Phase 1B Underwater Archaeological Report for the Onondaga ...

FINAL
Phase IB Underwater Archaeological Resources Report for Onondaga Lake Superfund Site
1898), and that prior to the nineteenth century the lake level may have been approximately 365 to 369
feet (113 to 112.5m) ASL. 21
Construction of the Oswego Canal in the 1810s and 1820s along the eastern shore of the lake required
the marshy shoreline to be reinforced with timber. Various mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century
maps indicate that the reclaimed shoreline along the southern and southeastern part of the lake was
anywhere from 200 to 3000 feet (61 to 914m) inland from the contemporary shoreline. 22 A 1908
Hopkins map identified areas of “reclaimed land,” and the original shoreline of the southern part of the
lake as approximately 300 to 1000 feet (91 to 305m) inland of the contemporary shoreline. The 1908
Hopkins map is also the first to indicate that the Solvay Process Company began placing waste into and
along the shoreline of Onondaga Lake. Along Lake View Point, the Solvay Company had piled waste over
80 feet (24.4m) high in the mid-twentieth century, greatly altering the shoreline in that area. 23
Other parts of the Onondaga Lake shoreline were greatly altered during the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century. The construction of docks, wharves, roads and railroads, the dredging of basins,
alterations made to river courses, and the placing of industrial waste along the shore all contributed to
changes in the contours and depth of Onondaga Lake for well over a century. In particular, in 1915
Onondaga Lake level was raised to accommodate the construction of the New York State Barge Canal.
In 1929, the mouth of Nine Mile Creek was moved west of Lake View Point. Additionally, in 1977, 3.7
acres (1.5 hectares) of the southwestern part of the lake were filled in by the county. Today, at an
elevation of 363 feet (110.6m) ASL, it is proposed that Onondaga Lake is 2 to 3 feet (.61 to .91m) lower
than the lake level prior to modifications which began in 1822. 24
PRE-CONTACT PERIOD MARITIME CONTEXT
The Phase IA Archaeological Report provides an overview of the Pre-contact context for New York State
and the primary patterns of pre-contact Native American land-use in the region. 25 The broader precontact
period is divided into two eras based on subsistence practices: the hunter-gatherer/preagricultural
subsistence era (12,000 BP to 1100 BP) and the agricultural/hunter-gatherer subsistence era
(1100 to 350 BP). These pre-contact eras are further classified based on pre-contact periods established
by Ritchie. 26
Throughout all of the pre-contact eras, waterways of the Northeast were important landscape features
in relation to subsistence (fishing and animal migrations), travel (watercraft) and settlement patterns.
Native American groups relied on drainages and water courses during the highly mobile Paleoindian and
Archaic periods, as well as during the sedentary periods when settlements were established near water
courses and lakes or coastlines. What follows is a brief outline of the primary pre-contact periods
identified for New York State, with a focus on the maritime context for each period. More specifically,
this context will focus on the archaeological evidence for maritime resource procurement and the use of
watercraft. For a more in-depth discussion of general material culture and settlement patterns see
Hohman. 27
Paleoindian Period (12,000 to 9,500 BP)
During the Paleoindian Period (12,000 to 9,500 BP) the Onondaga Lake area was submerged below proglacial
Lake Iroquois. As the continental glaciers receded to the north, and Lake Iroquois drained,
smaller lakes, like Onondaga Lake, Oneida Lake and the Finger Lakes were established in small lowland
depressions within the Oneida Lake Plain. Throughout this time of major environmental transition,
Paleoindian hunter-gatherers adapted their migrations and movements to this evolving landscape.
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