Navesink; A Historical Novel
17,000 BC, A Visitor
Author's note: Chronologically this would be the first chapter, but my readers have told me this story should not be read first. It is basically a standalone prequel that discusses eastern Monmouth County prehistory. The novel starts at "1524".
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“Join me”, Wolfchaser said.
Stonechipper was squatting by the morning fire. It was midsummer, the fire was not really needed, but Stonechipper liked roasting bugs and he has gathered a nice collection from a rotting log that he decided to make his breakfast before the rest of the family would join him. “To go where?” Stonechipper asked.
“In the direction of the rising sun.”
“Why? It is good here; this river has fish, there are acorns, there are deer, and the berries are starting to come in. And nobody bothers us.”
Wolfchaser squatted next to Stonechipper and pointed across the river. “Maybe there is more in the direction of the rising sun.”
“More what? We have been here for three years and we have never been hungry. Our sisters have delivered healthy babies and to carry everything to another place is just so much work.”
Wolfchaser frowned, “I know, but I want to see what is out there. We have not seen any other families for years. Are they behind us or are they ahead of us? I just want to know.”
“So when will you leave?”
“Today looks good.”
Stonechipper, stood up and threw the few twigs in his hand into the fire that now had started to grow. “Brother I will join you, once I eat, we will tell father.”
Oakfinder was sitting at the river’s edge. He enjoyed the river. He had kept the family moving east until they reached this river. It was now a group of 25 people. He was oldest, and just his brother and his wife were the same generation. Together they had eight children, of which the four daughters had husbands and children and one of his sons had a wife.
They married into another tribe they met three years before further west in the mountains. The two tribes became a little too large and food became more scarce. Oakfinder’s wife had died and he decided to look for new hunting grounds further east. He went east for five days and found the river they now lived at. When he got back he described the river and the food to his family and the two tribes decided to split up, and Oakfinder took his family to the river where they now lived.
There was no evidence of other humans ever having been here. The game here was manageable. The bears were small and not aggressive, their dogs kept the wolves away and there were deer and elk. The lack of deer and elk further west caused the food shortages and there were enough of them here. In certain seasons the river was filled with so much fish all they had to do was scoop them up.
They would not have to move. Oakchaser often looked across the river and wondered if they were the edge of all humans. In their oral history they called themselves sun travelers since their families and ancestors always moved towards the rising sun when they felt it was time to move. They knew that to their north there was an icewall and there were lands that were wet and open with very large animals. There was good hunting there, but too many humans quickly killed the wildlife and that made them move all through the season.
Oakchaser’s band stayed just a little further south, and followed the woods. Here the hunting was a little more complicated, but there were many more different kinds of food and they did not have to move as often. They had explored the river in their canoes going downstream south. A few days south, the river widened enough to be able to see the horizon.
Other humans had visited the river further south, and Oakfinder decided they would not intrude there. He knew it would be better to explore in the direction of the rising sun and wondered if there were horizons there. He loved it whenever he struck out to the sun. He saw Wolfchaser and Stonechipper approach, jumping the rocks along the river’s edge. Wolfchaser and Stonechipper were his youngest children. Wolfchaser was now in his fourteenth summer and Stonechipper was two years younger. They were strong and good at working with the rest of the family, but Wolfchaser was getting restless. He needed a mate. He deserved a mate. Stonechipper was still a little too young for that. Stonechipper was hard to read anyway. He was quiet. Oakfinder liked that. He also preferred to speak as little as possible, but unlike himself, Stonechipper was also a bit of a loner. Stonechipper just did his thing.
Wolfchaser greeted Oakfinder first. “Good morning Father. Have you eaten?”
Oakfinder shook his head. “No, I just had a nice shit, and figured I would enjoy the quiet a bit longer before I join the family for breakfast.”
Wolfchaser nodded to Stonechipper who had caught up, “Father: Stonechipper and I want to strike out to the sun today.”
“I don’t think you will find a mate there”
“I think you are right, we may be at the edge of all humans. I may have to go back west or maybe south for a mate, but I first want to know what is further east.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Now, if you will let me, and Stonechipper has agreed to join me.”
“It is a good time. I will make sure the family does not move in the next three moons, we will wait for you to return. I envy you and wish I were young again to join you. Be careful. I wish you will find a horizon to the East, like we found to the South. I wonder how the sun appears in the morning when the East has a horizon.”
Wolfchaser had seen the horizon to the South and the sun above it, and also wondered if there were horizons to the East. “I do too father. We will be careful and hope to have good tales to tell when we return”
Wolfchaser and Stonechipper turned around and walked back to camp. When they were out of sight Oakfinder got up and followed them. He was feeling his 35 winters and used his spear to guide him along the rough shore of the river. He figured there would be something to eat when he got to camp and wondered what it would be.
Back at camp the word spread quickly and everyone was excited. Breakfast was forgotten as Wolfchaser and Stonechipper started to outfit themselves for the trip. The whole family helped them and there was some debate about what they should carry. The boy’s aunt decided on the best hides to bring. The hides would barely be needed at this time of year, but in three months’ time they would be the difference between life and death. The hides she selected were warm and excellently tanned. Sewn together they made an excellent cape that would be a sleeping bag at night. The tightly rolled up capes were strapped to a shoulder bag that held their other supplies. Cord, flints, spare spear points, some medicine, flint knives, and for food: nuts, dried fruits, dried fish and mushrooms. They carried a heavy spear in their hands, and two lighter throwing spears strapped along the sleeping bag bundle. Family members also gave them various trading articles, some stone and shell beads and some carvings, even though nobody really expected them to encounter humans to the east. It was decided that the boys would take the family’s two best dogs on the trip.
Their uncle and one of the cousins would take them across the river in the big canoe to a creek that ran into the river at the opposite side, a little south of camp. The dogs sensed a trip was afoot and were waiting by the canoe when Wolfchaser and Stonechipper stepped aboard.
The family waved and sang for as long as they could see each other.
The canoe moved up the creek which quickly narrowed. Their cousin gauged the depth with his paddle and when the water was knee deep Wolfchaser and Stonechipper stepped over the side and at their sign the dogs jumped out. They helped the canoe turn around and watched their uncle and cousin paddled away. Before they got to the first turn in the creek, the paddlers turned around and waved a last time to Wolfchaser and Stonechipper.
“Well here we go brother”, Wolfchaser said.
The creek narrowed quickly, they pretty much followed the middle while the dogs ran and explored ahead closer to the edge.
The trees reached each other from both sides of the bank. The sunlight was broken, and it kept the air from being too warm. The creek bottom was uneven; a combination of soft mud, occasional rocks and stretches of sand. The water was clear enough to see the bottom, but they used the butts of their spears to make sure the bottom was solid. Often trees blocked the creek and they had to slip around or over logs and branches. Progress was slow, but nice and steady. In a clearer stretch the dogs stopped suddenly, and a deer and fawn came out of the woods to drink from the creek. Stonechipper, who was slightly ahead, did not sign the dogs to charge and they did not stir. Stonechipper walked ahead and the doe looked at them and then basically ignored them. Stonechipper continued to approach and not until he was within 20 feet did the deer turn and return to the cover of the woods.
Wolfchaser was close behind Stonechipper. “No humans here,” Wolfchaser said.
“Yes, the deer did not recognize us as a threat, she did not even react to the dogs. It will make hunting easy. Let’s keep going, we will gather berries, maybe find some crawfish, mussels, frogs and bugs and find a place for the night along the bank”, Stonechipper added. “We should get a deer before the creek gets too narrow, so we can carry meat when we have to enter the woods.”
The land was rising slowly and the creek was running along red sandy banks and was reasonably clear from branches and obstructions. The creek probably cleared itself during hard rains. They crossed some beaver dams with ponds upstream that provided larger clearings. There were also some beaver meadows. There were wildlife trails that led to and even across the creek. They slept along those trails, but did not follow them to explore. The creek kept leading them to the east and they had no reason to leave it. There was enough to eat and they might not even have killed a deer except to feed the dogs. The dogs probably could have found their own prey, but it was so easy to kill a deer that it made no sense to have the dogs chase some animal through the dense cover or along a trail. They saw no bear, but there were bear rubs and there was bear scat. There was no sign of wolves and the heavy cover made it unattractive ground for wolves. There must be mountain lions but they did not see them, and were not particularly worried about them. Mountain lions are very cautious about their prey, they were unlikely to attack an animal they had never seen.
On the third day, the creek pretty much dried up and there was no real river bed. They did find a wildlife trail that roughly led to the east and decided to follow it. The landscape was varied, there were stretches that led through heavy woods often filled with pawpaw trees in the undergrowth, and then suddenly there would be scrubby short pine trees on dry ground.
After a day, the wildlife trail hit another creek that ran to the east and they followed it for a few more days. Over the course of those days, they realized there was higher ground to the north.
The creek itself ran through a modest canyon, but the bank was generally higher on the north side than the south side. At beaver dams or beaver meadows, it was clear the land to the south was generally lower.
That afternoon Stonechipper and Wolfchaser found a nice spot to camp at the edge of a beaver meadow and it was particularly clear the land to the north rose. They started a fire and roasted some venison and other things they had gathered. They were roasting their food with the dogs paying close attention to their every move when Stonechipper spoke up, “So how much longer will we keep going?”
Wolfchaser pulled off a piece of venison from the roasting stick, tore it in two and threw it to the dogs. “I don’t know, I have never been here before.”
Stonechipper did not react. Wolfchaser regretted the remark. He did not mind upsetting his brother, he just felt dumb realizing too late that irony was wasted on him.
Stonechipper was chewing a piece of venison. He swallowed and spoke, “It is nice here, but no better than at the river. Why go on? You will not find a mate here. We can go back and tell father that if we have to, we can safely move closer to where the sun rises. After that, we can go west and find you a wife.”
Wolfchaser pointed to the north, “That high ground is no more than two days away, what if we get up there and maybe get a good look at the surroundings. Maybe we will find a horizon.”
Stonechipper turned around and studied the high ground. “It will be tough, it is all wood and undergrowth. There might be poison ivy forests along the way. There are trees on the high ground. We will have to climb one to get a view unless there are burnouts. If we get lucky and find a decent wildlife trail it may be worth the effort. I am curious about what the surroundings look like. This creek is getting bigger, but that is normal, we just don’t know if it will become more interesting. Maybe a view from high ground will tell us more.”
Wolfchaser got up and grabbed his heavy spear. “I am going to scout ahead for a wildlife trail that leads north. I will be back before dark.” He motioned to one of the dogs and stepped into the creek.
Stonechipper leaned back on some moss. He would just relax, the temperature was great, the dragonflies were keeping mosquitos at bay and he was not hungry. Not a bad situation while his brother was fighting his way downstream.
Dusk brought more mosquitos and the dragonflies apparently were done for the day. Stonechipper made the fire smoke and moved underneath the smoke blanket. As usual, it did not help much, but once the sun was down, the mosquitos also would probably call it quits. He heard splashing downriver. The dog got up and ran downriver, a few short barks of recognition confirmed that Wolfchaser was coming back. When he came into view, he waved to Stonechipper with a grin. “There is a nice wildlife trail that runs north at the end of the meadow. It is quite wide with little undergrowth, I followed it for quite a distance and it did not change.”
“Did it go uphill?”
“A little”
“You know what will happen, it will never get to the highest ground. Wildlife does not care about a view.”
“I know, but it leads north and leads to higher ground. Let’s just try.”
“OK, tomorrow, and just for one day, if it does not lead to a view we go back.”
The next morning they made good progress along the trail. It followed a faint ridge and gradually seemed to climb higher. They were under giant canoewood trees and it kept the undergrowth light, but there never was a view.
Around midday the trail seemed to have crested, but they still had no view. They left the trail and pushed up to higher ground and crested a few additional ridges. They broke branches and made marks to ensure they could make it back to the trail and often looked over their shoulders to try to memorize the way back. If all else failed, the dogs might be able to find the trail.
Near the highest ground they started to look for trees to climb, but there were no low branches on the canoewoods. Their smooth trunks with their very high canopies made for great canoes, but unsuitable climbing trees. Then, near the highest point, a giant canoewood tree had toppled and its canopy had gotten entangled in an adjacent tree. The 45 degree angle of the trunk allowed them to carefully climb it and reach the entangled canopies. Once in the canopies it was not too difficult to get to the highest part of the tree. When they reached the top, it was clear they were in a tree on the highest part of the high ground. When the breeze moved the leaves on the branches that were too thin to climb, they caught glimpses of the landscape around them, but it never provided a clear view. They rested quietly in the highest part of the tree with the dogs anxiously circling around the base about 100 feet down and realized they were in a situation somewhere between victory and defeat without a clear path forward.
“What now?” Stonechipper asked.
“I don’t know.” Wolfchaser answered.
“How many days have we traveled?”
Wolfchaser did the mental math. “Today is the 6th day”
“So we will probably make it back in five days”
“Makes sense, back is always quicker”
Stonechipper went on, “So this is what I am thinking. In less than three moons the leaves on the canoe trees will have fallen. If we come back then, we will have a clear view and maybe see a horizon”
Wolfchaser smiled. “I like that. The water will be colder, but there will be paw paws along the trail”
“It will be too late for paw paws”
“I guess you are right. Well, I like the plan. Let’s go tell the family”, Wolfchaser was looking forward to telling his tale of exploration to his family and had already started down the tree.
They made the return trip in four days and were met by a family that initially was confused to see the boys return so quickly. When Wolfchaser started to relate their adventure, the family was only marginally interested. They had not encountered any new or dangerous animals or friendly or unfriendly humans and wading creeks was nothing new. It took a while for them to understand that the adventure was not over yet and when Wolfchaser explained that they were going back when the leaves were down, some of the younger family members became interested in joining them in the hope of finding an eastern horizon.
Into the fall there was a level of excitement that was unusual, and generally only prevailed when there was a baby on the way.
Almost every family member at some stage discussed joining Stonechipper and Wolfchaser. Even Oakfinder considered joining them until Wolfchaser more closely described the difficulty in climbing the leaning canoewood tree. It would make no sense to travel all the way to the tree and not be able to see the view.
Once the canoewood trees had dropped their leaves around camp, all the family members considered capable of climbing the tree prepared themselves for the trip. In all, 8 family members ranging in age from 8 to 20 joined Wolfchaser and Stonechipper for the trip. They also brought the same two dogs
Despite the larger group, they managed to travel at the same pace and even camped at the spots where Wolfchaser and Stonechipper had camped on their prior trip. Wolfchaser took particular pride in being the guide, but even Stonechipper was eager to tell the others about the next bend or to point out features that had stood out on their previous trip. The nights were much colder, and the days were shorter, but since the group was traveling with a purpose, they spent much less time lazing around their camps and therefore made equal headway.
Either Wolfchaser or Stonechipper took the lead which allowed them to easily kill deer that fed the entire party at their evening camps.
Since leaves were down, the views were occasionally better but the horizon was never seen.
They had no problem finding the high ground wild life trail, which was now filled with tracks of deer and elks traveling south. The signs they had left behind to mark the ascend to the leaning canoewood tree were still in place. The dogs now realized where they were going and led the way ignoring the signs.
Soon 10 humans of varying ages were looking at the leaning canoewood tree. It was a beautiful fall day; cool and crystal clear.
Wolfchaser took the lead in climbing the leaning tree and soon realized that their plan would be successful. He had barely reached the canopy of the leaning tree and already could see clear to the south. The creek they had followed was obscured but he could look further into the distance over a very gently rolling treed landscape showing late fall colors and he saw a horizon that reached a blue sky with the Sun overhead. It was a lovely sight. He pointed and called out to his family following him closely up the tree; “I see a horizon. I see a horizon!”
He continued to climb and halfway in the canopy of the upright tree he could now see the North where he was looking at a level landscape filled with reeds, and low trees. The reeds had turned golden green and among the reeds there were various water filled channels that ran to the East. In the distance he could see low hills with trees and somewhat higher land. In the distance there was also a glitter as if there was a large heap of snow. It was a beautiful expansive landscape. Flocks of birds were circling and traversing the landscape. He paused long enough for Stonechipper to catch up. “There is a lot of land there Stonechipper”, Wolfchaser said.
“We can still get higher, maybe we can see the East.” They climbed higher and the East slowly revealed itself. There was a horizon that filled their field of view. It was the same golden green color with water channels, but at the very edge of their view, right at the horizon, there was a glitter that indicated that there was a very very large lake at the very edge of their field of vision and there was a sharp watery edge between the water and the horizon.
Wolfchaser and Stonechipper strained to absorb all they were seeing. So much land, so varied, and just so different from what they were used to. They found comfortable positions among the branches and just stared. Their family members joined them and everyone just silently observed the beauty, grace and vast space around them.
They were up in the tree till sunset. At dusk everybody climbed down to settle for the night.
When Wolfchaser returned to the ground, he grabbed his hides and a chunk of venison. He turned to Stonechipper: “I am going up the tree again and will spend the night. I want to see the sun appear in the morning.”
Stonechipper studied Wolfchaser, “Brother, I want to see that too. Are you becoming a dream talker?”
“No, I don’t think so, but I think I will know more tomorrow”
They took their hides and made it back to the canopy before it was completely dark. It turned out to be less comfortable than they expected in the part of the canopy that had a clear view to the Southeast, but in the portion where the two canopies met, there were branches that provided a hammock like arrangement where they both could sleep reasonably comfortably.
“I don’t want to miss the sunrise”, Wolfchaser said.
“The sky is clear and we can watch the turn of the stars in the sky. When it gets closer to morning we can take turns standing watch.” Stonechipper suggested.
“Deal”, Wolfchaser arranged his hide, got comfortable with one branch in the hollow of his knees, another under his thighs, and a thicker branch in the middle of his back. He fell asleep almost immediately.
The clear sky and fall breeze from the North made it an uncomfortable night and both boys were awake and in the upper canopy when the sky started to lighten in the East. In many ways the sunrise was familiar, but at the same time the boys were seeing a wholly different show. To see the sky lighten along a wide arc along the horizon was quite different than seeing the sky lighten above trees, and there was an additional strip of color from the reflection on the water in the distance beyond the flats. Then the sun actually appeared above the horizon, and in minutes, the full disk appeared slightly smeared in red and pink morning mist in a sky that was still deep blue.
Then the full daylight came in and sunlight streaked across the flats to the North and East and the woods to the South, where the small differences in height were accentuated by the low angle of the light. The boys had never seen a show like this before and made no sound.
Wolfchaser cleared his throat, “I want to see this every morning”.
“Then you will have to live here.”
“That is what I will do. I will find a wife and start my family here. There is game here, there is the creek to the South, and I am sure there is good hunting to the North too. We can explore the creek further downriver and I am sure it will meet up with the larger water to the North. All that water will be great for fishing and fowl. I think I will live by the creek, but this spot I want to be clear so I can look to the East as far as the eye will see whenever I want to. Maybe I will go further East some day, but this spot is where my spirit resides”
“It is a very nice spot, I would like to join you, and I am sure many more humans will join us in the years to come.”
ENDNOTES:
This story assumes the first date of human settlement of the US East Coast as 17,000 BC based on the Meadowcroft excavations. The actual date is very fluid, since it interacts with ice ages and potentially older dates of human occupation of North America. More recently it has been established that fossilized human footprints in New Mexico are between 21,000 and 23,000 years old.
What is relatively clear is that humans moved quite quickly across the continent.
The story does not lay claim to a specific stage of the glacial advance in New Jersey in 17,000 BC. The present Atlantic Highlands were created by the upward pressure of the Wisconsin glaciation’s ice edge pressure. They may very well have been substantially higher at that time. It is assumed that the Sunchasers showed up during a period of glacial retreat.
It is possible that a later advance of the glacier displaced the Sunchasers and the area was unpopulated for a period of time. Human speed of transit and glacial speeds are very different. A glacier, at maximum, may advance or retreat 100 miles in 1000 years, one tenth of a mile per year. Human occupation can advance and retreat much faster.
This culture is often called pre Clovis. It made tools and used natural fibers for basketry and probably clothing. It was probably comparable to the most primitive cultures such as existed quite recently in the Amazon. There were family structures and probably small tribal structures. It is unlikely there was significant agriculture and the entire culture relied on hunting and gathering, but I add the assumption that they knew how to make canoes.
Obviously there are no records of personal names in 17,000 BC. All personal names, throughout history and around the world, refer to concepts in their society, whether it is Fatso, or Jesus, or Smith. The names in this story may be awkward, but nobody has been able to suggest a better alternative. It would be absolutely incorrect to use Lenape names. Almost certainly the “Sunchasers” are not ancestors of the Lenapes. Quite likely Lenape names are more similar to ours than to the names people may have had in 17,000 BC.
The leaning tree is located somewhere atop the Atlantic Highlands. To the north there also would have been a horizon at that time since there was a large lake to the north of the Sunchaser tribe called Lake Passaic. That lake has since disappeared with only remnants such as the Great Swamp remaining.
It is very difficult to provide an accurate description of the general geology, flora and fauna of New Jersey 17,000 years ago. No doubt it coincided with the movement of glacial ice cover, which would be to the north. A retreating glacier would expose bare earth that will grow grasses and gradually trees will establish themselves. For this story it is assumed that Wolfchaser’s family lived in woodlands not dissimilar to the type of woodlands that establishes itself very quickly in central New Jersey, although it probably would have been colder in winter with the nearby glaciers. The family camp was at what is presently a river like the Delaware river somewhere due west of present day Monmouth County.
The trees atop the highlands are more commonly referred to as tulip trees. Tulip trees are the largest and most dominant tree on the US East coast and probably were present 17,000 years ago. Tulip trees are the preferred tree for local large dugout canoes. Smaller canoes were often made from cedars. Lacking steel tools, the canoes were mostly fashioned by controlled burning.
When the Sunchasers reached the Atlantic Highlands in Monmouth County, sea levels were much lower and the Raritan Bay was a large nearly level wetland. This wetland extended into the ocean for a very large distance and connected the present Long Island shore with the Jersey shore with only a river between the two. Sandy Hook did not exist. The Atlantic flyway as we know it today did not exist, there was no narrow choke point and if there was a choke point it was much further east. Since most of the North was glaciated, birds probably did not migrate as far north as today. From this time on with retreating glaciers, the ocean level would rise slowly and eventually create Raritan Bay and the Navesink River estuary and build the beaches and Sandy Hook.
In the story the Sunchasers advanced about 15 miles per year without too much effort. An immature forest can establish itself in less than 50 years and a mature forest can establish itself in less than 500 years. Birds and mammals may change migration patterns in the course of less than 100 years and often much quicker. Less is known about the establishment of seasonal fish populations such as shad and salmon. It should always be remembered that change in nature is constant and humans are an incredibly adaptable species both as far as their range of survival is concerned, and as far as their ability to change their environment is concerned. However, there is a difference between natural change, natural destruction and human destruction.