TWIPA turns 10!

This week marks a major milestone for TWIPA – it has been a full 10 years since we began blogging about all things archaeology in Pennsylvania. After nearly 400 posts covering all manner of archaeological interests, it can be difficult to keep the creative inspiration flowing, and we feel like this is quite an accomplishment. 

We’ve shared with our readers a comprehensive overview of the archaeology of each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and posted about topics for literally (and yes, we mean literally) every letter of the alphabet.

We’ve highlighted Cultural Resource Management projects that have been curated at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, as well as several artifact collections generously donated to the museum from a number of avid avocational archaeologists. 

Some posts focused on the meat and potatoes of prehistoric projectile point and ceramic typologies, and still others have drawn attention to more recent, yet out of the ordinary archaeological finds, like a “Frozen Charlotte”, a mechanical toy beetle, and an 1852 U.S. three cent silver coin.

We’ve also kept our readers abreast of the happenings at regional archaeological conferences such as MAAC, ESAF, SPA, and of course the annual Workshops in Archaeology. Local high school classes conducting their own simulated archaeological excavations, or mock digs, have been showcased on TWIPA as well.

Posts about public outreach efforts undertaken by the Section of Archaeology such as our participation in the Kipona Native American Pow-wow and the Pennsylvania Farm Show appear like clockwork, year in and year out, like the changing of the seasons, as do detailed updates every Fall about our excavations at Fort Hunter.

Some posts are longer than others, some more data driven than others. Some rely on figures and photos more so than dense text. Once cobbled together, composed and formatted, the one thing they all have in common is the desire to share this information with you, our readers. You are the reason we put our fingers to the keyboard, and we hope you’ve found our posts interesting and enjoyable.

So, with all due respect to David Letterman and his famous “Top 10” lists, below you will find our 10 most viewed posts since we began way back in February 2009.

 #10

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2016/07/jacks-reef-pentagonal-and-jacks-reef.html

#9

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2016/09/excavation-continues-at-fort-hunter.html

#8

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2016/10/in-yards-and-under-porch-fort-hunter.html

#7

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2018/01/projectile-point-types-of-early-archaic.html

 #6

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2011/10/archaeological-evidence-of-witchcraft.html

#5

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2018/03/earliest-european-trade-goods-and.html

#4

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2018/08/2018-fort-hunter-excavations.html

#3

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2011/04/thoughts-on-g.html

#2

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-pros-and-cons-of-hunting-with.html

#1

http://twipa.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-petroglyphs-of-pennsylvania-rock.html

Take a moment and reflect on how your own life, indeed the world, has changed in the last 10 years, and what it might possibly look like in another 10.  What artifacts will future archaeologists unearth that will be unmistakable hallmarks of the second decade of the 21^st century?

Be sure to check back in two weeks when we'll debut a new look to our blog page!

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