-shell mounds and beds on the sea co^&t and the
fossil hones .of thévalley, So remarkablein them-
se 1 ves,v tliese would alone hé entitled to file high*
ést interest ill studying the ancient history of the
races of man in this area., 4
, Geological action subsequent to the period of
the habitation of the globe, has not been exa*-
mined with this view, but is believed t<f be, iihpor-
fant in denoting eras of former occupancy; it is
known that various parts of the state have yielded,
at „considerable depths below the, surface,
many curious evidences of artificial remains,
along with relies of the animal .and vègétahle
kingdoms. -'V;' >ï# i*§t
There is an apparent extension of thé system
of works which characterize the fort and mound
period of the Ohio valley, reaching from the Alleghany
waters in Chaiitauque and Cattaraugus,
along the southern shore of Lake Erie, indefinitely
eastward.
To examine, describe and. compare, these;; evir
donees, is an object of deep historical interest.
Whether the eras denoted, or the theories heretofore
advanced from any quarter, be true or
false, is a question of little moment as to the importance
of the inquiry itself. History seeks to
clear up the obscurities of time, and to enlarge
the boundaries of certain knowledge. To do
this* in relation to the long and obscure periods
which precede the year 1492, it calls in the aid
of antiquities, of ethnography, of the study of
relics of early sculpture in stone or shells, and
whatever other evidences exist of the former
power possessed by these ancient races, to make
either of the great departments of nature subservient
to man. .
The examinations already made, denote the
field of inquiry to he one of more than the anticipated
interest. Ancient works and remains
cover at detached points,’ the larger part of west-
tern New York. They are also known to mark
the valleys of the Susquehanna and Delaware,
within our boundaries. They are of a different
nature, and denote less energy and military skill
in the sea-coast tribes, who subsisted ehiefly on
fish, Yet even here, the shell mounds and piles
above referred to, denoting village sites, the remains
of art in the fabrication of arms and ttten-
sils of stone and earthernware, and the geological
mutations of the surface, and the discovery
of the fossil hones of large quadrupeds; so remarkable
in the valley of the Hudson, afford
helps to chronology, and are worthy of being
noted.
There is some evidence in the partial examinations
made in the area giving rise to the Allegany
and Genesee rivers, that the mound period
of the Ohio valley extended, in its effects,
upon the tribes which occupied those portions
of the state. The barrows and places of ordinary
sepulture, have yielded many ancient relics,
identical in their character with those of the
Ohio, the Sciota, and the Wabash. It is not probable
the vast, and in part mountainous ancient