2. Archaeological Excavations in Marine Park Show Items Going Back to 800 AD

Remnants of the pilings from the Olympic winning plan for Marine Park and the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center, behind which an archaeological dig was performed

Although portions of Marine Park were constructed of a more recent landfill, parts of Jamaica Bay were formed as far back as 5000 years ago through the deposition of sand by ocean currents along Long Island. Frederick Van Wyck, author of Keskachauge or The First White Settlement on Long Island believed that the Marine Park area likely contained “the most undisturbed traces of Native American occupation in New York City,” write Alyssa Loorya, H. Arthur Bankoff, and Christopher Ricciardi in a report about a 1997 archaeological excavation.

The dig was performed at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Burnett Avenue, and Avenue U in southern Brooklyn and revealed items dating from 800 to 1400 A.D. that include Woodland Period Native American items for food preparation. The findings included deer and turtle bones, oyster shells, and sturgeon scales.