A Long-Term Prehistoric Occupation in the Hudson Valley
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works School of Arts & Sciences Theses Hunter College Spring 4-23-2018 The Roscoe Perry House Site: A Long-Term Prehistoric Occupation in the Hudson Valley Dylan C. Lewis CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/339 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] The Roscoe Perry House Site: A Long-Term Prehistoric Occupation in the Hudson Valley by Dylan C. F. Lewis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology, Hunter College The City University of New York 2018 Thesis Sponsor: April 23, 2018 Dr. William J Parry Date Signature April 23, 2018 Dr. Joseph Diamond Date Signature of Second Reader Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Dr. Joseph Diamond for providing me with a well excavated and informative archaeological collection from the SUNY New Paltz Collection. Without which I would have been unable to conduct research in the Hudson Valley. I would like to thank Dr. William Parry for so generously taking me on as a graduate student. His expertise in lithics has been invaluable. Thank you Glen Kolyer for centering me and helping me sort through the chaos of a large collection. Frank Spada generously gave his time to help sort through the debitage. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife to be for supporting me through the entire process. 1 Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Photographs 1. Introduction_______________________________________________________ 5 a. Background__________________________________________________5 b. Site Setting___________________________________________________7 c. Historical Context_____________________________________________9 2. Environment_______________________________________________________12 a. Geology_____________________________________________________12 b. Chert_______________________________________________________14 c. Clay________________________________________________________17 d. Regional Climate_____________________________________________18 3. Excavation Methods________________________________________________20 a. Stratigraphy_________________________________________________24 4. Excavation Results__________________________________________________26 a. Projectile Points and Chert Tools_______________________________29 b. Grooved Stone Tools__________________________________________38 c. Debitage____________________________________________________40 d. Ceramics____________________________________________________48 5. Discussion/Conclusion_______________________________________________53 a. Phases______________________________________________________53 b. Gaps in Evidence_____________________________________________54 c. Evidence of Activities Over Time_______________________________55 d. Population___________________________________________________57 2 e. Conclusion___________________________________________________59 6. References_________________________________________________________61 Appendix A: Stone Tool Artifacts _____________________________________69 Appendix B: Prehistoric Pottery_______________________________________75 List of Figures Figure 1: 2017 Google Earth aerial of southeast Kingston Source: 2017 Google Maps Figure 2: 2016 Kingston East USGS Topographic Map Figure 3: 1853 Map of Ulster County, New York by P.B. Brink & O.J. Tillson, publishers. Figure 4: USGS Geology bedrock of the greater Kingston area Figure 5: USGS bedrock geology near the Perry Site. Figure 6: Grid of Roscoe Perry House excavation indicating unit provenience. List of Tables Table 1: Lithic Artifacts from Brown Sandy Sod (BSS) Table 2: Lithic Artifacts from Medium Brown Sand (MBS) Table 3: Lithic Artifacts from Medium Yellow Brown Sand (MYBS) Table 4: Percent of Artifact Lithic Source by Stratum Table 5: Count of Lithic Type and Debitage Function in Brown Sandy Sod Table 6: Count of Lithic Type and Debitage Function in Medium Brown Sand Table 7: Count of Lithic Type and Debitage Function in Medium Yellow Brown Sand Table 8: Count of Lithic Type and Debitage Function in Dark Sand Table 9: Percent of Flake Category by Stratum Table 10: Percent of Debitage Lithic Category by Stratum Table 11: Percent of Ceramic Type by Stratum Table 12: Prehistoric Pottery Found by Stratum List of Photographs Photo 1: Excavation of a unit on the border of the Perry and Hendrickson House properties. Photo 2: Charleston Cornered Notched (MYBS) Mount Merino; Otter Creek (MBS) Mount Merino (patinated); Brewerton Cornered Notched (MBS) Mount Merino (patinated); Vosburg (MYBS) Mount Merino; Orient Fishtail (MYBS) Western Onondaga; Brewerton Side Notched (MYBS) Esopus; Brewerton Eared (MBS) Eastern Onondaga; Snook Kill (MYBS) Mount Merino (patinated). Photo 3: Assorted Levanna Points from top left to bottom right Eastern Onondaga (BSS), Western Onondaga (BSS), Eastern Onondaga (BSS), Western Onondaga (BSS), Mount Merino (BSS), Western Onondaga (BSS), Eastern Onondaga (BSS), Esopus(BSS), Esopus (BSS), Eastern Onondaga (MBS), Esopus (BSS), Esopus (MBS). Photo 4: Biface (MBS) Indian River, Bare Island (MBS) Eastern Onondaga, Bare Island (MYBS) Eastern Onondaga, Drill (MBS) Mount Merino (patinated), Biface (MBS) Mount Merino, Orient Fishtail (MBS) Western Onondaga, Otter Creek (MBS) Eastern Onondaga, Meadowood (MYBS) Esopus, Fox Creek (MBS) Western Onondaga , Drill (re-purposed) (BSS) Esopus, Drill (re-purposed) (MBS) Esopus. 3 Photo 5: Scraper (BSS) Eastern Onondaga, Utilized Flake (MBS) Esopus, Scraper (MBS) Eastern Onondaga, Scraper (BSS) Western Onondaga, Scraper (BSS) Mount Merino (patinated), Scraper (MYBS) Esopus, Drill (BSS) Western Onondaga, Knife (MBS) Indian River, Knife (BSS) Mount Marino, Knife (BSS) Eastern Onondaga, Biface (BSS) Esopus, Knife (BSS) Esopus, Knife (MBS) Mount Merino, Knife (MBS) Mount Merino , Knife (MBS) Mount Merino. Photo 6: Smooth Bodied (MBS), Corded (BSS), Corded (MBS), Smooth Bodied (BSS), Unknown (MBS), Wickham Punctate (MYBS), Incised (MBS), Child’s Pot (MYBS). 4 The Roscoe Perry House Site: A Long-Term Prehistoric Occupation in the Hudson Valley Introduction This report analyzes the stored collection of artifacts excavated from the backyard of a historic house overlooking the Rondout Creek and the Hudson River. This is a multicomponent site that spans much of the Holocene. This site contains fifteen archaeological phases ranging from the Early Archaic to the Contact Period. There is a large quantity of prehistoric material, most of which was recovered within a document context. The site has remarkable stratification and preserved the prehistoric contexts well. This material has been in storage at SUNY New Paltz and has not been analyzed for nearly thirty years. The collection adds to the significance of the Hendrickson Site which was excavated by Dr. Leonard Eisenberg on the adjacent property. This was the first major prehistoric site recovered within the city boundaries of Kingston, NY. The surrounding landscape has a rich diversity of available lithic material. Utilizing the lithic tools and the associated debitage this paper will illustrate how people interacted with the surrounding land and distant peoples. These variables will provide insight on population size, activity patterns and changing environmental conditions. Though this site was excavated in conjunction with Dr. Leonard Eisenberg’s methodology, this paper will utilize current analytical techniques for identifying and classifying debitage which will bolster the understanding of how the site was used. Background The Roscoe Perry House Archaeological Site was excavated by the New York State Archaeological Association (NYSAA) Mid-Hudson Chapter, an avocational archaeological organization in the summer of 1985. At the time of the excavation this was the first prehistoric woodland village to be excavated in the City of Kingston. This site was excavated in 5 conjunction with the Hendrickson Site on the adjacent property, which at the time was being excavated by SUNY New Paltz under direction of Dr. Leonard Eisenberg. Both properties are located on the first terrace overlooking the confluence of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River and contained extensive prehistoric material. The New York State Archaeological Association is comprised of sixteen chapters located throughout the State of New York. They are a professional and public advocacy group who provide laymen with responsible archaeological information, as well as, provide standards for archaeologists across the state. They promote scientific cataloging and the preservation of private archaeological collections, as well as encourage reporting sites to the New York State Museum and the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. NYSAA makes it possible for people interested in the archaeological heritage of New York State to be responsibly involved. During the summer of 1985, Art Carver, Tom Turck, Frank Parslow, Jack Vargo, Donna Vargo, Richard Stewart, David Wanzer, and Alvin Wanzer excavated four 2 meter square units in the yard of the Perry family. They utilized Dr. Leonard Eisenberg’s archaeological grid that was established the previous year on the adjacent Hendrickson property. The Hendrickson site was the location of the 1984, 1985, and 1986 SUNY New Paltz Field Schools and contained twenty-three