Ancient Native Artifacts of Eastern Long Island: Projectile Points

Ancient Native Artifacts of Eastern Long Island: Projectile Points begins with a history lesson by Chief Harry Wallace. He tells of the time when the Algonquian People of the Way of the Heart lived in here in great numbers. Their villages, ceremonial areas and travel routes once covered the landscape but now have been covered by subdivisions, roads and strip malls. Chief Wallace teaches us about the life and culture that produced the arrowheads, spear tips and atlatl dart points shown throughout the book. By linking the 12,000 year history of Native People on Long Island with the artifacts they created an important story emerges. It is a story of huge interrelated families, a busy and complicated society with trade and travel stretching over large distances. It is also a story that has mostly been forgotten or ignored.

Collectors, museums and historical societies have been amassing Native artifacts for generations. Many of these collections come from specific farms or resource areas and are shown here for the first time. Some of the collections were crafted into framed Folk Art pieces with elaborate designs featuring hundreds of points. Other collections such as found at the Southold Indian Museum trace Native history back to the Ice Age 12,000 years ago in the form of Paleo-Indian (Clovis) points found on the North Fork.

The book includes maps showing where Long Island's First People may have originated. Other maps show sources of stone for making projectile points that stretches from New England to Upstate New York. Knapping, the art and science of making points is explained.

With over 650 photographs, maps, artworks and 100 academic references and resources: Ancient Native Artifacts of Eastern Long Island: Projectile Points is a typology, reference guide and history book.