Artifacts from the Abeel Street dig in Kingston by the Armadillo restaurant
Where are the artifacts from Abeel Street now?
Right now they’re on my back porch, and they’re going to the Planning and Engineering Department of the City of Kingston.
What about the artifacts that were dug up at Kingston’s Persen House?
They’re owned by Ulster County and [whatever is not displayed at the Persen House, which is owned by the county] are in the county archives on Foxhall Avenue in Kingston.
Have you found other prehistoric artifacts in nearby areas?
Yes. A couple of years ago I partially excavated a site in Port Ewen for the Mid-Hudson Federal Credit Union building, on Broadway. We found artifacts dating from circa 10,000 BC up to European Contact, including a Paleo-Indian point from that early phase and copper projectile points and a bead from the Contact Period. Other Paleo-Indian points have been found by people who were clay-mining in the late 19th century near Kingston Point.
What was the area like when the Paleo-Indians were here?
It has been likened to a park tundra, which is a tundra environment punctuated by small stands of trees. The Paleo-Indians hunted reindeer and possibly elk, as well as mammoths and maybe giant beaver.
What have you found with your students at the Huguenot Street dig in New Paltz?
The occupations on Huguenot Street extend back to circa 7,000 BC. People normally settle near a water source, which in this case is the Wallkill River, which is several hundred feet downhill from where we are excavating. From 2013 to 2014 we’ve excavated about 46 square meters of area on the Reformed Church property on Huguenot Street. Each excavation unit has provided us with information on either the historic Huguenots, historic structures on the site or Native American pit features that have excellent evidence of prehistoric diet. For me, each site that we excavate is like a building block, and collectively they give us a look at what was happening in the Hudson Valley over the last several thousand years.
How do you identify a Paleo-Indian projectile point – or any fragmented ancient stone tool, for that matter?
The points from circa 10,000 BC are fluted, and they were manufactured differently. I’m being handed “artifacts” all day long by my students that are just pointed rocks. You get accustomed to know what to look for: the material, the shape of the stone and the way it’s worked. When you see it, it jumps out at you.
What do you do when you dig up a skeleton?
You have to alert the landowner, the police, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and perhaps the New York Department of Environmental Conservation [DEC], depending on the situation. If it’s a recent burial, the police alert the coroner’s office. If it’s archaeological, the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and/or DEC would contact the Stockbridge Munsee, who live in Wisconsin and are the descendants of the Native people from this area.
Describe the prehistoric quarries in the Hudson Valley.
They’re outcroppings of chert, which is similar to flint and ideal for making tools. There are locations on both sides of the river, but the only one that is protected is Flint Mine Hill in Greene County, which was bought by the Long Island Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association specifically to keep it from being looted by artifact collectors.
Are you concerned about people illegally digging in some of the area’s prehistoric archaeological sites?
Yes, I’m always worried about this. There are a lot of sites that people are actively looting in the Hudson Valley. Most of them date from circa 8,000 BC to European Contact, and they’re on state, county and town property. People have been arrested on state property, but on county and town property, [the authorities] generally look the other way. We’re losing portions of the prehistory of the Hudson Valley because of this. Most of these sites are recurring camp locations, where people have lived on the same site on and off for about 8,000 years and made the site part of their seasonal rounds.
Are the Abeel Street sites at risk?
No. I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot more under Abeel Street.
What else did you dig up on Abeel Street?
White kaolin smoking pipes, bottle fragments, historic ceramics, toys and toothbrushes from the 19th century. Also marbles, relatively modern coins, bottlecaps and some liquor bottle fragments from the 1950s and 1960s. These were from Night Train and other cheap booze bottles. We catalogued these and then threw them out. I doubt very much if the folks in Planning and Engineering at City Hall would have wanted to store them.
For more information about Joe Diamond and his work, contact the SUNY-New Paltz Archeological Field School at (845) 257-2990. Kingston’s Buried Treasures lecture series takes place on the third Friday of each month, unless otherwise noted, at the Vanderlyn Gallery of the Senate House Museum located at 296 Fair Street in Kingston. For more information on Kingston’s Buried Treasures, call (845) 340-3050 or e-mail [email protected].
