Site location:
The Village of East Aurora, New York Site Age: Approximately 2800-2400 BP (800-400 BC)
Cultural Association:
The site is currently identified as a seasonal base camp for the Meadowood Culture. The Meadowood (Point Peninsula I) is found throughout much of the Great Lakes region, including New York, Ontario, and Quebec. This archaeological culture is defined by several artifact tool classes including Vinette 1 pottery, Meadowood cache-blades, side-notched projectile points, endscrapers, T-base drills, tubular clay and stone pipes, and slate birdstones and boatstones. The Meadowood culture is an important turning point in New York history as it is believed that they were the first group of people to use pottery and to adopt a more sedentary way of life.
Site Excavation History:
The Sinking Ponds site was first identified by the University at Buffalo Archaeological Survey in the early 1960s. Formal excavations began at the site in 1964 under the direction of Joseph Granger, a Ph.D. student at SUNY Buffalo at the time. Granger excavated the site annually until 1970. Grangerʼs dissertation on the Sinking Ponds site was published in 1978 and remains the key source of information regarding the Meadowood culture.
SUNY at Buffalo 2011 Summer Archaeological Fieldschool:
The Sinking Ponds site is currently being reinvestigated under the direction of Dr. Peter F. Biehl (Chair of the Anthropology Department) and Dr. Douglas Perrelli(Director of the Archaeological Survey of the Anthropology Department). The field director of the Archaeological Fieldschool is Ammie Mitchell, PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology. This yearʼs fieldschool consists of 14 undergraduate students and one graduate student intern.Students are learning how to:
conduct “walkover” surface surveys, use a theodolite, read a compass, set up a 1x1m test unit, identify prehistoric and historic artifacts, profile stratigraphy, photograph test unit walls and insitu artifacts, document an archaeological find, wash, categorize, and analyze artifacts in a laboratory setting
2011 Excavation Plan:
Mitchell is a Ph.D. candidate from SUNY at Buffalo and her research focuses on the development and use of early ceramic technology in New York. The 2011 plan to excavate Sinking Ponds is focused on 1) reestablishing Grangerʼs original baseline, 2) identifying the edges of Grangerʼs excavations, 3) determining the preservation conditions of the site, 4) locating discrete loci of activity across the site as identified by Granger-settlement, hearths, and lithic workshop areas, and 5) recovering pottery from closed context features that is suitable for radiocarbon AMS C-14 dating, fabric analysis and lipid analysis.
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Department of Anthropology
380 MFAC-Ellicott Complex
Buffalo, NY 14261-0005
Phone: (716) 645-2414
Fax: (716) 645-3808
Project Directors:
Dr. Peter F. Biehl
Dr. Douglas Perrelli
Ammie Mitchell, MA
