The Herrick Hollow sites are located on the glaciated Appalachian Plateau in an upland area separating the Susquehanna and Delaware River Valleys. On this divide, small streams flowing both north and south drain a series of wetlands. The hills adjacent to Herrick Hollow are dotted with small ponds and wetlands, many of which form the headwaters for small seasonal streams flowing east and west.


The topographic setting of the project area offers a diverse setting with abundant wetlands and the seasonal drainages flowing from them. Based on the reconstruction of the forest mosaic from carbonized wood on the Herrick Hollow sites,
susquenna and delaware river watershedsa beech-maple-birch-white pine upland was the dominant forest community in this area. In addition, some areas surrounding Herrick Hollow could support nut-bearing trees. The presence of hawthorn indicates that some disturbed woods and thickets existed around the sites. This environmental context would have been attractive for the procurement and initial processing of food, such as small game and deer, and other resources such as reeds and bark. While most uplands did not support large horticultural villages and hunter-gatherer base camps, some evidence suggests that uplands, particularly those that form drainage divides, were attractive for small camps, especially during the Late Woodland period.


It is possible that the Herrick Hollow uplands hosted small groups foraging for resources throughout prehistory. However, it was not until the Late Archaic period (4000-2500 B.C.) that sparse evidence of land use along Herrick Hollow Creek emerges. Prehistoric use of these uplands was more visible during the Early Woodland, and then intensified during the Late Woodland.

  
  -foothills of the catskill mountains in delaware county near the herrick hollow sites


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