Ward's Point is the southernmost point in the U.S. state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and lies within

Tottenville Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost settlement in both New York City and New York State. Tottenville is bounded on three sides by water: the south side abuts New York Bight w ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is located at the mouth of

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of ...

, across from

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...

, at the head of Raritan Bay. The site is part of modern-day Conference House Park.

Ward's Point Conservation Area

Ward's Point Conservation Area is a historic

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. The district encompasses nine contributing sites. It includes the property on which the

Conference House Conference House (also known as Billop House) is a stone house in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City built by Captain Christopher Billopp some time before 1680. It is located in Conference House Park near Ward's Point, the southernmost t ...

sits. The Conference House was listed as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1966. The conservation area was specifically identified for preservation based on "the information it may provide on prehistoric and historic Indian subsistence and settlement on Staten Island." A number of prehistoric remains have been located on the site. ''See also:'' It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982.

Ward's Point Archeological Site

Near Ward's Point is the Ward's Point Archeological Site, an

within Conference House Park. It was declared a

in 1993. The site has been known since 1858, when human remains were first unearthed in the area. It is one of the largest and best preserved sites for studying Native American people in the New York area.

Burial Ridge

Burial Ridge is a Native American archaeological site and burial ground located at Ward's Point.

History

The first documented evidence of Paleo-Indians using the site is from the end of the

Early Archaic Period In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...

8,000 years ago. The burial ground—used by the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

dating from the

Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...

until relinquishing Staten Island to the Dutch—is the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City and today remains unmarked and lies within Conference House Park. Evidence of prior Native American habitation is still visible along the beach at the bluff's lowest elevations, where erosion exposes the remains of large shell

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s dominated by shells of the Eastern oyster. Bodies were reported unearthed at Burial Ridge during various periods in the 19th century beginning in 1858. After conducting independent research, which included unearthing bodies interred at the site,

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

and archaeologist

George H. Pepper George Hubbard Pepper (February 2, 1873 – May 13, 1924) was an American ethnologist and archaeologist. He worked on projects in New York, the Southwest and, most notably, the Nacoochee Mound in northeastern Georgia. His work with Frederick W. Hod ...

was contracted in 1895 to conduct paid archaeological research at Burial Ridge by the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

. Many of the skeletons unearthed were buried in flexed positions, with the knees drawn up to the chest; fewer were found in a laid-out position. Most of the graves were fairly shallow, ranging from in depth below grade. Many of the graves contained assorted grave goods, among them arrowheads and various stone implements such as ax heads and

hammerstone In archaeology, a hammerstone is a hard cobble used to strike off lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone during the process of lithic reduction. The hammerstone is a rather universal stone tool which appeared early in most regions of the wo ...

s. One of the burials contained the skeletons of three males, with the bones pierced by 23 arrowheads made of bone, antler, argillite and

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

. Close to the three males, the body of a child was unearthed with a variety of grave goods, including pendants made of yellow

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

and various utensils. The body also showed evidence of copper salts about the lower portion of the skull, mandible and sternum, which indicated that copper ornaments were buried with the body. An additional skeleton unearthed in a prone position was completely charred above the knees, suggesting he may have been burned alive while tied to a stake.Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Volumes 3-4 By American Museum of Natural History 1909

References

{{Coord, 40, 29, 56, N, 74, 15, 07, W, display=title Protected areas of Staten Island National Historic Landmarks in New York City Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Historic districts in Staten Island National Register of Historic Places in Staten Island Lenape Geography of Staten Island Native American history of New York (state) Cemeteries in Staten Island Tottenville, Staten Island