Recently, Curtin Archaeological Consulting, Inc. has completed a final report on Phase 1 archaeological surveys, Phase 2 archaeological site evaluations, and Phase 3 data recovery projects conducted over a period of several years in the Vosburg Site Archaeological District, Town of Guilderland, Albany County, New York. This district contains the Vosburg site, one of the most important Archaic period sites in New York State, and sits between a significant pine barrens– the Albany Pine Bush– and Normanskill Creek. The projectile point type names “Vosburg” and “Normanskill” derive from early 20th century investigations in this area.
Shaping the Forest with Fire—A Very Old Native American Practice
The Early Archaic Period and the “Missing 2000 Years” in Hudson Valley Prehistory
The “Missing 2000 Years” refers to the period 8,000-10,000 years before present (BP). The former New York State Archaeologist Robert E. Funk (2004:130) used this concept to refer to the poorly known Early Archaic period.
1491 and 1493: A Review and Preview
Environment Change in Northern New York: Was it the Little Ice Age or Iroquois Forest Clearing?
Recent articles and press releases have reported the Delaware valley study by Stinchcomb et al (2011) in which multidisciplinary research was able to conclude that Native Americans in the last 1,000 or so years had significantly changed the environment through forest clearing practices related to agriculture.
Recent Investigation Shows Effects of Ancient Native American Forest Clearing
Last summer I wrote about ancient forest clearing practices of American Indians in the Eastern Woodlands region, particularly in reference to the Mohawk and Hudson valleys of New York State. I focused especially on sites of archaeological and geological data recovery in New York’s Capital District, such as the Goldkrest site in East Greenbush and Collins Lake near Schenectady.
Forest Burning and Clearing by Hudson Valley Indians 1000 Years Ago
In describing and interpreting the results of her investigation of the Goldkrest Site near Albany, New York, archaeologist Lucianne Lavin (2004) referred to the radiocarbon dating of burned soil patches with associated charcoal as evidence of forest clearing through the use of fire. This evidence was found near the transition between soil strata that indicated a stabilizing landscape about AD 1000. The implication of this information is that as floods became less frequent and less violent due to changes in the Hudson River channel; this section of the Hudson River floodplain became more attractive for gardening to the ancestors of the Mohican Indians.
Did Climate Change Affect the Hudson Valley, AD 800-1300?
In the Hudson Valley, archaeological sites dating to the period AD 1000-1300 appear to be scarce, or at least relatively invisible to archaeologists. This trend had been noted, for example, by former New York State Archaeologist Robert E. Funk (1976), and has continued to hold through the era of more recent archaeological research and Cultural Resource Management studies. Could the Medieval Warm Period have affected Hudson Valley Native American populations in some significant way, such as causing population decline, out-migration, or a reorganization of settlement patterns?