Pre-Historical Troy
Introduction[edit]
Although the New York area has a large fossil bed, a significant chunk of its historical record is missing. Specifically, little is known about what occurred between the Mesozoic and the late Cenozoic time periods, making it difficult to predict what creatures lived in pre-historical New York.
Despite this difficulty, some extrapolations about this period can still be made by connecting the dots between what findings were made and their connection to our modern-day time period.
Troy in the Pleistocene[edit]
Much of New York in the Pleistocene was buried beneath massive glacial ice sheets, which both blocked off most life from living in the area, and destroyed most records of those which did. These records were destroyed through the geological upheaval created in the expansion and retreat of the glacier bodies.
As a result, most paleontological data for this period comes from more recent fossil beds. Pleistocene Troy, when not covered in glaciers, was a tundra (~18,000-12,000 years ago). This environment slowly gave way to a middling taiga (~11,000 years ago), then to a warmer broadleaf forest, and finally roughly to its modern climate because of the gradual retreat of the ice sheet.
This changing environment supported the usual cast of Ice Age creatures, such as large body Short Face Bears, Stag Moose, Giant Bison, several species of Horse, and a mix of ancestors of our modern-day human small body species.
One notable discovery within Troy itself was the uncovering of the Cohes Mastodon in the year 1866, a mere 4.5 miles away, which was discovered during the construction of Harmony Mill No.3 in 1866. It is one of a few fossils to come out of the local area, and helps give insight into the past ecology of the area. This Cohes Mastodon, dated from around 13,000 years ago shows that the area was not a wasteland, and had enough plant life to support a population of large body animals. It is now on display in the New York State History Museum in Albany, New York.
Humans in the Troy Area[edit]
Humans arrived in New York roughly 13,000 years ago. These people were likely Clovis, or some derivation of them, given the date of their arrival. Not much is known about them apart from a few scattered artifacts, but these people eventually went on to become the tribes which we know had inhabited the area.
References[edit]
Childs, Craig, and Sarah Gilman. Atlas of a Lost World : Travels in Ice Age America. New York, Vintage Books, 2019.
“Cohoes Mastodon | the New York State Museum.” Nysed.gov, 2023, www.nysm.nysed.gov/exhibitions/ongoing/cohoes-mastodon-0. Accessed 3 Feb. 2023.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Harmony Mill No. 3.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Feb. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony_Mill_No._3. Accessed 3 Feb. 2023.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Paleontology in New York (State).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Mar. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_New_York_(state)#murray-1974. Accessed 3 Feb. 2023.
Ornl.gov, 2023, www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercNORTHAMERICA.html. Accessed 3 Feb. 2023.