Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T13:40:55.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fifty Years of Archaeology in the Northeastern United States: A Retrospect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William A. Ritchie
William A. Ritchie*
Affiliation:
21 Pine Street, Delmar, NY 12054
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Our editor has asked me to prepare a personal account of the most important processes and events that affected the archaeology of the northeastern United States during the last 50 years. This is no small undertaking, considering that the larger part of our knowledge of the prehistory of this area has accumulated during that time. Moreover, because the inception of my service in unraveling the prehistoric events in the Northeast precedes the period by a decade, it may be difficult to confine my summary to post-1935. As a further complication, my recollections, especially of the precise ordering of the theoretical deliberations, may not be wholly consonant with those of some of my colleagues. Nevertheless, I offer the following necessarily very concise summation.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , April 1985 , pp. 412 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Adovasio, J. M., Gunn, J. D., Donahue, J., and Stuckenrath, R. 1977 Progress Report on the Meadowcroft Rockshelter—A 16, 000 Year Chronicle. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 137–159.Google Scholar
Adovasio, J. M., Donahue, J., Cushman, K., Carlisle, R. C., Stuckenrath, R., Gunn, J. D., and Johnson, W. C. 1983 Evidence from Meadowcroft Rochshelter. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Shutler, Richard Jr., pp. 163–189. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills.Google Scholar
Berger, Rainer 1983 New Dating Techniques. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Richard, Shutler Jr., pp. 159–161. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Bolian, Charles E. 1980 The Early and Middle Archaic of the Lakes Region, New Hampshire. In Early and Middle Archaic Cultures of the Northeast, edited by R. Starbuck, David and Charles, E. Bolian. Occasional Publications in Northeastern Anthropology 7 : 115–130. Rindge, New Hampshire.Google Scholar
Broyles, Bettye J. 1971 Second Preliminary Report : The St. Albans Site, Kanawha County, West Virginia, 1964-1968. West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Report of Archaeological Investigations 3. Morgantown.Google Scholar
Byers, Douglas S. 1954 Bull Brook—A Fluted Point Site in Ipswich, Massachusetts. American Antiquity 19 : 343–351.Google Scholar
Byers, Douglas S. 1955 Additional Information on the Bull Brook Site, Massachusetts. American Antiquity 20 : 274–276.Google Scholar
Calkin, Parker E., and Miller, Kathleen E. 1977 Late Quaternary Environments and Man in Western New York. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 297–315.Google Scholar
Chapman, Jefferson 1977 Archaic Period Research in the Lower Little Tennessee River Valley. University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations No. 18. Knoxville.Google Scholar
Coe, Joffre L. 1964 The Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, N. S. 54(5). Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cross, Dorothy 1941 The Archaeology of New Jersey, vol. I. The Archeological Society of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton.Google Scholar
Cross, Dorothy 1956 The Archaeology of New Jersey, vol. II. The Archeological Society of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Museum, Trenton.Google Scholar
Curran, Mary Lou, and Dincauze, Dena F. 1977 Paleoindians and Paleo-Lakes : New Data from the Connecticut Drainage. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 333–348. New York.Google Scholar
Dincauze, Dena F. 1968 Cremation Cemeteries in Eastern Massachusetts. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 59(1). Cambridge.Google Scholar
Dincauze, Dena F. 1975 The Late Archaic Period in Southern New England. Arctic Anthropology 12(2) : 23–34.Google Scholar
Dincauze, Dena F. 1976 The Neville Site : 8, 000 Years at Amoskeag, Manchester, New Hampshire. Peabody Museum Monographs, No. 4. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Dincauze, Dena F., and Mulholland, M. J. 1977 Early and Middle Archaic Site Distributions and Habitats in Southern New England. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 439–456. New York.Google Scholar
Doyle, Richard A., Hamilton, Nathan D., Petersen, James B., and Sanger, David 1985 Late Paleo-Indian Remains from Maine and their Correlations in Northeastern Prehistory. In Archaeology of Eastern North America, edited by Gramly, Richard Michael, Eastern States Archaeological Federation, 13 : (in preparation).Google Scholar
Dumont, Elizabeth M., and Dumont, Lewis A. 1979 Of Paradigms and Projectile Points : Two Perspectives on the Early Archaic in the Northeast. The Bulletin, New York State Archaeological Association 75 : 38–52.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, Leonard 1978 Paleo-Indian Settlement Pattern in the Hudson and Delaware Drainages. Franklin Pierce College, Occasional Publications in Northeastern Anthropology No. 4.Google Scholar
Fenton, William N. 1940 Problems Arising from the Historic Northeastern Position of the Iroquois. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection 100 : 159–251.Google Scholar
Fitting, James E. 1978 Regional Cultural Development, 300 B. C. to A. D. 1, 000. In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, edited by Trigger, Bruce, pp. 44–57. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C. Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1982 The Golden Marshalltown : A Parable for the Archaeology of the 1980s. American Anthropologist 84(2) : 265–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, M. L. 1959 Summary Report of Modoc Rockshelter, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956. Report of Investigations No. 8, Illinois State Museum.Google Scholar
Fowler, William S. 1963 Classification of Stone Implements in New England. Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Bulletin 25(1).Google Scholar
Frison, George C. 1983 The Western Plains and Mountain Region. In Early Man in the New World, edited by Richard, Shutler Jr., pp. 109–124. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1972 Early Man in the Northeast and the Late-Glacial Environment. Man in the Northeast 4 : 7–39.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1976 Recent Contributions to Hudson Valley Prehistory. New York State Museum, Memoir 22. Albany.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1977a Early Cultures in the Hudson Drainage Basin. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 316–333.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1977b Early to Middle Archaic Occupations in Upstate New York. In Current Perspectives in Northeastern Archaeology; Essays in Honor of William A. Ritchie, edited by E. Funk, Robert and Hayes, Charles F. III. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 17(1) : 21–29. Rochester and Albany.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1978 Post-Pleistocene Adaptations. In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, edited by Trigger, Bruce, pp. 16–27. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1983 The Northeastern United States. In Ancient North Americans, edited by D. Jennings, Jesse, pp. 303–371. Freeman and Co.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E. 1985 Archaeological Investigations in the Upper Susquehanna Valley, New York State. New York State Museum Memoir, in preparation.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., and Schambach, Frank F. 1964 Probable Piano Points in New York State. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 34(2) : 90–93.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., Walters, George R., Ehlers, William F. Jr., , Guilday, John E., and Connally, G. Gordon 1969a The Archaeology of Dutchess Quarry Cave, Orange County, New York. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 39(1-4) : 7–22.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., Weinman, Thomas P., and Weinman, Paul L. 1969b The Kings Road Site : A Recently Discovered Paleo-Indian Manifestation in Greene County, New York. New York State Archeological Association Bulletin 45 : 1–23.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., Walters, George R., and Ehlers, William F. Jr. 1969c A Radiocarbon Date for Early Man from the Dutchess Quarry Cave. New York State Archeological Association Bulletin 46 : 19–21. Rochester.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., and Hayes, Charles F. III (editors) 1977a Current Perspectives in Northeastern Archeology, Essays in Honor of William A. Ritchie. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 17(1). Rochester and Albany.Google Scholar
Funk, Robert E., and Rippeteau, Bruce E. 1977b Adaptation, Continuity and Change in Upper Susquehanna Prehistory. Occasional Publications in Northeastern Anthropology, No. 3. George's Mills, New Hampshire. Man in the Northeast.Google Scholar
Gardner, William M. 1974 The Flint Run Complex : Pattern and Process During the Paleo-Indian to Early Archaic. In Flint Run Paleo-Indian Complex : A Preliminary Report, 1971-73 Seasons, edited by Gardner, W. M.. Occasional Publications No. 1, Archeology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Gramly, Richard Michael 1982 The Vail Site : A Palaeo-Indian Encampment in Maine. Bulletin of the Buffalo Museum of Science, vol. 30. Buffalo.Google Scholar
Haviland, William A., and Power, Marjory W. 1981 The Original Vermonters, Native Inhabitants Past and Present. University Press of New England and London.Google Scholar
Kent, Barry C, Smith, Ira F. III, and McCann, Catherine (editors). 1971 Foundations of Pennsylvania Prehistory. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, No. 1. Harrisburg.Google Scholar
Kinsey, W. Fred III, Kraft, Herbert C., Werner, David J., and Marchiando, Patricia 1972 Archaeology in the Upper Delaware Valley. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Anthropological Series, No. 2. Harrisburg.Google Scholar
Kraft, Herbert C. 1973 The Plenge Site : A Paleo-Indian Occupation Site in New Jersey. Archaeology of Eastern North America 1(1) : 56–117. Attleboro.Google Scholar
Kraft, Herbert C. 1977a The Paleo-Indian Sites at Port Mobil, Staten Island. In Current Perspectives in Northeastern Archeology, Essays in Honor of William A. Ritchie, edited by E. Funk, Robert and Charles, F. Hayes III. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 17(1) : 1–19. Rochester and Albany.Google Scholar
Kraft, Herbert C. 1977b Paleoindians in New Jersey. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 264–281. New York.Google Scholar
Lenig, Donald 1965 The Oak Hill Horizon and Its Relation to the Development of Five Nations Iroquois Culture. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 15(1). Albany.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. M. N., and Kneberg, Madeline 1959 The Archaic Culture in the Middle South. American Antiquity 25 : 161–183.Google Scholar
Mac Donald, George F. 1968 Debert : A Paleo-Indian Site in Central Nova Scotia. National Museum of Canada, Anthropology Papers No. 16. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Mac Neish, Richard S. 1952 Iroquois Pottery Types. National Museum of Canada, Bulletin 124. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Mason, Ronald J. 1981 Great Lakes Archaeology. New World Archaeological Record : 111–126. Academic Press.Google Scholar
McKern, W. C. 1939 The Midwestern Taxonomic Method as an Aid to Archaeological Culture Study. American Antiquity 4(4) : 310–313. Menasha.Google Scholar
McNett, Charles W. Jr., McMillan, Barbara A., and Marshall, Sydne B. 1977 The Shawnee-Minisink Site. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 282–296. New York.Google Scholar
Michels, Joseph, and Smith, Ira F. 1967 Archaeological Investigations of Sheep Rock Shelter, Huntington County, Pennsylvania. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, vols. 1 and 2.Google Scholar
Moeller, Roger W. 1980 6LF21 a Paleo-Indian Site in Western Connecticut. American Indian Archaeological Institute, Occasional Paper No. 2. Washington, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Moorehead, Warren K. 1922 A Report on the Archaeology of Maine. Department of Archaeology, Phillips Academy.Google Scholar
Muller, Ernest H. 1977 Late Glacial and Early Postglacial Environments in Western New York. In Amerinds and Their Paleoenvironments in Northeastern North America, edited by S. Newman, Walter and Salwen, Bert. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 288 : 223–233.Google Scholar
Parker, Arthur C. 1916 The Origin of the Iroquois as Suggested by Their Archeology. American Anthropologist 18 : 479–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, Arthur C. 1922 The Archeological History of New York. New York State Museum, Bulletins Nos. 235-238. Albany.Google Scholar
Robbins, Maurice 1960 Wapanucket No. 6. An Archaic Village in Middleboro, Massachusetts. Cohannet Chapter, Massachusetts Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Robbins, Maurice 1980 Wapanucket. Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Attleboro.Google Scholar
Robbins, Maurice, and Agogino, George 1964 The Wapanucket No. 8 Site : A Clovis-Archaic Site in Massachusetts. American Antiquity 29(4) : 509–513.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1932 The Lamoka Lake Site. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 7(4). Rochester.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1936a A Prehistoric Fortified Village Site at Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York. Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences, Research Records No. 3. Rochester.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1936b New Evidence Relating to the Archaic Occupation of New York. Researches and Transactions of the New York State Archeological Association 8(1). Rochester.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1938 A Perspective of Northeastern Archaeology. American Antiquity 4(2) : 94–112. Menasha.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1944 The Pre-Iroquoian Occupations of New York State. Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences, Memoir 1. Rochester.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1945 An Early Site in Cayuga County, New York. Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences, Research Records No. 7. Rochester.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1951 A Current Synthesis of New York Prehistory. American Antiquity 17(2) : 130–136. Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1952 The Chance Horizon, an Early Stage of Mohawk Iroquois Cultural Development. New York State Museum, Circular 29. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1953 A Probable Paleo-Indian Site in Vermont. American Antiquity 23(3) : 249–258.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1955 Recent Discoveries Suggesting an Early Woodland Burial Cult in the Northeast. New York State Museum and Science Service, Circular 40. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1956 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in Northeastern North America. In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the New World, edited by R. Willey, Gordon, pp. 72–80. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1957 Traces of Early Man in the Northeast. New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin 358.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1959 The Stony Brook Site and Its Relation to Archaic and Transitional Cultures on Long Island. New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin No. 372. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1961 A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points. New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin 384. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1965 The Archaeology of New York State. Natural History Press, Garden City.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1969a The Archaeology of New York State. Revised. Natural History Press, Garden City.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1969b The Archaeology of Martha's Vineyard. A Framework for the Prehistory of Southern New England. Natural History Press, Garden City.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1971a A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points. Revised. New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin 384. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1971b The Archaic in New York. New York State Archeological Association Bulletin 52 : 2–12.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1974 Reminiscences of a Prehistorian. New York State Archeological Association Bulletin 61 : 11–19.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A. 1980 The Archaeology of New York State. Revised. Harbor Hill Books, Harrison, New York.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A., and Neish, Richard S. Mac 1949 The Pre-Iroquoian Pottery of New York State. American Antiquity 15 : 97–124.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A., and Dragoo, Don W. 1960 The Eastern Dispersal of Adena. New York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin No. 379. Albany.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A., and Funk, Robert E. 1971 Evidence for Early Archaic Occupations on Staten Island. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 41(3) : 45–59.Google Scholar
Ritchie, William A., and Funk, Robert E. 1973 Aboriginal Settlement Patterns in the Northeast. New York State Museum and Science Service, Memoir 20. Albany.Google Scholar
Sanger, David 1979 Discovering Maine's Archaeological Heritage. Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Augusta.Google Scholar
Smith, Carlyle Shreeve 1950 The Archaeology of Coastal New York. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 43 : 2.Google Scholar
Snow, Dean R. 1978 Late Prehistory of the East Coast. In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, edited by Trigger, Bruce, pp. 58–69. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Snow, Dean R. 1980 The Archaeology of New England. New World Archaeological Record. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Taylor, Walter W. 1948 A Study of Archaeology. American Anthropologist, Memoir 69. Menasha.Google Scholar
Thomas, Peter A., and Robinson, Brian 1980 The John's Bridge Site : VT-FR-69. University of Vermont, Department of Anthropology, Report No. 28. Burlington.Google Scholar
Tuck, James A. 1978 Regional Culture Development, 3, 000 to 300 B. C. In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15, edited by Trigger, Bruce, pp. 28–43. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Robert, Wauchope (editor) 1956 Seminars in Archaeology : 1955. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 11.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. 1953 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Viru Valley. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 155.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. (editor) 1956 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the New World. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology 23. New York.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R., and Phillips, Philip 1958 Method and Theory in American Archaeology. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Willoughby, Charles C. 1935 Antiquities of the New England Indians. Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Witthoft, John 1952 A Paleo-Indian Site in Eastern Pennsylvania : An Early Hunting Culture. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 96 : 464–495.Google Scholar
Wormington, H. Marie 1957 Ancient Man in America. Denver Museum of Natural History, Popular Series 4. Denver.Google Scholar