Editing Ward's Point

{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Ward's Point Archeological Site
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| image                = South Pole SI jeh.JPG
| caption              = [[New York City Parks Department]] "South Pole" marker at Ward's Point
| location             = [[Tottenville, Staten Island]], [[New York City|New York]]
| area                 =
| architect            =
| architecture         =
| designated_nrhp_type = April 19, 1993<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2153&ResourceType=Site
|title=Ward's Point Archeological Site|date=2007-09-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
| added                = April 19, 1993<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum               = 93000609 <ref name="nris"/>
}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Ward's Point Conservation Area
| nrhp_type    = hd
| image        =
| caption      =
| nearest_city =
| locmapin     = New York City#New York#USA
| architecture =
| added        = September 29, 1982
| area         = {{convert|33.5|acre}}
| refnum       = 82003402<ref name="nris2">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
'''Ward's Point''' is the southernmost point in the U.S. state of [[New York (state)|New York]] and lies within [[Tottenville]], [[Staten Island]], [[New York City]]. It is located at the mouth of [[Arthur Kill]], across from [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]], at the head of [[Raritan Bay]]. The site is part of modern-day [[Conference House Park]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/R006/map/ConferenceHousebrochure.pdf | access-date=2023-11-13 | title=Discover Conference House Park}}</ref>

==Ward's Point Conservation Area==
'''Ward's Point Conservation Area''' is a historic [[archaeological site]] and national [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]].  The district encompasses nine contributing sites. It includes the property on which the [[Conference House]] sits.  The Conference House was listed as a [[National Historic Landmark]] 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.<ref name="nrhpinv_ny">{{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7694|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Ward's Point Conservation Area|date=June 1982|accessdate=2010-12-06 |author=Charles A. Florence|publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]]}} ''See also:'' {{cite web|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7721|title=Accompanying 13 photos}}</ref>  It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1982.<ref name="nris2"/>

==Ward's Point Archeological Site==
Near Ward's Point is the '''Ward's Point Archeological Site''', an [[archaeological site]] within [[Conference House Park]]. It was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] 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.<ref name="nhlsum"/>

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]] in 2021.<ref name="nyt20210623">{{Cite news|last=Small|first=Zachary|date=June 23, 2021|title=City Approves Landmarks Honoring Chinese Americans and Native Americans|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/arts/design/city-landmarks-kimlau-memorial-Aakawaxung-Munahanung.html|access-date=July 7, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="NYCL-2648">{{cite web|date=June 22, 2021|title=Aakawaxung Munahanung (Island Protected from the Wind) Archaeological Site|url=https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2648.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-01|publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]]}}</ref>

==Burial Ridge==
[[File:Burial Ridge Skeletons.jpg|thumb|240px|Skeletons of three warriors pierced by arrows uncovered at Burial Ridge.]]
[[File:Burial Ridge arrowheads.jpg|thumb|160px|Bones pierced by arrowheads from skeletons unearthed at 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]]s using the site is from the end of the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Early Archaic Period]] 8,000 years ago.<ref>Anne-Marie Cantwell, Diane diZerega Wall: Unearthing Gotham: Yale University Press (2001) {{ISBN|0300084153}}</ref> The burial ground—used by the [[Lenape]] dating from the [[Woodland period]] 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]]s dominated by shells of the [[Eastern oyster]].<ref>Burial Ridge, Tottenville, Staten Island, N.Y: Archaeology at New York City's largest prehistoric cemetery by Jerome Jacobson</ref>

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, [[ethnology|ethnologist]] and archaeologist [[George H. Pepper]] was contracted in 1895 to conduct paid archaeological research at Burial Ridge by the [[American Museum of Natural History]].

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 {{convert|1|-|3|ft|m}} 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]]s.

One of the burials contained the skeletons of three males, with the bones pierced by 23 arrowheads made of bone, antler, [[argillite]] and [[flint]].<ref>The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: New York's River Festival of 1909 and the Making of a Metropolis by Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Kenneth T. Jackson, and Mark F. Rockefeller p. 11</ref>

Close to the three males, the body of a child was unearthed with a variety of grave goods, including pendants made of yellow [[jasper]] 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.<ref>Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Volumes 3-4 By American Museum of Natural History 1909</ref>

==See also==
* [[Raritan (Native Americans)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}

{{Coord|40|29|56|N|74|15|07|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Protected areas of Staten Island]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in New York City]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Staten Island]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Staten Island]]
[[Category:Lenape]]
[[Category:Geography of Staten Island]]
[[Category:Native American history of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Staten Island]]
[[Category:Tottenville, Staten Island]]
[[Category:Beaches of Staten Island]]