Western New York Southtowns Scenic Byway

—Sinking Ponds Archeological Site —

The Sinking Ponds Site was home to Native Americans for thousands of years prior to the establishment of the Village of East Aurora by Euro-American settlers. Sinking Ponds is a Native American archeological site occupied repeatedly for thousands of years, containing Archaic, Transitional, Early Woodland and Late Woodland type artifacts. Numerous stone tools, a carved steatite (soapstone) bowl, and some of the earliest fired-clay pottery known in the region have been recovered here. The site contains buried features like storage pits and hearths indicating where people lived. It was most likely inhabited as a spring-fall residence where conditions for fishing and birding in the shallow ponds and streams were ideal and diverse plant and animal resources were seasonally abundant. View of Sinking Ponds in early spring with ice on pond. Current and Previous Work at Sinking Ponds. The Sinking Ponds site was first recognized by archeologists in 1964 and was excavated in 1965 and 1966 by UB Anthropology students during a summer field school. Field School students at Sinking Ponds site, summer 1964. Researchers have conducted extensive work at the site, establishing some of what we know today about the Meadowood culture. The site was excavated again by UB students in 2011-2013 adding to
our knowledge of the past. The Marian E. White Museum in the UB Anthropology Department has an extensive collection of artifacts and information from the site. Pre-Meadowood type projectile points, c. 4,000-1000 B.C. Significance of the Sinking Ponds Site. Sinking Ponds represents one of the most significant Meadowood type (c. 800-500B.C.) sites with profound implications for our region and the understanding of cultural developments throughout North America. Meadowood people are believed to be among the first to use many of the plant foods that would later become domesticated and grown as crops. Meadowood stone tools are among the most thin, finely shaped objects in the archeological record. Meadowood type cache blades, c. 800-500 B.C. Meadowood type projectile points, c. 800-500 B.C. Numerous 'cache blades' or basic stone tool pre-forms were made at the site. These were used by Meadowood people to make finished tools like knives, spear points and drills. Cache blades were widely traded throughout the region, perhaps used as a form of currency. Made of local Onondaga chert or flint, similar tools are found in archeological sites all over the Northeastern US and Canada. The site contains the remains of a Meadowood house, where families may have lived for much of the year before moving to a winter residence. With appreciation to the University of Buffalo Department of Anthropology and others for their numerous contributions toward research at this site. The Western New York Southtowns Scenic Byway is a 70 mile route encompassing five towns and three villages within southern Erie County, New York. For a listing of points of interest signs along the byway, go to www.wnyssb.org .

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Show me all markers in:  East Aurora, NY  |  Erie County  |  14052  |  New York  |  United States of America

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