Appendix H - Historical Archaeological and ... - CBP.gov

Ritchie and Funk, 1973:97). Graves were frequently accompanied by red ocher (Ritchie and
Funk, 1973:97). Also, as with Glacial Kame burial practices, some Early Woodland graves and
cemeteries in New York are on natural knolls and many items are made from exotic raw
materials. Examples of Early Woodland Adena-like cemeteries and burial sites include Vine
Valley, Morrow, and Palatine Bridge in New York (Funk, 1983:312-313, 335; Granger,
1978a:100). Most of these burial sites tend to be on “terraces of major streams or near large
deep water lakes in the Erie-Ontario Lowland Zone” (Granger, 1978a:100; see also Ritchie and
Funk, 1973:348).
Less is known about Early Woodland settlement and subsistence patterns in New York than
burial practices (Funk, 1973:336; Granger, 1978a:96). However, at least two archaeological
cultures, typically designated as the Meadowood and Middlesex phases (Ritchie, 1980; Meyer-
Oakes, 1955:58), were closely associated with elements of Adena in the state (Granger 1978a).
Middlesex refers to sites with Adena-like burials, as well as assemblages from non-burial
contexts that include Adena artifacts (Funk, 1983:335). Meadowood phase sites have yielded
more data concerning settlement and subsistence than those from the Middlesex. These sites are
primarily clustered in central and western New York and are generally found adjacent to major
streams and lakes, although some are known from areas near wetlands and smaller water bodies.
Typical artifact assemblages include: early pottery (primarily the Vinette I type - conoidal-based,
“unornamented,” straight-sided pots, cord-roughened on the entirety of their interiors and
exteriors (Ritchie and MacNeish, 1949:100); diagnostic Meadowood-style projectile points
(Justice, 1995:170-172; Ritchie, 1971:35-36); other tools such as drills and scrapers with bases
suggesting they are re-worked projectile points; anvilstones; abrading stones; hammerstones;
cigar/tube-shaped smoking pipes; birdstones; and gorgets (Funk, 1983:335; Ritchie, 1980:191-
196). Some sites have produced data suggesting oblong house forms measuring about 4 m by 5
m (12 ft by 16 ft) (Ritchie and Funk, 1973:107; Stothers and Abel, 1993:33, 62-63). Fragments
of basketry and fish nets have also been found (Ritchie, 1980:194-195). Burials with Adena-like
qualities are also sometimes present. Example sites include: Riverhaven No. 2, Vinette, Scaccia,
and Sinking Ponds (Funk, 1983:335; Granger, 1978b; Ritchie, 1980:190-191; Ritchie and Funk,
1973:96).
Middle Woodland
In New York, the appearance of several types of decorated ‘post-Vinette I’ ceramic vessels
around 2,000 B.P. marks the beginning of the Middle Woodland (Kostiw, 1995). In areas to the
southwest, the period is associated with the appearance of the ‘Hopewell Interaction Sphere,’ a
phenomenon largely defined by the presence of earthworks and burial mounds sometimes
including lavish quantities of exotic grave goods. Hopewell-like mounds and artifacts are found
in western and central New York, but they did not appear there until several centuries after their
beginnings in Ohio. In New York, the Middle Woodland extends to 1,000 B.P.
Hopewell-like burial mounds in western and central New York are up to 50 ft in diameter and 9
ft in height. Burials were inside stone slab cists and were typically extended; cremated remains
of other individuals are occasionally found in the mounds outside the cists (Ritchie, 1980:227).
Among the elaborate grave goods found in the mounds are: platform pipes (made from both
‘Ohio fireclay’ and local materials), some with animal effigies; slate pendants; red and yellow
ocher; two-holed gorgets; copper beads, ear spools, breast ornaments, celts, and awls; copper or
silver panpipe covers; stone celts and adzes; prismatic flake knives; and projectile points (some
Northern Border Activities H-23 July 2012