Author Description

Archaeological excavations at the Garoga, Klock and Smith-Pagerie Sites in the mid-Mohawk River Valley, New York are presented in this new volume published by the New York State Museum. These three sixteenth-century Mohawk sites were excavated by State Museum researchers under the direction of the late State Archaeologist Robert E. Funk. Each site was a large Mohawk Iroquois village complete with longhouses, palisades, and once occupied by hundreds of people. The extensive excavations revealed the settlement plan of each village, exposed dozens of fire hearths, storage pits, and other features, and recovered thousands of artifacts. This volume presents the results of these excavations including a description and analysis of the settlement patterns at each site and a detailed study and comparison of the large artifact assemblages. Published posthumously, this monograph represents the culmination of Robert E. Funk’s long involvement with Iroquois archaeology. Dr. Funk’s excavations, research, and publications helped establish our current understanding of Mohawk lifeways during the sixteenth century, the period just prior to Iroquois contact with European fur traders and colonists. His significant contributions are memorialized in this final report. Although the book is written as a scholarly text for the professional, it will also be of interest to anyone with a fascination for the Iroquois or Iroquois archaeology.