THE HISTORIAN’S CORNER

by L. Jane Tracy, Town of Onondaga Historian

“The Furnace Brook Dig”
An Archaeological Adventure on Onondaga Hill

     An Iroquois Indian village once occupied the large farm field just west of the County Home on Onondaga Road.  It is now the site of the Westbrook Hills Apartment complex.   During the summer of 1966, more than sixty archaeologists took part in an archaeological field school. The team consisted of high school and college students and experts, led by James Tuck of Syracuse University.  The school was the work of the university, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services and the Rosamond Gifford Foundation.

     The previous summer, this same team had uncovered another Indian village just a few miles away, on the property now known as Manor Hill, off Howlett Hill Road.  It is believed that this site included the remains of the largest Iroquois Indian longhouse ever discovered, due to the sharp eyes of a local boy, Robert Ricklis, 17, of Skyline Drive.  Robert discovered the site of what is believed to be a pre-historic Iroquois village, dating between 1300-1358 A.D. while walking with a friend.  Robert had been interested in archaeology since age 12 and was described by James Tuck as an amateur archaeologist, “but a good one.   If he didn’t know what he was looking for, we wouldn’t have uncovered these sites”.  Ricklis first found fragments of Indian pottery scattered across the bed of a road a developer had cut across the property.  He immediately contacted the university and tests were made of the soil.  Further work revealed post-mold outlining three large longhouses and a round structure believed to be a “sweat lodge”.  This village was dated by radiocarbon analysis at 1380 A.D.  The Iroquois moved their villages every 10 to 15 years and often built on hills.  This made Tuck sure that there were more villages in the area.  (Editors note:  A “google” of Robert Ricklis shows that he continued his work in the field and now has over 25 years archaeological experience and MA & Ph.D. degrees in archaeology from the University of Texas at Austin.) 

     The second discovery, on Furnace Brook, was an earlier village than the one found off Howlett Hill Road.  As noted by Dick Case in a Herald Journal article on Aug. 1, 1966,

            “Tuck and his team lift a few inches of topsoil from the field and then carefully scrape down until traces of the village are found.  The main traces are so-called “post mold”, decayed wood from poles which held up buildings.  This turns up black in brownish soil.  The team forms outlines of the building by placing yellow stakes in the ground at each post-hole.  The village is then mapped and photographed.  Each piece of relic is numbered and catalogued……….The Furnace Creek dig covers about four acres. Tuck said evidence so far points to a series of villages on the site, or one village in many rebuilding phases.  About a dozen houses and evidence of a palisade, or outer wall of saplings, have been found.  Some of the building outlines are small – about 30 feet long- while others extend up to 200 feet in length.  The “longest longhouse” (found at Howlett Hill) measured 335 feet”.    

           Local artist/teacher, George Benedict, was very involved with the Furnace Brook Dig that summer.  He painted a likeness of the scene and completed a scale model of what that village looked like 300 years ago.  The painting is in the offices of the Rosamond Gifford Foundation in Syracuse.  But the model has yet to be found.  We’ve been told that it was damaged while stored at Westhill School and sent to Maria Regina in Syracuse for restoration.  Since Maria Regina is now closed, we’re still searching, and would welcome help from anyone with knowledge of its whereabouts.   

            A program featuring a film produced by the Gifford Foundation titled “Furnace Brook Site” is being planned by the Town of Onondaga Historical Society for the meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 7:00 p.m..  As part of the program, there will be an exhibit featuring George Benedict’s painting, artifacts from the site, and a speaker.  (And the model if we can find it!)  Mark your calendars!