G. F. Eaton — Prehistoric Fauna of Block Island. 153 



from Montauk Point. Dr. Hollick of Columbia University, 

 referring to the phenomena of submergence and erosion, says 

 (Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci., xvi, p. 17, Dec. 15, 1896) : "Should 

 they continue in the future it requires but little prevision to 

 appreciate that Block Island and the islands to the eastward 

 will continue to shrink in size, disappear, and eventually form 

 merely parts of the shoals which now connect and surround 

 them. Montauk Point will continue to recede, and, by the 

 submergence of the low narrow strip of land in the vicinity of 

 Canoe Place, a new island will be formed from what remains 

 of the Point." 



In view of this clear evidence of the sinking of the chain of 

 islands lying off the southern New England coast, it appears 

 possible that the land connection of Block Island with the 

 mainland was raised above the sea-level at the close of the Gla- 

 cial Period, and was not again submerged until some time 

 during the Recent Period when the fauna of the New England 

 region was essentially the same as it is now. There would 

 then have been an opportunity for the distribution of the ani- 

 mals of the mainland over a large peninsula which is now rep- 

 resented by the rapidly dwindling Block Island. 



The dogs, no doubt, were originally brought from the main- 

 land by their masters, and therefore must be excepted from 

 any conclusions which may be reached in regard to the indige- 

 nous fauna of the Island. But, as has been shown, the surface 

 condition of Block Island when settled by the English was 

 such that there is no reason why all other animals named in 

 the foregoing lists could not have been supported. Moreover, 

 it is unlikely that the Manissees, a tribe frequently at war with 

 their neighbors, the Narragansetts and Montauks, would have 

 carried quantities of fresh meat from the mainland in their 

 canoes, when their own country and its surrounding waters 

 supplied them with an abundance of iish, shell-fish and sea- 

 fowl. 



This hypothesis is certainly well borne out by the rich 

 growth of forest timber once covering the Island, and, in the 

 opinion of the present writer, it offers the best solution of the 

 problem of distribution arising from the presence of the 

 remains of land animals in the prehistoric shell-heaps. 



Archeological and Ethnological. 



There are several topics connected with the description of 

 the Block Island shell-heaps which deserve notice here, 

 although they are quite apart from the discussion of the fauna. 

 One of these, the discovery of human remains under peculiar 

 circumstances, is of especial interest. 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Fourth Series. Tol. TL Xo. 32. — August, 1898. 

 11 



