Radiocarbon Dates on Samples from New York State

Extract

Radiocarbon dates on charcoal samples from New York State have added significant new data to our knowledge of previously little known factors of chronology and continuity in the area. The dates have provided the lower portions of an apparently valid time scale upon which may be reared a more realistic three-dimensional picture of the prehistoric events of this portion of the United States.

Sample 191 was excavated by the writer from a hearth situated in the deepest refuse level in trench 4, section 4, of the Frontenac Island site, Cayuga County (Ritchie, 1945, pp. 6, 115, Plate 115). At Frontenac Island, an occupational component referable to the Lamoka focus appeared to precede the coming of Laurentian brachycephals with their specific cultural complex. The subsequent interaction of the two discrete peoples and cultures was evident in the physical remains, burial modes, and character of grave goods. The hearth, found on the lower level of the site, is presumed to pertain to the initial Lamoka- Laurentian contact. The radiocarbon dating yielded an antiquity of 4930 ± 260 years of elapsed time.