74 XKW YORK STATE ^^lUSEUM 



of a meridian line through Chautauqua lake, most of the described 

 territory has been the field of archeologic research for many years 

 and the State Museum archeological collections have representa- 

 tive specimens from it. Western Chautauqua, however, is a prac- 

 tically unexplored region and presents an exceptionally inviting 

 field for investigation, being the borderland between the territory 

 of the tribes of Iroquoian stock and the culture area of that 

 mysterious people for the sake of convenience termed " mound 

 builders." An examination of this region revealed a surprising 

 number of sites that proved to be rich in relics of old Erie occupa- 

 tions, and in view of the fact that the State Museum had few or no 

 relics of the Eries, and, indeed, as very little was known of them, 

 one of these sites was chosen as the field for the season's operations 

 and a leasehold was obtained. 



Ripley site 



This site is situated on the Young farm in lot 27, Ripley, Chau- 

 tauqua CO. It covers an elevation locally known as " Dewey knoll " 

 situated on the blufifs of Lake Erie. On the east a stream has cut 

 through the shale and eaten down the bluffs to the lake level so that 

 a landing is easily effected from the water. This landing is one of 

 the few between Barcelona harbor and the mouth of Twenty-mile 

 creek in Pennsylvania, where there is easy access to the land on the 

 bluffs above. The stream has cut the east side of the knoll so that 

 for several hundred feet south from the lake the bank rises steep 

 and in places almost sheer from the creek bed. The place is one, 

 therefore, naturally adapted for a fortified refuge and must have 

 been an attractive spot for the aborigines who built upon it a circular 

 earthwork and a village and who found in the loose sand a most 

 suitable place for the burial of their dead. 



Excavations were commenced on June i and carried on until 

 October i. Parallel and adjacent trenches 16 feet wide were staked 

 and the excavations run as far as indications of occupancy extended. 

 In this manner every cubic inch of soil covered by the trenches and 

 exhibiting signs of disturbance by human hands was examined and 

 the numerous relics left by the former occupants were discovered. 

 The site was divided in two sections, the village and the burial. 



The burial section. An examination of 100 graves disclosed 

 that all bodies had been buried in a flexed position, that is, on 

 one side with the knees drawn well up toward the chin with one 

 hand placed under or near the head, in fact such a position as would 



