Shelter Rock
By Amanda Bielskas
Within the estate of Colonel John Hay Whitney at Manhasset, Long Island, New York, is a large glacial erratic known as Manhasset Rock or Shelter Rock. The rock has always served as a prominent landmark and the public road which passes nearby is called Shelter Rock Road (Smith, 1946).
Location
Shelter Rock is located on the right side of Shelter Rock Road traveling south from Northern Boulevard. The giant boulder is on the private estate of the late John Hay Whitney, publisher and ambassador to England. It's not visible from the road.
Geology
During the Ice Age a glacial movement tumbled this enormous monument. The rock is reported to be forty feet long, twenty feet wide, ten to seventeen feet above ground, a total of twenty-four hundred cubic feet and weighs approximately eighteen hundred tons. The Glacier moved the rock (more than 11,000 years ago) across Long Island Sound and onto the shore at a point on land 40 degrees North 47 minutes latitude, 73 degrees West 42 minutes longitude. The boulder was deposited at the close of the Pleistocene, it rests directly upon glacial till. The rock is composed of slightly metamorphosed granite of northern origin. Virtually all the loose rock on the surface of Long Island, are ‘erratics’ that were broken off New England bedrock and carried south by the ice sheet. Shelter rock is one such erratic, in fact it is the largest boulder on Long Island and it may be the largest in New York State. Erratics are large boulders found as part of moraine deposits. They remain where they were deposited by ice because they are too large to be carried by meltwater streams.
Legend
Shelter Rock was first called Milestone Rock and its name changed as a result of the legendary tales of those who sought shelter under its ledges. As has been recorded, a young soldier running off with a lovely Indian maid was pierced with arrows before he could reach the protection of the sanctuary. Cow-keepers caught in a storm sought refuge at the rock while their cattle made their way to the pastureland just beyond. It has also been reported to be the local for buried treasure (never found.) The local Indians camped near the rock to hunt; they used its 30-foot overhang for shelter. These Indians were known as the Matinecocks, members of the Algonquin race who lived on the eastern seaboard.
Excavation
Between April 26 and May 5, 1946, Carlyle S. Smith and Ralph Solecki excavated the ground around the southeast side of the rock for the American Museum of Natural History. Smith filed a report of his finding with the Museum’s Department of Anthropology in 1946. The area surrounding the rock was searched in order to determine whether or not it had been used by Indians as a Rock Shelter.
Numerous artifacts were found by Smith during his investigation, the artifacts ranged as follows. Nine small pottery sherds Native American in origin, and the site produced 27 whole and fragmentary projectile points. The projectile points were composed of quartz, quartzite, chert, and shale. Three fragments of chipped stone knife blades were found. Four identifiable hammerstones were found and Smith noted that there were so many cobbles of the proper size and shape it seemed very few received enough wear to be identified as artifacts. Worked bone was also found at the site, as well as the remains of marine shells and broken animal bones.
Smith concluded that the Manhasset Rock might well be the only rockshelter on Long Island. He also concluded that the site was used by transient hunters who replaced projectile points broken in the field. He further extrapolated that the shelter was not used during the late period because it was near a village where they could have spent the night.
There you have it a little natural history about the rock that has been known as Shelter Rock, Manhasset Rock, or Milestone Rock. Whatever you call it, the rock has an interesting history. For more information about the rock see the following websites and sources:
Bibliography
Smith, Carlyle S. American Antiquity. Vol. 1 pp.87-98, 1944. The Society for American Archaeology.
Smith, Carlyle S. "Manhasset Rock." An unpublished paper on file with the Department of Anthropology Archives at the American Museum of Natural History. June 10, 1946.
Location
Shelter Rock is located on the right side of Shelter Rock Road traveling south from Northern Boulevard. The giant boulder is on the private estate of the late John Hay Whitney, publisher and ambassador to England. It's not visible from the road.
Geology
During the Ice Age a glacial movement tumbled this enormous monument. The rock is reported to be forty feet long, twenty feet wide, ten to seventeen feet above ground, a total of twenty-four hundred cubic feet and weighs approximately eighteen hundred tons. The Glacier moved the rock (more than 11,000 years ago) across Long Island Sound and onto the shore at a point on land 40 degrees North 47 minutes latitude, 73 degrees West 42 minutes longitude. The boulder was deposited at the close of the Pleistocene, it rests directly upon glacial till. The rock is composed of slightly metamorphosed granite of northern origin. Virtually all the loose rock on the surface of Long Island, are ‘erratics’ that were broken off New England bedrock and carried south by the ice sheet. Shelter rock is one such erratic, in fact it is the largest boulder on Long Island and it may be the largest in New York State. Erratics are large boulders found as part of moraine deposits. They remain where they were deposited by ice because they are too large to be carried by meltwater streams.
Legend
Shelter Rock was first called Milestone Rock and its name changed as a result of the legendary tales of those who sought shelter under its ledges. As has been recorded, a young soldier running off with a lovely Indian maid was pierced with arrows before he could reach the protection of the sanctuary. Cow-keepers caught in a storm sought refuge at the rock while their cattle made their way to the pastureland just beyond. It has also been reported to be the local for buried treasure (never found.) The local Indians camped near the rock to hunt; they used its 30-foot overhang for shelter. These Indians were known as the Matinecocks, members of the Algonquin race who lived on the eastern seaboard.
Excavation
Between April 26 and May 5, 1946, Carlyle S. Smith and Ralph Solecki excavated the ground around the southeast side of the rock for the American Museum of Natural History. Smith filed a report of his finding with the Museum’s Department of Anthropology in 1946. The area surrounding the rock was searched in order to determine whether or not it had been used by Indians as a Rock Shelter.
Numerous artifacts were found by Smith during his investigation, the artifacts ranged as follows. Nine small pottery sherds Native American in origin, and the site produced 27 whole and fragmentary projectile points. The projectile points were composed of quartz, quartzite, chert, and shale. Three fragments of chipped stone knife blades were found. Four identifiable hammerstones were found and Smith noted that there were so many cobbles of the proper size and shape it seemed very few received enough wear to be identified as artifacts. Worked bone was also found at the site, as well as the remains of marine shells and broken animal bones.
Smith concluded that the Manhasset Rock might well be the only rockshelter on Long Island. He also concluded that the site was used by transient hunters who replaced projectile points broken in the field. He further extrapolated that the shelter was not used during the late period because it was near a village where they could have spent the night.
There you have it a little natural history about the rock that has been known as Shelter Rock, Manhasset Rock, or Milestone Rock. Whatever you call it, the rock has an interesting history. For more information about the rock see the following websites and sources:
Bibliography
Smith, Carlyle S. American Antiquity. Vol. 1 pp.87-98, 1944. The Society for American Archaeology.
Smith, Carlyle S. "Manhasset Rock." An unpublished paper on file with the Department of Anthropology Archives at the American Museum of Natural History. June 10, 1946.
