It has been another busy and productive October at The State
Museum wrapping up Archaeology Month celebrations and outreach programs. Fort
Hunter artifacts are in process in the lab and the 2016 Workshops in
Archaeology last Saturday was a well-attended event with over 145 participants.
If you missed the Workshops this year, or would like to learn more about recent
archaeological investigations and research in the region, we invite you to the
Eastern States Archeological Federation (ESAF) 83rd Annual Meeting
this weekend in Langhorne, Pennsylvania at the Sheraton Bucks County. Those
interested in Paleoindian archaeology will find this year’s conference
particularly informative.
Fluted point and
endscrapers from a Paleoindian component at the Snyder Complex site, NJ. Photographer
credit: Kurt Carr.
Thursday kicked off the conference
with a well-received tour of two Paleoindian sites in New Jersey, the Snyder
Complex and Plenge. However, it is still possible to attend Saturday and Sunday
paper sessions. Walk-in registration will remain open Friday through Saturday
afternoon. Follow the provided link to ESAF meeting registration
for more details.
Jen Rankin describing the soil profile of the stratified Synder Complex
site on Thurday’s tour. Photographer credit: Kurt Carr
Tour
guides Jen Rankin (Temple University, AECOM), Michael Stewart (Temple
University, New Jersey Historic Preservation Office), Leonard Ziegler (Society
for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Archaeological Society of New Jersey), and Joe
Gingerich (Temple University) deserve accolades for setting the prehistoric
stage in a vivid and entertaining way on yesterday’s tour. Stories from their combined
decades of archaeological investigation at these locations contextualized the
sites, making them come alive in the minds of participants.
Leonard Ziegler, long
time collector at the Plenge site taking lead on the tour. Photographer credit: Kurt Carr
Regular
conference sessions begin today, Friday, November 4th. Kurt Carr, Senior
Curator (The State Museum of Pennsylvania) and current ESAF President chairs a
prehistoric session focusing on the use of lithic quarries in Pennsylvania by
indigenous peoples. The concurrent session, chaired by William A. Farley (University
of Connecticut), explores Native American cultural history spanning the Protohistoric,
Contact and Early Historic archaeological record on the Eastern Seaboard. Early
afternoon Contributed Papers, a session chaired by Ernest A. Wiegand (Norwalk
Community College), discuss investigations at Allen Meadows: A Paleoindian camp in the Norwalk River Valley; and an
elementary school archaeology outreach program at the historic School in Rose
Valley, Stephen Israel (The School in Rose Valley). Late afternoon Contributed
Papers provide a greater regional perspective of prehistoric lithic use, monument
building, Hopewell influence in North Central Ohio, and Metz Transitional ware
pottery. This session is chaired by Justin A. Reamer (University of Pennsylvania).
ESAF Presenter, Session Chair and
President Kurt Carr. Photographer credit: Beth Hager.
Saturday
sessions include a deep dive into Paleoindian
Peoples and Landscapes of the Northeast, chaired by Jonathan C. Lothrop (New
York State Museum) and Zachary L. Singer (University of Connecticut), and Urban Archaeology in Historic Philadelphia,
chaired by Kevin Bradley (Commonwealth Heritage Group). A Contributed Papers
session in the late afternoon continues on the theme of Paleoindian archaeology
with in-depth analyses of tool use and experimental tool production. Chaired by
Lucy Harrington (Mercyhurst University), her thesis research of Paleoindian through
Middle Archaic bifaces and unifacial tools was largely conducted with
collections curated at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.
The Contributed Papers following the Historic
Philadelphia session is chaired by our very own Curator, Janet Johnson and will
be held in the late morning. These papers will cover an eclectic mix of
historic and prehistoric topics from the Waynesburg
and Blacksville Street Railway Company in Green County, PA, Marc Henshaw
(Michael Baker International), to Intra-Family
Tenancy in Antebellum West Virginia, Gary Coppock (Skelly and Loy, Inc). It
is also an opportunity to see a repeat presentation of Effigies of the Susquehannock by Janet, who was a featured
presenter at last week’s Workshops, as well as an overview of Social Complexity during the Late
Prehistoric in Western, PA by John P. Nass, Jr. (California University of
Pennsylvania). The evening will be concluded at 8pm with Banquet speaker, Roger
Moeller (Archaeological Services), A
Return to the Templeton Paleoinidian Site After 40 Years. Banquet tickets
are now limited and may not be available at the door.
ESAF Presenter and Session Chair,
Janet Johnson. Photographer credit: Don Giles.
The
final session held on Sunday is chaired by Richard Veit (Monmouth University)
and will also feature an array of prehistoric and historic papers from
archaeological investigations in Delaware and New Jersey. Use the following
link to download an ESAF
meeting schedule and presentation abstracts for a complete summary of events
and speakers.
On a
final note the Section of Archaeology would like to extend a special thanks to all our dedicated
volunteers who helped behind the scenes, making the 2016 Workshops in
Archaeology a success: Andi, Clydene & Steve, Linda, Judy, Chriss, Paul,
Toni, Phil, Yasmin, Aunyer, and Hope.
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