Projectile point found in the Great Swamp Conservancy dig. Stone Tools and Projectile Points, Artifacts from the Great Swamp
As the winter snows melt away, for some, thoughts often drift to getting back out on the land to work the soil. That’s certainly the case with Jesse Bergevin, historic resources specialist with the Oneida Indian Nation. He spent the winter looking over artifacts, some of them gathered during the Oneida Nation’s Summer Youth Work Program’s Archaeology Dig at the Great Swamp Conservancy just north of Canastota in Madison County. The dig this past summer uncovered pieces of stone tools and projectile points dating from 300 to 3,000 years ago. “This was certainly more than we expected to find,” said Bergevin. “The site the group explored was quite informative in that it produced more than just a scattering of artifacts. It looks like these came from a site with a hearth-like feature,” which Bergevin says is an area that is slightly elevated from others in the Great Swamp. This leads to speculation that it may have been a camp site that was used over and over again where they may have worked with their tools around a camp fire. According to Bergevin, “It would have been a perfect spot for hunting.”
While this year’s youth project has not been officially announced, Bergevin hopes the group will be able to get out on the same site again this coming summer. He said this one is “deep enough that we can pick up on the site features,” and hopefully it will yield even more artifacts like those they found in the summer 2009 dig. Most PopularInformation, photos, video or graphics from www.OneidaIndianNation.com may not be republished, uploaded, posted or distributed in any way without the prior approval of Oneida Indian Nation Communications. Permission is for one time use only. Any use of this material must be credited to: Oneida Indian Nation.
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