Description
Paleo-Indian (15,000 to 7000 B.C.) sites have been found around the region dating to 9000 B.C. These peoples lived near the shore of the Champlain Sea, which covered the Adirondack Mountains. The first Archaic (8000 to 1000 B.C.) people in New York came from the St. Lawrence River Valley to the area around Lake Champlain and into the Hudson River Valley. Other related groups settled at Oneida Lake via the Oswego River system. These Archaic people, referred to as the Laurentian culture, were semi-nomadic hunters and gathers.
Language
Laurentian is an extinct Iroquoian language of Quebec, once spoken along the banks of the St. Lawrence River.
Culture
They used spear-throwers and bone harpoons for hunting. Tools crafted from Lake Superior copper, obtained via trade, were also utilized. The Laurentian culture was gradually replaced by other traditions. Between 2200 and 1500 B.C. The Iroquoians occupied their villages for ten or more years until their longhouses deteriorated and the fertility of the soil for their crops declined. Then, they built a new village and cleared land for crops, usually only a few miles from their previous home.