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Return to Tivoli Bays Index PageSouth Cruger Island Site (Ctl 11-3)by William A. Ritchie, State ArchaeologistNew York State Museum and Science Service Location LocationAlong the east shore of the Hudson River, one and a half miles below the village of Tivoli, in Red Hook Township, Dutchess County, a broad, marshy-based peninsula, with expanding, high, rocky terminus, juts into the river between North and South Bays. Once an island in the drowned valley of the Hudson, it has become land-linked by natural and artificial accumulations to provide a roadbed from the mainland. Sometime after its purchase in 1835 by the Cruger family, it was attached by stone causeways to two small nearby islets, the southernmost of which, separated by about 500 feet of shallow water, is the locus of the South Cruger Island site, which covers the approximately one-fourth acre comprising the southern tip. An apparently similar site, situated on the north end of the main island, was partially explored by the Hudson Valley Archeological Survey of Vassar College, 1939-40, under the direction of Dr. Mary Butler.The island group consists of shale and grit of the Upper Normanskill formation (Middle Ordovician), which outcrops as ridges along both the eastern and western sides. The strata of these ridges dip about 75° to the east, with strike a little east of north. The slopes are mantled with sand and gravel deposits of postglacial age, capped with a layer of recent humus. Both these soil layers occur on the site, which occupies a relatively low, sandy, flat area between rock ridges (see plate 23a, and figure 4). Beginning in March 1947, a series of 10 parallel trenches, 6 to 9 feet in width, was excavated across the site by James Shafer of Poughkeepsie, assisted at various times by Almon Beneway and Harold Fuller, both of Poughkeepsie, and John Losee of Red Hook, all members of the Mid-Hudson Chapter, New York State Archeological Association. In the spring of 1950, the writer, responding to Mr. Shafer's kind invitation, participated briefly in the excavations and confirmed conditions recorded for this site. Stratigraphy (See figure 4)Return to TopStratum 1. This consisted of a black humus-filled sand with a thin duff layer (A0-A1 soil), containing in some areas, particularly near the base, large quantities of trampled unionid shells, and varied in thickness from 2 inches in trenches 8-10, where the shell constituent was lacking, to 10-12 inches toward the southern end of the site. This stratum was apparently formed like stratum 1 at Lotus Point, which it also resembles in archeological content, by the concurrent accumulation of organic refuse of human habitation and vegetation under forested conditions, with the downward migration of humic acids or humates. All the Iroquoian type sherds, the pipes, bone implements, "spool-stones" and a proportionally large number of the thin, equilateral triangular arrowpoints came from this stratum which faintly records cultural evidences of the late prehistoric to the contact period, as attested by a single triangular point of sheet brass (plate 25, figure 10).Stratum 2. This, the major relic-producing horizon, consisted of reddish brown sand rather heavily charged with small water-rounded pebbles, hinting at a beach formation. It was rich in flint chips and fire-broken stones but yielded very little shell and no bone except fragments in a calcined state. Many flat, locally derived rocks, were present at the base of the deposit, which varied in thickness over the site, from approximately 2 feet at the lower or southern end to 18 inches in the northern section. A definite gray-brown podzolic soil profile could be traced in the upper portion of this stratum, where were found two body sherds of a Vinette 1 type pot (plate 26, figures 7, 8), a rim sherd with rounded lip, ornamented with rude, vertical, broad trailed lines (figure 6), and a small comb-marked body sherd. This comprised the only pottery produced by this layer. Although a beach formation was suggested by the nature of the deposit and by the wave-worn surfaces of certain of the flint objects, the island is not known to have been flooded in historic times and the elevation of the occupied area is at present some 9 feet above flood tide in the Hudson. Had occasional inundation and alluviation taken place during a higher stage of river level, hearths found in this stratum might have shown disturbance, but this was not the case. Probably the primary source of the soil materials composing stratum 2 was the similar mantle investing the adjacent rocky ridges and derived therefrom by the same process of gradual rock- and soil-creep described for the Bannerman site. Its generally like character to the latter suggests the common origin of both in the local glacial deposits of sand and gravel. It is also possible that on both the South Cruger and Bannerman sites, dwelling areas were intentionally sanded for reasons of sanitation and to insure dry floors, an expedient demonstrated at a probably contemporaneous Archaic site in central New York (Ritchie, 1940, 8-9). Stratum 3. This compact, light tan colored, apparently water-laid sand, constituted the subsoil at the site. Considerable slab-rock from the surrounding ridges occurred in the upper 12-15 inches, together with heat-shattered rocks and a thin scatter of artifacts. These did not seem to be directly associated with any of the features (pits, hearths and graves) which were intrusive into this horizon and the means of their incorporation are frankly unknown. Two deeply weathered, stemmed argillite points, the only examples from the site, were found in this stratum at depths of 42 and 30 inches from the surface, respectively (plate 25, figures 34, 40). Features (See figure 4)Return to TopThree kinds of features were noted at the South Cruger Island site, viz., pits, hearths and burials, the latter unique for the sites considered in this report.Pits Described by the excavators as fire or cooking pits, these pertained to all three horizons of the site and totaled 13. Only one (No. 1) opened from stratum 1 and penetrated deeply into stratum 2, where its outlines were clearly visible. Circular, with U-shaped bottom, it measured 23 inches in oval diameter and 34 inches in depth. No trace of fire was contained and this feature may have been a food cache pit subsequently used as a refuse repository, such as commonly occurs on Late Woodland sites (Ritchie, Lenig and Miller, 1953, pp. 8-12, 32-33). In this instance the black soil fill produced numerous unionid valves, deer and bird (duck?) bones, and two triangular arrowpoints (plate 25, figures 13, 14). Seven other pits (Nos. 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13) of smaller size had their origins at various levels within stratum 2. In this group the oval diameter ranged from 16 to 20 inches, the depth from 12 to 20 inches. The sole recorded contents consisted of burned unionid shells. Still smaller, but otherwise similar pits (Nos. 4, 5, 7, 11, 12) occurred intruded into the subsoil (stratum 3) from, apparently, the lower portion of stratum 2. The size range here was from 10 to 16 inches in diameter and 12 to 15 inches in depth. In three cases (Nos. 5, 7, 11) a basal deposit of gray ash with interspersed calcined bone fragments and heat-reddened surrounding sand seemed to identify them as cooking pits with known parallels in Archaic sites of New York and southern New England. There is also a temptation to regard the whole series of pits on this site as primarily designed for food storage, with the further supposition that the progressive size increase through time marked the change from wild vegetal resources in the lower levels to the use of corn and beans in stratum 1.
Hearths Most of these were simple fireplaces consisting of shallow basin-shaped hollows, some 12 to 15 inches in diameter and 4 to 6 inches in depth, in which a fire had been kindled upon a rough platform of cobbles, of which many were heat-shattered in situ. A comparable structure has already been described from the Bannerman site. A few larger examples seemed to represent rather carefully paved flat or depressed circular areas. Three occurred in stratum 2 (Nos. 3, 4, 6) and five in stratum 3 (Nos. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8). BurialsReturn to TopDuring 1947, while excavating trenches 3 and 4 on the west side of the site, Shafer and his friends came upon four closely grouped burials in stratum 3, each occupying a grave traceable by wall outlines for some distance into stratum 2. In every instance heavy stone slabs had been laid over the filled grave fossa. No mortuary offerings were present, but artifacts occurred in the fill of two graves.The mutual proximity of the remains and the uniformity of burial traits evince a definite cemetery and burial complex, apparently of the Laurentian inhabitants of the site, a cultural characteristic of the New York Archaic previously recorded only at Frontenac Island (Ritchie, 1945). Burial 1. Grave dimensions 45 x 22 inches, depth (from surface) 36 inches. Adult male (?) skeleton, closely flexed on left side, facing west, head to south. Very poor condition. A few inches east of the grave and 6 inches deeper in stratum 3, apparently unassociated with the burial, were found a greatly patinated purple argillite stemmed point (plate 25, figure 34) and a large triangular point, probably for a spear, of drab, lusterless quartzite (plate 25, figure 39). Burial 2. Located about 4 feet north of No. 1. Grave dimensions 30 x 20 inches, depth (from surface) 38 inches. Adult male skeleton, closely flexed on right side, facing east, head to south. Knees and hands before face, feet against pelvis. Fair to poor condition, with numerous pressure fractures. A celt with broken poll (plate 27, figure 2), a triangular knife and a broken corner-notched point were found at scattered points in the fill. (See plate 23, b.) Burial 3. Found 3 feet east of No. 2. Grave dimensions 30 x 20 inches, depth 40 inches from surface. Adult skeleton (sex ?), closely flexed on left side, facing west, head to south, hands before face. Condition very poor. Chopper (plate 27, figure 14) from near top of grave fill just under stone slabs. Burial 4. Lay about 2 feet east of No. 3. Grave dimensions 18 x 16 inches, depth from surface 32 inches. Skeleton of infant, head to south, too badly disintegrated to determine position. ArtifactsReturn to TopThe industrial content of the principal occupation zone at South Cruger Island comprises predominantly chipped flint artifacts, for the most part projectile points. Polished stone implements are relatively and absolutely scarce, rough stone implements somewhat more numerous. The total complex, as in the sites herein described, and in Laurentian stations in general, is evincive of a food-gathering economy, with major emphasis on hunting, a lesser reliance on fishing and little dependence on wild vegetal foods. The direct reversal of this sequence would afford a more accurate picture, by current knowledge, of the Lamoka economy (Ritchie, 1940, pp. 47-47, 79-85; 1932, pp. 98-110; n.d. b).Another typical feature of this complex is the absence of pottery, the few sherds derived from the top of stratum 2 pertaining either to brief contacts by the later inhabitants with Early Woodland period cultures or to very temporary use of the site by immigrant groups during this period. The occurrence only of calcined bone and the poor state of preservation of the human remains argue for the decay of the products of a bone industry, probably owing to soil acidity, but the testimony of the other sites herein discussed, where soil conditions were obviously more propitious, sustains the prevailing evidence from central New York showing the relatively and absolutely feeble bone industry of the Laurentian as contrasted with both earlier and later cultures in the central, northern and western New York areas (Ritchie, 1932, 1940, 1944). In eastern and coastal New York, however, for inexplicable reasons, a weak industry in bone and antler seems to characterize sites of all cultures prior to Late Woodland times (Ritchie, 1944, pp. 102-106; Smith, 1950). Artifact InventoryReturn to TopChipped Stone Comparisons and ConclusionsReturn to TopIn November 1955, the cataloged collection of South Cruger Island artifacts, inventoried above, was generously donated to the New York State Museum by Mr. Shafer. The distributional analysis made by the writer reveals no significant horizontal variation and only a slight percental frequency difference as a function of depth, within the formal projectile point series below stratum 1. The assemblage from these deeper layers of the site, as already indicated, conforms on the whole to the Vosburg complex of the Laurentian tradition, as previously and herein described (Ritchie, 1944, pp. 257-259, Ritchie, 1969, figure 5.)As stated in the description of the upper soil layer, Iroquoian style potsherds were present in stratum 1, and these can readily be identified with early and middle prehistoric Mohawk types, viz., Oak Hill Corded (plate 25, figure 2) and Cayadutta Incised (figures 3-5). The 7 rim and 60 body sherds of this group were recovered from depths ranging between 2 and 6 inches of the surface. The bowl fragment of a plain pipe (figure 6), from 4 inches beneath the surface, is culturally congruent with this pottery as are the equilateral triangular arrowpoints with concave base (figures 13-15), which seem, particularly at this site, to constitute the persistence of an earlier trait. The obtuse-angle elbow pipe (figure 1 of the same plate), found at a depth of 10 inches in stratum 1, is a rare item for eastern New York. It is well modeled and fired from a finely grit-tempered clay and is a rich brown in color. The zoned and platted decoration on the bowl is executed in fine punctations. Its closest parallels are to be found in the Canandaigua complex of the Owasco culture, of Late Woodland II times (Ritchie, 1936, p. 86) The "spool-stones" (plate 25, figures 11, 12) and narrow side-notched points (figures 7-9) can stratigraphically be correlated with the 1 B layer at the Lotus Point site (Ritchie, 1969, plate 11, figures 15, 16, 23). It would therefore seem that stratum 1 at South Cruger Island closely equates both chronologically and culturally with stratum 1 A and B at Lotus Point, farther north along the Hudson, and that their physical composition reflects a humid forested environment at this time. (See figure 5.) Moreover, scanty though they be, the archeological vestiges attest to the persistence into the recent prehistoric period of a much older pattern of life, suggested by the general evidence presented by the sites already described and discussed in this report. For the Late Woodland period, represented by stratum 1 at South Cruger Island and Lotus Point, we feel secure in postulating an occupation of this portion of the Hudson Valley by Wappinger and Mahican tribal groups, respectively (Ritchie, 1956, Figures 1,2), who still conducted, after the manner of their probable regional ancestors of earlier Woodland and Archaic times, a seasonal cycle of economic activities along the river and in the adjacent forested upland country, wherein small, probably winter hunting camp sites are known, both from rock-shelters and from the vicinity of small streams which empty into the Hudson. Return to TopNew York State Museum and Science Service, Bulletin Number 367, Reprinted 1969 Printed with permission from the New York State Museum, Albany, N.Y. |