Eastern States Archeological Federation 83rd Annual Meeting

          

          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) 83^rd 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.

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .