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

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

and lies within Tottenville,

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is located at the mouth of

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York, and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It ...

, across from

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in northeastern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area, New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city' ...

, at the head of

Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west b ...

. 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 recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

and national

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

. 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 the Tottenville, Staten Island, Tottenville neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City. Built by Captain Christopher Billopp (captain), Christopher Billopp some time before 1 ...

sits. The Conference House was listed as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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. It overlaps with the Aakawaxung Munahanung (Island Protected from the Wind) Archaeological Site in Conference House Park, which was designated by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

in 2021.

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-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

s using the site is from the end of the Early Archaic Period 8,000 years ago. The burial ground—used by the

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

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 BC to European contact i ...

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 is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

s dominated by shells of the

Eastern oyster The eastern oyster (''Crassostrea virginica'')—also called the Atlantic oyster, American oyster, or East Coast oyster—is a species of true oyster native to eastern North and South America. Other names in local or culinary use include the We ...

. 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 , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

and archaeologist George H. Pepper 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 (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

. 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 Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

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. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

. 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, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

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 Beaches of Staten Island