An Oneida Indian village stood here as early as the mid to late 1400's. Excavation in the 1950's revealed evidence of a section of palisade wall constructed of four rows of posts. Walls of this period are believed to have been built by erecting two double rows of interlacing vertical posts, and many had logs placed horizontally between the rows. The outside may have had large pieces of elm bark sewn on. Some had a parapet at the top that served as an observation platform as well as a defensive vantage point. The spacing and location of these walls indicate a fortified Indian village. Champlain reported this type of wall in his account of his battle with the Iroquois in 1615.