1523.org
The 1523 Project references the last year before Captain Verazzano sailed the Long Island coast. In his wake Native life changed forever.
the First People
Glacial edge
13,000 BP (Before Present)
The map above shows that by 13,000 BP people were living in Newfoundland, northern Canada and near the glacial edge. Long Island had already been ice free for 3,000-4,000 years.
Mammoths were bigger than elephants.
The First People hunted them on
Long Island.
These are the fourteen known Clovis points found on Long Island. The points on the left and right are from the Forks.
William Saxon's academic paper "The Paleo-Indian on Long Island"
(NYS Archeological Bulletin 1973), details these finds.
It is unknown if Native People arrived earlier than 12,000 BP. Archeologists have found evidence of human occupation in New Mexico 23,000 years ago. Two known sites within a couple of months journey from Long Island are the Meadowcroft Site in Pennsylvania and Cactus Hill, Virginia. Both are about 20,000 years old.
Archeologists use Clovis points as an indicator of human presence because they have been scientifically dated. However, we now know that people were on the East Coast, New Mexico and many other places thousands of years before Clovis points were used. Therefore, it is possible that people arrived on the Twin Forks considerably earlier than can be proved.
The Continental Shelf was ice free when LI was under the glacier.
People lived here before the glacier melted. Artifacts have been recovered in Hudson canyon.
Meadowcroft 500 miles
Cactus Hill 500 miles
Click on any area to learn about the Native People who lived there.
For Demonstration Purposes.
Currently Unavailable.