Editing Staten Island (section)

===Indigenous Inhabitants / Native Americans===
As in much of North America, human habitation appeared on the island fairly rapidly after the [[Wisconsin glaciation]]. Archaeologists have recovered tool evidence of [[Clovis culture]] activity dating from about 14,000 years ago. This evidence was first discovered in 1917 in the Charleston section of the island. Various Clovis artifacts have been discovered since then, on property owned by [[Mobil|Mobil Oil]].

The island was probably abandoned later, possibly because of the [[local extinction|extirpation]] of large mammals on the island. Evidence of the first permanent [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] settlements and agriculture are thought to date from about 5,000 years ago,<ref name="Jackson, 1995">Jackson, 1995</ref> although [[Archaic period (North America)|early archaic]] habitation evidence has been found in multiple locations on the island.<ref>Ritchie, 1963</ref>

[[Rossville points]] are distinct arrowheads that define a Native American cultural period from the [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic period]] to the Early [[Woodland period]], dating from about 1500 to 100&nbsp;BC. They are named for the [[Rossville, Staten Island|Rossville]] section of Staten Island, where they were first found near the old Rossville Post Office building.<ref>''Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History'', Volumes 3–4 By American Museum of Natural History</ref>

[[File:Burial Ridge Skeletons.jpg|thumb|right|Skeletons unearthed at [[Burial Ridge|Lenape burial ground]] in Staten Island, the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City]]
At the time of European contact, the island was inhabited by the [[Raritan people|Raritan band]] of the [[Unami language|Unami]] division of the [[Lenape]]. In [[Delaware languages|Lenape]], one of the [[Algonquian languages]], Staten Island was called {{lang|del|Aquehonga Manacknong}}, meaning "as far as the place of the bad woods", or {{lang|del|Eghquhous}}, meaning "the bad woods".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IswpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1 |title=History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York |last1=Bayles |first1=Richard Mather |year=1887 }}</ref>
The name is spelled as {{lang|del|Eghquaons}} in the deed to Lubbertus van Dincklage for the purchase of Staten Island, 1657.<ref name="deed"/> The area was part of the Lenape homeland known as [[Lenapehoking]]. The Lenape were later called the "Delaware" by the English colonists because they inhabited both shores of what the English named the [[Delaware River]].

The island was laced with Native American foot trails, one of which followed the south side of the ridge near the course of present-day Richmond Road and [[Amboy Road]]. The Lenape did not live in fixed encampments but moved seasonally, using [[Slash-and-burn|slash and burn]] agriculture. [[Shellfish]] was a staple of their diet, including the Eastern oyster (''[[Eastern oyster|Crassostrea virginica]]'') abundant in the waterways throughout the present-day New York City region. Evidence of their habitation can still be seen in shell [[midden]]s along the shore in the Tottenville section, where oyster shells larger than {{convert|12|in|mm}} are sometimes found.

[[Ward's Point|Burial Ridge]], a Lenape burial ground on a bluff overlooking [[Raritan Bay]] in [[Tottenville, Staten Island|Tottenville]], is the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022|reason=Exceptional claims require exceptional sources.}} Bodies have been reported unearthed at Burial Ridge from 1858 onward. After conducting independent research, which included unearthing bodies interred at the site, ethnologist and archaeologist [[George H. Pepper]] was contracted in 1895 to conduct paid archaeological research at Burial Ridge by the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. The burial ground today is unmarked and lies within [[Conference House Park]].