Native American Archaeology

In September, NYSM archaeologists completed the 2018 excavations at the OPS Paleoindian site in Madison County, New York. The OPS site has yielded fluted points of the Crowfield "style," indicating an early Native American encampment dating to the late Ice Age, circa 12,000-11,600 years ago. Working in collaboration with the site discoverers, Mike Beardsley and Mark Clymer, and volunteer archaeologists from across New York, we completed close-interval shovel testing at the site, and then conducted block excavations. This work produced endscrapers, a graver, and broken preforms and flaking debris from fluted point manufacture, documenting an ancient activity area at this Paleoindian encampment. Esopus chert dominates the artifact assemblage, suggesting these peoples travelled seasonally between outcrops of this toolstone in the Mohawk Valley and the Ontario Lake plain. We look forward to field excavations in June and September 2019, and individuals interested in volunteering should contact Dr. Jonathan Lothrop, NYSM curator of archaeology: Jonathan.Lothrop@nysed.gov