Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

Table 11.6. List of Mammals Recovered from Late Middle and Early Late Woodland Sites.
Taxonomic Name Common Name Sites
Marmota monax Woodchuck 2
Odocoileous virginianus White-tailed deer 1,2
Procyon lotor Raccoon 2
Sciurus spp. Squirrel 2
Sylvilagus sp. Rabbit 2
Ursus americanus Black Bear 1
Land Snail --- 2
Unidentified Bird --- 1,2
Unidentified Bone --- 3,4,5
Unidentified Fish --- 5
Key:
1-Fortin II, Middle Woodland component (Funk 1998a).
2-Street, Middle and early Late Woodland components (Moeller n.d.; Starna and Gutierrez 1980; Wellman 1998).
3-Fortin II, early Late Woodland component (Funk 1993, 1998a).
4-Sternberg, Middle Woodland component (Funk 1993, 1998b).
5-Otego Yard, Late Woodland component (Hartgen Archaeological Associates, Inc., 1988).
Charred chenopodium seeds were recovered from
the Ouleout, Street, and Otego Yard sites (Hartgen
Archaeological Associates, Inc., 1989:34, 1998:109;
Wellman 1998). Although archaeologists currently
believe that chenopodium was domesticated in the
American Midcontinent by 3000 B.P. (George and
Dewar 1999:133), there is currently no evidence to suggest
that chenopodium was a prehistoric cultigen in
the Upper Susquehanna Valley. Rather, these plants
probably represent wild specimens that were collected
by local populations during the late fall and/or early
winter months. Despite their presence elsewhere in the
Susquehanna Valley, other crops (such as squash and
beans) are also absent in the floral assemblages of the
sites in the Oneonta-Worchester area. While we cannot
say for sure why squash does not appear in the floral
assemblages of these sites, the absence of beans is probably
related to its late appearance in the Susquehanna
Valley (see Hart and Scarry 1999).
The acidic soils of the region have severely limited
the amount of animal bone and shell preserved at
these sites (Table 11.6). As a result, only general statements
about the types of animals that were hunted
can be made at this time. Among the identifiable specimens
recovered from these sites were woodchuck
(Marmota monax), white-tailed deer (Odocoileous virginianus),
raccoon (Procyon lotor), squirrel (Sciurus
spp.), rabbit (Sylvialagus sp.), and black bear (Ursus
americanus). Although many of these animals would
have been available year-round, Funk (1993) and
Versaggi (1987) suggest that the local exploitation of
white-tailed deer probably occurred during the fall,
since the junction of the Schenevus and Susquehanna
Rivers would have been a prime aggregation site.
Calcined bone from one or more avian specimens
was recovered from the late Middle Woodland component
at the Fortin II site and the late Middle and
early Late Woodland components at the Street site.
However, due to their small size and poor preservation,
identification of these remains to species could
not be made (Funk 1993; Funk 1998a:76). It seems likely
that their absence is a result of the region’s acidic
soils and not a lack of exploitation, since the local
environment around Worchester would have supported
many aquatic and avian species.
Artifacts
Artifacts from late Middle and early Late
Woodland sites also provide us with information
about prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns.
Chipped- and ground-stone tools comprise the majority
of the artifacts recovered from these small sites.
Overall, the tool kits indicate that tasks associated
with hunting and hide processing were occurring at
several of these sites. Tool kits composed of Jack’s
Reef and Levanna projectile points, small end- and
side-scrapers, knives, and other chipped-stone tools
were recovered from the Ouleout (Hartgen
Archaeological Associates, Inc, 1989:33), Hudson
Lake (Snethkamp 1976), Fortin II (Funk 1998a), SUBi-
136 (Wanser 1978:64-65), Sternberg (1998b),
Adequentaga (Raemsch 1970:10), and Broe Pasture
sites (Weide and Murray 1974), and point to the
220 Rieth