Ritual Apprenticeship? A Case Study from The Eastern Finger Lakes of New York State

Summary

The Early Woodland Period In New York state is a unique time period with many changes from the preceding Late Archaic and Transitional periods. Many of the Western Finger lakes were not only used for their abundant resources, but were integral parts of the landscape used as ceremonial spaces. We know much less about the role of the Eastern Finger Lakes, but the Canadarago Lake I site can shed new light on the role they played. Excavations conducted as part of a Cultural Resource Management project produced a unique lithic assemblage that suggests the lake or the specific site itself played a greater role than just subsistence. Caches of bifacial blades in mortuary contexts became highly standardized and distributed during this time period. Based on preliminary analysis, The Canadarago Lake I site appears to be a cache blade production site where a mastercraftsmen worked alongside one or more apprentices. Skill differences are reflected in the vast amount of debitage and less abundant bifaces recovered at the site. In one distinct area over 5,500 flakes and dozens of bifaces were recovered. Apparent in the debitage is a skill level not seen in the discarded bifaces.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage