RECONSTRUCTING ANCIENT FISHING TECHNIQUES: PALEOHYDROLOGY AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE NETSINKER FISHING TECHNIQUE

The archaeological and the historic record in Western New York demonstrates extensive fishing in the Niagara River Basin for the last several thousand years. Historical fishing techniques vary considerably, and one of the more commonly applied methods is investigated through this research. Notched stones found in prehistoric archaeological contexts along paleowaterways are interpreted to have been used in weighting down fishing nets. These stones, called netsinkers, were discovered at numerous prehistoric fishing sites, associated with the bony remains of a variety of fish species. The size/mass of these netsinkers is considered to be related to the stream velocity at the ancient fishing sites.

Recently netsinker masses from five prehistoric sites along the Upper Niagara River (Martin, Peace Brige/Fort Erie, Riverhaven 1 &2, Burnt Ship) were compared to modern stream velocities in adjacent areas of water, but gave inconclusive results. Due to more recent human induced changes in the hydrology of the Niagara River, the modern stream velocities may not be indicative of the conditions under which these prehistoric artifacts were made and used.

Soil profiles at the investigated archaeological sites contain evidence of the paleohydrology of the streams and make for reliable comparison to the prehistoric artifacts. Using these profiles, ancient stream velocities in adjacent sections of water are reconstructed and compared to the netsinker analysis to understand the effectiveness of the netsinker fishing technology.

The composition of the soil profiles gives a good indication of the prehistoric stream velocities and, thus shows the usefulness of these artifacts for the purpose of weighing down nets as the means of an effective net-fishing technique.