Southold Indian Museum

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Southold Indian Museum

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The Incorporated Long Island Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association is a private, non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation and study of the culture of the native peoples of Long Island.

05/26/2026

AI generated short videos help us to use today's information to better visualize the distant past. Check out this video that we made, imagining a Clovis hunter on Long Island 11,000 years ago making a projectile point using dark chert from upstate New York. Visit us to learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, May 31 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

05/21/2026

This local Long Island tool type has been observed in other NY areas. Possible explanations include that the notched stone provides for a flattened hafting seat for the pestle, which would make heavy duty grinding and pounding easier. It could also function as a multitool, allowing for both pestle use and smoothing. The photo shows one of our local notched pestles next to others found in NY state. Visit us to learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, May 24 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

05/14/2026

Older wampum trading strands in the Northeast are sometimes associated with Chinese coins and beads. These Chinese coins with square holes were produced as early as 200 BC and into the 1100's AD, and were popular early trade items in the Northeast. The dark green beads on this local Long Island wampum strand in our museum collection may be wound Peking glass from the 1600's. Visit us to learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, May 17 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

05/06/2026

Imagine our surprise at finding a Venetian trade bead associated with Fort Corchaug wampum! While doing some routine curation work, we spotted this trade bead in a wampum strand associated with the Fort Corchaug trading post contact fort. For a great academic review of this site, check out Solecki's 1998 article: https://nysarchaeology.org/download/nysaa/bulletin/number_114.pdf. Visit us to see and learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, May 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

04/30/2026

Did you know that the grooving pattern on a stone axe can be used to estimate its date? Fully grooved axes were manufactured in the early Archaic (9000 to 7000 yrs ago). Slowly the form evolved into 3/4 grooved and finally half grooved axes by the end of the Archaic (1000 BC). During the Woodland period (1000 BC to Contact), large ungrooved celts replaced grooved axes. This image contrasts a fully grooved and a partially grooved axe from Long Island. Visit us to learn more! We will be closed on May 3, but we'll see you again on Sunday, May 10.

04/22/2026

Thousands of years of shell midden evidence show that oysters and hard clams were the main shellfish collected by Long Island Native Americans. Before the last hundreds of years of overharvesting, these species were much larger on average and were likely the mainstay of the Native American diet during May and June. Harvesting hard clams at low tide using bare feet and wooden rakes must have provided huge quantities of these nutritious shellfish daily, but we believe the wooden tools have not survived in the archaeological record. Visit us to learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, April 26 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

04/16/2026

The Jack's Reef projectile point type is considered the first true arrowhead in North America. It appears between 500 and 1000 AD in the Northeast. In our Long Island collection, the corner notched variety appears more common than the pentagonal type (image shows one of the museum's chert Jack's Reef corner-notched points). This point is markedly thinner and smaller than the previous atlatl points in the archaeological record and tends to be made using high quality lithics such as chert and jasper. Across North America its appearance agrees well with the first appearance of bow and arrow technology. Check out Boudreau's excellent analysis: https://www.massarchaeology.org/product/a-new-england-typology-expanded-edition/. Do you have a Jack's Reef point? Send us pics! The museum will be open on Sunday, April 19 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

04/07/2026

It's International Beaver Day! High demand for beaver pelts in European markets led to their near extinction in European countries before colonization of the Americas. French and English settlers trapped and traded with Native Americans to resupply the beaver pelt market, but overharvesting caused by unsustainable settler contracts led to beaver extirpation on Long Island by the 17th century. Native Americans had sustainably harvested beavers for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. This image shows Long Island Native Americans setting a spring pole snare, a common method of hunting beavers in the spring through the fall. Isolated sightings of beavers in our area over the past several years suggest that they could make a comeback, although habitat loss remains a major challenge. Visit us to learn more! The museum will be open on Sunday, April 12 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

04/02/2026

The annual return of alewives (river herring) to Long Island in late March/early April to spawn in freshwater streams was vital to the local economies. Huge quantities of the fish were harvested using seine nets, and they were a welcome source of protein and fat after the long winter. They were also smoked for future use and employed as fertilizer for crops. Visit us to learn more! The museum is closed on Easter Sunday, but just email us to arrange a visit during the week: [email protected].

03/25/2026

Where are the whorls? Spindle whorls were used world-wide to produce cordage from fibers. These ceramic or stone drilled discoidals were originally attached to a wooden shaft. Whorls are uncommon in the Northeast, but have been found as near to Long Island as the Cahokia settlement. Do you have one? Let us know! The museum will be closed on both March 29 and April 5 Sundays, but just email us for a private tour on other days at [email protected].

Address

1080 Main Bayview Road
Southold, NY
11971

Opening Hours

1:30pm - 4:30pm

Telephone

(631) 765-5577

Website

http://www.southoldindianmuseum.com/

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