Arrowheads

Written By Dino DiPietro

🏹 Historical Discoveries

  • Thousands of artifacts have been found within a three-mile radius of Lake Ronkonkoma, many now held at the Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society. A prominent early collector was E. Bassford Hawkins, whose family’s finds number in the thousands

  • According to a local historical marker, Hawkins—along with Ivar Okvist—collected over 5,000 arrowheads and artifacts between 1893 and 1988

Archaeological Research & Artifacts

  • In 1900, William M. Beauchamp wrote that “great quantities of white quartz. In 1926, Arthur C. Parker reinforced this, noting many quartz arrowheads and relics around the shore

  • A 1973 study by Walter Saxon described a particularly notable quartz arrowhead: a finely crafted fluted, lenticular Clovis-style point with channels ~14 mm long, believed to be Paleo‑Indian, crafted from mottled smoky quartz

Native American Presence and Time Periods

  • Four Algonquian-speaking tribes—Setaukets, Nissequogues, Secatogs, and Unkechaugs—inhabited the lake’s shores. The vast array of stone tools and arrowheads reflect extensive occupation over millennia

  • Research on Long Island indicates technological progression from Paleo-Indian (big-game hunters, Clovis points), through Archaic, Woodland, and Contact periods, with arrowhead styles evolving accordingly

🏛️ Collections & Preservation

  • The Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society Museum displays over 1,000 arrowhead artifacts, along with other Native American weaponry and tools

  • Many artifacts, including an unusual axe head (weighing 4 3/4 lbs), were donated by descendants of early settlers like George C. Raynor

Dino DiPietro