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The history of Sussex County, New Jersey spans over 15,000 years from the time Paleo Indians arrived to the present day, and the entire width of the American experience. Before Europeans arrived, the area was a wilderness inhabited by bands of Munsee, a subgroup within the Lenape, or Delaware Indians. First settled by Dutch colonists from the New York colony, Sussex County later welcomed Palatine Germans who journeyed north from Philadelphia, and other British settlers in the eighteenth century. ==Paleo Indians and the Lenni Lenape== The area now known as Sussex county, was first occupied by Paleo Indians as the Wisconsin glacier melted 13,000 B.C.. The entire county was covered in ice, hundreds of feet thick. After the Wisconsin Glacier melted around 13,000 B.C., the area slowly warmed. At first the area was Tundra, and later changed to Taiga/Boreal Forests. Water was everywhere due to the glacier melt. The water drained slowly from the glacier and so grasslands grew first followed by coniferous forests as the area warmed. Big game such as mastodons came into the area as well as other game such as rabbits and fox. This is when Paleo Indians moved into the area. Paleo Indians lived in small groups and traveled in search of game and plants to eat. They were hunter-gathers. They made spear points of jasper and black chert. They lived near water and moved after game became scarce in the area. Their camp sites are many feet below the present ground surface, making them difficult to locate. Boreal forests of spruce and other coniferous trees grew as climate warmed. There was still areas of grass lands. Other big game mammals migrated into the area. Now elk, bison, moose, deer, wolves were in the area, as well as the fox and rabbits. As climate warmed further, the deciduous trees began to grow around 8000 B.C. Now oaks, maples, birch, beech, walnut, hickories, chestnut, and aspen grew. These trees produced nuts for feeding Paleo hunters, Paleo Indian populations slowly grew. As populations grew large families became small tribes in various areas. Other cultures of indigenous peoples occupied the area. At the time of European encounter, the historic Lenape ( or ), a Native American people, also called Delaware Indians after their historic territory along the Delaware River, inhabited the mid-Atlantic coastal areas and inland along the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Problems developed in the early 17th century when the Little Ice Age came to North America. With late frost in May and June and frosts in early August or September, made the growing of crops difficult. Cold weather also made big and small game more difficult to find. Also nut crops from oak, hickory, beech, walnut, chestnut, failed at times making the supply of these nuts scarce. Rivers froze so fishing became impossible. Their population had declined after epidemics of infectious diseases, for which they had no acquired immunity, as Native American populations were separated from Europe for thousands of years and had no immunity. Many Native American populations were weakened from starvation due to the Little Ice Age, which was coldest during the 17th century. Their important corn, bean and squash crops failed due to late cold weather and early frosts. As the Native American population declined, more land was available for European settlement. All these factors along with diseases contacted from Europeans made the Native populations decline dramatically. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Sussex County, New Jersey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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