News Articles

Mohican beaded purse with heart motif

Clan Mothers, Spinners, Attorneys and Stateswomen: Mohican Women in New Stockbridge - online talk on February 10, 2021

Published January 26, 2021 | Ethnography

Please join the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation for a Facebook Live 1-hour presentation entitled, “Clan Mothers, Spinners, Attorneys and Stateswomen: Mohican Women in New Stockbridge,” on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Standard Time.

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Onondaga and Empire (cover)

New Publication: Onondaga and Empire; An Iroquoian People in an Imperial Era

Published January 8, 2021 | Archaeology

Just released! The NYSM has published the latest volume in the Bulletin Series entitled, Onondaga and Empire; An Iroquoian People in an Imperial Era. As author James W. Bradley notes, the publication “continues the story of the Onondaga, central nation in the League of the Five Nations...

Excavation Site showing Stone Foundation and Drain Pipe

New Acquisition: West Family Farm Shaker Archaeological Collection

Published January 6, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

Ann Lee founded the first communal settlement of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, in Watervliet New York in 1776. Lee died in 1784, but the community she established continued until 1915. Archaeological excavations at the West family...

Ice Age Bear Vertebra (anterior)

Science Tuesday: New York's First Ice Age Predator

Published January 5, 2021 | Vertebrate Paleontology

Predators are important parts of ecosystems, and while we know species like dire wolves and saber-toothed cats lived elsewhere, there are currently no published records of Ice Age predator fossils having been found in New York. One reason for this is that predators are represented by...

Harriet Alonso - My Autobiographical Bag  

New Acquisition: Harriet Alonso Needlework

Published December 7, 2020 | Social History

Harriet Alonso began working with embroidery in 1974. Influenced by the imagery of political posters, she soon used the medium to express her ideas about the causes she was passionate about, including women’s rights,...

Painting: "Still Life with Fruit" by Pieter Claesz (1644)

Newly identified - and edible! Re-analyzed privy soil yields increases knowledge of New Netherland diet

Published November 17, 2020 | Historical Archaeology

Archaeologists can glean a tremendous amount of information from soil sediments collected at archaeological sites. Pollen grains, phytoliths, seeds, and other remnant plant material can survive for thousands of years below ground under the right conditions. These data allow for the...

Silk Beaded Bag by Ken Williams Jr. (front)

New Acquisition: Silk Beaded Bag by Kenneth Williams Jr. (Cattaraugus Seneca and Arapaho)

Published November 4, 2020 | Ethnography

Inspired by the path-breaking beadwork artistry of Gahano (Caroline Parker Mt. Pleasant, Tonawanda Seneca), Ken Williams Jr.’s hand stitched silk and beaded bag pays tribute to the artistry of Seneca and Haudenosaunee beadwork in every detail. From the shape and construction of the bag, the tiny...

Here are some examples of Native American projectile points in the recently donated McVaugh collection.

The McVaugh Donation: Insights on Hudson Valley Indigenous History

Published November 2, 2020 | Native American Archaeology

Over the years, the NYSM has received donations of some very large archaeological collections numbering hundreds of thousands of specimens, but small collections can also be important accessions. Born in 1909, Roger McVaugh grew up on his parents’ small hog farm north of Kinderhook, Columbia...

Here are some examples of Native American projectile points in the recently donated McVaugh collection.

The McVaugh Donation: Insights on Hudson Valley Indigenous History

Published November 2, 2020 | Native American Archaeology

Over the years, the NYSM has received donations of some very large archaeological collections numbering hundreds of thousands of specimens, but small collections can also be important accessions. Born in 1909, Roger McVaugh grew up on his parents’ small hog farm north of Kinderhook, Columbia...

New Netherland Institute Video

Office of Cultural Education Highlights New Netherland Research and Collections

Published November 2, 2020 | Research & Collections

The State Archives, State Museum, and State Library are among the largest repositories of documents, artifacts, furniture, and decorative arts from the 17th century colonial Dutch settlements in what became New York. Join Dr. Charles Gehring, Director of the New Netherland Research Center, Dr....

Tagged Mussels

Malacology & Partnerships in Science

Published July 31, 2020 | Malacology

Challenges in science often require solutions from across various disciplines and involve collaborations between diverse agencies. A recent agreement between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Arconic to protect habitat and freshwater mussels in the Lower...

19th-century wine bottle fragment excavated at the Shaker Settlement, Watervliet, NY

Rare collection of 19th-century Shaker "not-so-pure" household objects acquired by NYSM Historical Archaeology collection

Published July 14, 2020 | Historical Archaeology

Ann Lee founded the first communal settlement of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, in Watervliet New York in 1776. Lee died in 1784 but the community she established continued until 1915. Archaeological excavations at the...

A piece of grape shot (left) and an exploded mortar bomb (right) recovered during scientific excavation at the Lake George Battlefield Park

New acquisition: archaeological collection resulting from 3 field seasons at Lake George Battlefield Park

Published June 24, 2020 | Historical Archaeology

The NYSM Historical Archaeology Collections now includes artifacts from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 excavations at the Lake George Battlefield Park in Lake George, New York. David Starbuck, who conducted the first professional archaeology in the park in 2000 and 2001 (the artifacts recovered during...

"Treaty Rights Footstool" by Karen Ann Hoffman

Karen Ann Hoffman, NYSM Ethnology Collections featured artist, receives 2020 National Heritage Fellowship!

Published June 24, 2020 | Ethnography

NYSM Ethnology Collections featured artist, Karen Ann Hoffman, is a recipient of a 2020 NEA National Heritage Fellowship! (National Endowment for the Arts press release)

Karen Ann Hoffman, enrolled member of the Oneida Nation (Wisconsin) is an artist,...

E2014.24 "Strawberry Moon" by Tammy Tarbell-Boehning (Mohawk) Raised glass beadwork on clay

Today's artwork from NYSM Ethnology collections recognizes Indigenous medicinal knowledge

Published May 13, 2020 | Ethnography

One sub-discipline within cultural anthropology is the medical anthropology, or the focus on how humans think of medicine, illness and practice health and well-being. Today's artwork from NYSM Ethnology collections recognizes Indigenous medicinal knowledge!

In 1536, French navigator...

Magnetic susceptibility results overlaid with surface artifact locations show a strong correlation between finds and MS "hot spots"

Controlled surface artifact collection combined with magnetic susceptibility yields tantalizing results

Published April 6, 2020 | Historical Archaeology

The New York State Museum, in collaboration with the Open Space Institute and Stockbridge Munsee Mohican Tribal Preservation Office, recently completed a controlled surface artifact collection and a magnetic susceptibility survey (MS) at the location of a tenant house owned by former Albany...

Volunteers Sue S. and Neil W. pause during block excavations at the OPS Site, July 10, 2019

NYSM Archaeologists Return for Fifth Field Season at OPS Paleoindian Site

Published April 6, 2020 | Native American Archaeology

In July and September 2019, NYSM archaeologists and volunteers conducted their fifth season of excavations at the OPS Paleoindian site in Madison County. Discovered in 2015, the OPS site has yielded stone fluted points of the Crowfield "style," indicating an early Native American encampment...

Spoil heap (also known as a backdirt pile) as it was seen in May 2019 at the Lake George Courtland Street Burial Ground

Bioarchaeology at the Courtland Street Burying Ground

Published December 19, 2019 | Bioarchaeology

When a historic unmarked cemetery was found during construction in Lake George, New York last winter, it was presumed to date to the mid-18th century French and Indian War. The discovery of a regimental button from the First Pennsylvania Battalion however placed the cemetery at the time of the...

Several shell buttons were also recovered from the Ten Broeck Mansion outer kitchen excavation; this one shown has two holes

Collaborative field schools completed at Ten Broeck Mansion in Albany's Arbor Hill neighborhood

Published December 19, 2019 | Historical Archaeology

Archaeologists from the New York State Museum and the University of Albany completed two collaborative field schools in Historical Archaeology at the Ten Broeck Mansion, located in Albany, NY's Arbor Hill neighborhood during the summers of 2017 and 2018. These excavations concentrated on...

Examples of Paleoindian artifacts from the OPS site. A: fluted point with impact fracture; B: Endscraper, hafted tool likely used for hide working for skin clothing manufacture; C: Hafted perforator for working bone or wood; D: Graver, delicate hand-held

Owlville Pine South (OPS) Archaeological Site Owners Donate Paleoindian Artifacts to NYSM

Published December 19, 2019 | Native American Archaeology

In June 2015, avocational archaeologists Mike Beardsley and Mark Clymer were surveying for Native American archaeological sites on farm property owned by Tom and Joyce Bush in central New York. Walking across their fields, Mike spied a large scraping tool of chert. Days later, he discovered a...

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