which 
  receding 
  left 
  

   their 
  shore 
  lines 
  far 
  inland 
  as 
  terraces 
  and 
  hills 
  and 
  their 
  beds 
  as 
  

   fertile 
  undulating 
  plains. 
  

  

  Traces 
  of 
  early 
  occupancy 
  are 
  found 
  here. 
  On 
  the 
  sites 
  of 
  

   ancient 
  marshes 
  are 
  found 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  mastodon 
  and 
  with 
  

  

  