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| Photo provided by Lithics Casting Lab: This Cumberland-type fluted point was the first of six fluted points recovered from the complex of caves located on lookout Mountain in Orange County, New York. It's fully fluted on both faces and ground smooth on the basal edges. The edges are expertly pressure flaked. Both sides were covered by white lime crust but one side was removed for photography. This crust is due to the location of the caves in a formation of dolomitic limestone of the Ordovician period. This point is made of Kalkberg chert and measures 2 3/8 inches (6 cm) long and 7/32 inch (5.5 mm) thick. |
“The Dutchess Quarry Caves Site near Florida, N.Y.: Key Archaeological Discoveries of the Earliest Inhabitants of the Lower Hudson Valley in New York State”
At various times throughout the 1960’s-80’s, the late NYS Archaeologist Robert Funk, various members of the Orange County Chapter, NYSAA, and other archaeologists, excavated at the Dutchess Quarry Caves site near Florida, NY, which yielded an extraordinary archaeological assemblage ranging from the PaleoIndian to the Woodland stage. Most noteworthy was the discovery of a classic Cumberland fluted point, dated through association with caribou bones found at the site, which provided one of the earliest carbon dates for human occupation in the Americas. The archaeological material will be illustrated and described, and historic photos of the early excavations will be shown.
Barry D. Kass is a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Orange County Community College, S. U. N. Y., in Middletown, NY, where he has taught various courses in anthropology, sociology, and human geography for more than forty years. He has participated in archaeological field work in the American Southwest, and was a U. S. National Park Ranger--Archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. He is a long standing member of the Orange County Chapter, NYSAA.
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