Paleoindian Landscapes in Southeastern and Central New York

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 1957 and 1969, William A. Ritchie published data on geographic distributions of Paleoindian sites and points in the New York region. Discrete clusters of fluted bifaces and Paleoindian sites were apparent, variously associated with proglacial lake plains, bedrock lithic sources and other late Pleistocene landscapes. Since 2009, as part of the New York Paleoindian Database Project (NYPID), New York State Museum (NYSM) researchers and colleagues have been working with individuals and institutions to augment these early data sets on Paleoindian points and sites across the state. Our current research, focused on southeastern and central New York, substantiates the Paleoindian point/site clusters recorded by Ritchie in these two areas. Documenting settlement during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, these point/site clusters are associated with former proglacial lake footprints in the Wallkill Valley and the Ontario Lowlands, respectively. These expanding data sets on the distribution, chronology, and lithic raw materials of these Paleoindian point and site clusters shed new light on the distinctive histories of early human occupation in these two sub-regions of New York.