Archaeological excavations have uncovered evidence of Native Americans camping, hunting, gathering, and fishing along the banks of the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers for the past 12,000 years. Over time, traces of their activities were buried. Before Europeans arrived, a vast trail system connected villages and camps throughout the region and was used by hunters, traders, and warriors, while the rivers also carried people and goods. Stone tools were made from a variety of stone types, and the waste flakes produced in making them are among the most numerous artifacts found on sites. Archaeological research also shows that people hunted large mammals with atlatls and darts, trapped furs, fished rivers and lakes, and collected nuts and berries as the seasons changed. Projectile points such as Brewerton side-notched points from ca. 3000-2500 BC help archaeologists link sites to specific time periods, and pottery such as Owasco Corded Horizontal neck and rim sherds from ca. AD 900-1350 shows how clay vessels were used for cooking, serving, and storing food and how pottery styles can help identify a site's age and its people. Bone fish hooks found at one site reflect the rich fish resources of the area's rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands and the use of fish weirs, nets, spears, and hooks, while baskets were important in daily life even though few survive because reeds, bark, and other organic materials did not endure in the region's acidic soils.