Upcoming Archaeology Programs in the Nature Lab

After a long school year, for many, summertime conjures up images of long sunny afternoons spent basking by the pool, perhaps taking a leisurely hike through the woods, or, of course the quintessential road trip to the beach.

However, with each passing day, for students and parents alike, thoughts of classrooms and homework (and unfortunately some of the lessons learned throughout the year) begin to fade from memory.

But the beginning of Summer doesn’t have to mean the end of learning! Let the State Museum of Pennsylvania help you and your family flex your gray matter to combat the effects of “summer brain drain”, with the 3^rd annual series of educational programs, “Meet the Experts”, in our Nature Lab.

Beginning at 11:30 A.M. next Thursday, the 28^th, the Section of Archaeology staff will be offering hour-long, fun and informative presentations in a relaxed, informal setting. Topics to be covered include a flint-knapping demonstration, a review of archaeological collections recently submitted to the museum from development projects in Pennsylvania, children’s toys found on archaeological sites, and more.These programs are included with the price of general admission to the museum.

It’s important to note that many other programs, such as Lunch N’ Learn Fridays and Wildlife Wednesdays, are also scheduled throughout the summer, so be sure to check out the museum’s calendar of events web page for the complete list to choose from, and have a great Summer!

Flint Knapping -  6/28

Which one doesn’t belong? Join Sr. Curator Kurt Carr and Curator Janet Johnson to learn about what materials Native Americans used for flint knapping of projectile points and making of stone tools.

Native American Bone Tools -  7/12

Which one doesn’t belong? Join Janet Johnson, Curator of Archaeology and Callista Holmes, Archaeology Lab Manager, to discover the many ways animal bones were used everyday by Native Americans.

Who’s diggin’ PA? -  7/19

Join David Burke and Elizabeth Wagner, Curators of Archaeology, to explore new collections coming to the State Museum’s Archaeology Section from state and federal projects.

Toys through Time – 7/26

Children’s toys are often recovered at archaeological sites.  Join Elizabeth Wagner and Kim Sebestyen, Curators of Archaeology, to explore how these children’s artifacts are helping to tell the stories of those often left out of the history books. (You can also check out an archived blog post about toys found on archaeological sites by clicking the link here.)

Preserving our Past Archaeology Lab-  8/9

Join Andrea Carr and Callista Holmes, Archaeology Lab Managers, to explore how museums curate archaeological specimens to preserve for research and interpretation.

History of Digging Fort Hunter -  8/16

(photo credit: Don Giles)

Join Jim Herbstritt and Kim Sebestyen, Curators of Archaeology, to hear about their discoveries from excavations at Fort Hunter Mansion & Park. Learn how artifacts recovered at Fort Hunter help to tell the story of daily activities of Native Americans 9,000 years ago, through the colonial period to present day.

One final note – this weekend the Haldeman Mansion is celebrating the 300^th anniversary of Conoytown, an early colonial trading post along the Susquehanna River. Dr. Kurt Carr will be on hand to answer questions about the archaeology of the region and the State Museum of Pennsylvania’s replica dugout canoe will also be on display. Click here for a link to Dan Robrish’s article in the E-town Advocate for more details on this special event.

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

Meet The State Museum Archaeologists at Kipona, Fort Hunter, and the 2017 Annual Workshops

Kipona Festival and Pow Wow on City Island

Saturday-Monday,

September 2^nd-4^th

10am-6pm

This Labor Day weekend, State Museum archaeologists and volunteers will be out in the community to answer questions about the archaeology of City Island, prehistoric Native American lifeways, and our mission as stewards of Pennsylvania’s past. You will have the opportunity to learn more about experimental archaeology too.  As in previous years, our booth is located on the west, back side of the Senators Stadium on City Island. Look for the Archaeology banner flag.

Setting up on City Island for the big event.

The exhibit will highlight the over 8,000-year-old archaeological record of Pennsylvania Indians visiting and living on City Island. You can also take a journey back in time by sitting in our 20-foot replica dugout canoe, and handle some of the woodworking stone tools, called adzes, we made and used to carve out the dugout. The design and function of our replica tools was loosely based on a cache of 4,000 year-old celt and axe blades, discovered during archaeological excavations on City Island in the 1990s. The cache will be on display along with other representative artifacts recovered from earlier investigations.

How many archaeologists does it take to move an 800 lb. dugout canoe? Answer- 8.

Come visit us and learn more about the long cultural history of City Island and experience the music and dance of contemporary Native American cultures at the Pow Wow. Don’t miss your chance to enjoy a beautiful day on the “kipona” or “sparkling water” of the Susquehanna river and be part of a century old Harrisburg city festival that dates back to September 4^th, 1916.

The Museum is also open on Saturday, September 2^nd (9-5pm) and Sunday (noon-5pm). Stop by our booth and take advantage of the free Planetarium tickets we will have on hand before your visit to the Museum. Shows run Saturdays on the hour from 11am to 2pm and at 1 and 2pm on Sundays. On-the-street parking is free Sundays in Harrisburg.

If you’re not able to venture out, you can also catch repeat showings of The State Museum’s Nature Lab and Learn at Lunch programming on PCN, today through Sunday. Archaeology focused show times are highlighted below.

Friday, September 1
9:30 AM	Leadership of William Penn
10:00 AM	Researching PA Civil War Veterans
10:40 AM	Studying Pre-History Through Artifacts
11:00 AM	Stone Toolmaking
12:00 PM	Dinosaurs of the Eastern U.S.
12:45 PM	When Mammoths Roamed Pennsylvania
1:20 PM	Pennsylvania Snakes
1:45 PM	Evolution of Snakes
2:25 PM	Bats
3:20 PM	Turtles and Tortoises
3:45 PM	Pennsylvania Birds
4:35 PM	Leadership of William Penn
5:05 PM	Researching PA Civil War Veterans
11:00 PM	Studying Pre-History Through Artifacts
11:20 PM	Stone Toolmaking
Saturday, September 2
12:20 AM	Dinosaurs of the Eastern U.S.
1:05 AM	When Mammoths Roamed Pennsylvania
1:40 AM	Pennsylvania Snakes
2:05 AM	Evolution of Snakes
2:45 AM	Bats
3:40 AM	Turtles and Tortoises
4:05 AM	Pennsylvania Birds
4:50 AM	Leadership of William Penn
5:20 AM	Researching PA Civil War Veterans
2:30 PM	Studying Pre-History Through Artifacts
2:50 PM	Stone Toolmaking
3:50 PM	Dinosaurs of the Eastern U.S.
4:35 PM	When Mammoths Roamed Pennsylvania
5:10 PM	Pennsylvania Birds
6:30 PM	Pennsylvania Snakes
6:55 PM	Evolution of Snakes
7:35 PM	Turtles and Tortoises
Sunday, September 3
12:00 AM	Leadership of William Penn
12:30 AM	Researching PA Civil War Veterans
1:10 AM	Studying Pre-History Through Artifacts
1:30 AM	Stone Toolmaking
2:30 AM	Dinosaurs of the Eastern U.S.
3:15 AM	When Mammoths Roamed Pennsylvania
3:50 AM	Pennsylvania Snakes
4:15 AM	Evolution of Snakes
4:55 AM	Bats
5:50 AM	Turtles and Tortoises
6:15 AM	Pennsylvania Birds

Fort Hunter 2017 Field Season

September 11^th-October 6th

Mondays-Fridays (9am-4pm)

Backyard visitors interested in seeing archaeologists in action at Fort Hunter Mansion & Park are welcome starting Monday, September 11^th through Friday, October 6^th. This field season we will continue to excavate the smokehouse builders’ trench and sample it’s interior, as well as follow higher density 18^th century soil layers found in previous seasons in the mansion’s backyard.

Around the smokehouse, it is our goal to complete the builders’ trench excavation and further test the chemical composition of the soil inside the structure. It was observed last year that the interior soils were hydrophobic (water expelling or resistant) during and after rain storms. Rain water would drain, almost roll off the floor’s surface, rather than penetrate or absorb and moisten the soil. This was in stark contrast to the soil matrix on the rest of the site that showed the typical absorbent properties of a silt loam and remained wet for a long period when uncovered and exposed to the sun. One hypothesis is that dripping phospholipids released as rendered fats from smoking meats may have seeped into the dirt floor of the smokehouse and altered its chemical composition, making it water resistant. Another hypothesis may be that the sustained dry-heat used in the curing process was a primary factor that altered the soil. We sampled small portions of the hydrophobic floor surface last year and would like to increase our sample size this year to further test these competing or possibly complimentary hypotheses.

   

 The Smokehouse during 2016 field season. Note the dry soil inside the partially excavated circular stonewall compared to the wet soils surrounding this feature. Photographer Credit: Don Giles

At the same time, we will continue to chase the elusive 18^th century component behind the mansion in hopes to discover evidence of the French and Indian Period fort. This has been the primary focus of our initial research goals since Archaeology Month excavations began in 2006 at Fort Hunter. A 20 x 30’ block excavation will be opened behind the Mansion that will encompass a 2.5’ x 35’ trench excavation that was initially investigated in 2008. While this earlier investigative trench documented several modern disturbances of utility, sewer, and water lines running from the existing house through the backyard, there were several lenses of intact 18^th century deposits we hope to further explore this year.

Overview of the 2008 trench excavation behind the mansion.

Outlined in red in the map below are areas we will focus on this year.  More intensely colored blue areas represent higher densities of datable 18^th century artifacts recovered in previous year excavations.

Map Credit: Callista Holmes

If you are unable to join us during the week, don’t forget the excavation is also open on Sunday, September 17^th 10am-5pm as part of the Fort Hunter Day festival. It’s a family friendly event that also includes mansion tours, arts and craft booths, fair food and fun activities for all ages to enjoy.  

2017 Annual Workshops in Archaeology

Ethnicity in the Archaeological Record

October 28, 2017

9am-5pm

Announcing Registration is now open!

For more information, download to print the Workshops flier and take advantage of early registration discounts for this year’s program with mail-in submissions on or before October 20^th. Pre-registration fliers are also available at our upcoming events and walk-in registrants are welcome on the day.

   

Please join us and celebrate our rich archaeological heritage this fall. The three day Kipona Festival and Pow Wow, our Archaeology Month investigation at Fort Hunter, and Workshops in Archaeology are fun and informative events where you can meet State Museum archaeologists and learn more about how we can all preserve our past for our future.

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

Archaeology programs return to the Nature Lab

As the school year begins to draw to a close and summer vacations start to take shape, keep in mind the Nature Lab (located on the 3^rd floor of the State Museum) has a full schedule of upcoming presentations for when Mother Nature throws a wrench in your outdoor plans, be it blistering heatwaves or the occasional monsoonal downpour.

Building on the success and positive feedback from last year’s inaugural Nature Lab Series, the staff of the Section of Archaeology will again host one-hour presentations on a variety of exciting topics from 11am – 12pm every Thursday through the end of July. To accommodate busy summer schedules, each program will be offered at least twice throughout the series. Find the topic that interests you the most, or attend them all!

A flint knapping demonstration and an introduction to the methods of cataloging and labeling archaeological collections kicked off our program offerings earlier this month, and we’ll continue with an in-depth look at the different design motifs on Native American pottery found in Pennsylvania as well as an overview of recent archaeological collections submitted to the museum from across the Commonwealth.

Click here to visit the State Museum’s Events page for a full listing of upcoming programs. We hope to see you soon in the Nature Lab!

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

Analyzing Stone Axes

       Hello my name is Tamara Eichelberger, and I was an intern during the spring semester with the Section of Archaeology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. I have been interested in anthropology since I was a kid after I picked up a copy of National Geographic. I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in anthropology in high school and became a Sociology-Anthropology major at Elizabethtown College. While at Elizabethtown, I participated in archaeological digs at the Washington Boro site in Lancaster County and also in Trim, Ireland. I also worked for two weeks at the Museum of Copenhagen helping to wash, catalog, and analyze a collection of human skeletal remains. I got to spend my final spring semester of my senior year at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, and it was such a wonderful experience for me.

Recording catalog information in preparation for analysis.



            While I spent some time organizing some documents donated to the museum at the beginning of my internship, the majority of my time was spent working with the collection of Native American axes housed at the museum. There are over 700 axes in the collection which were donated by private individuals in the early years of collecting. These collections were not cataloged and organized to today’s standards and had never undergone a comprehensive analysis. It was my job to go through over 50 boxes and make sure each axe had a unique catalog number and to measure and analyze the different features of the axes. The ultimate aim of the project is not only to catalog and measure the axes so the Museum has a record of them, but to also to do research on these axes. There have been few studies done on Native American axes in Pennsylvania so this project will add to our knowledge of stone tools in the area.

 

Tray of axes which illustrates the variety of axes analyzed.

         Before coming to the Section of Archaeology, I did not have much experience with stone tools or curation in general. I worked closely with Dr. Kurt Carr and several of the other staff throughout my time at the museum. I learned about the cataloging process for the State Museum and was able to wash and label over 250 previously un-cataloged axes. After washing and labeling, we worked to create an Access data base so we could record the different features and measurements of the axes. This was the most difficult part of the process as time and time again we came across an axe that stumped us and forced us to add in new variables to the analysis. I learned a lot about the manufacture of the axes and the variety of different uses they could have had. There was so much variety in the different axes that it felt almost impossible at times to fit them all in to the data base. However, this catalog will help us to learn more about the varieties of axes so I am excited about what we can learn once it is completed.

Measuring and weighing each axe with electronic calipers.

My favorite experience this semester was working in the Nature Lab in the State Museum. The Nature Lab is a place where different divisions of the museum can share the work they do with visitors to the museum. Three times during my internship, I packed up a cart full of scales, axes, diagrams, and other tools and set myself up in the Nature Lab. I was able to talk to many interested visitors about the axe project and what kind of work I was doing as an intern. For me, the most rewarding part of archaeology is being able to share findings and history with others, and the Nature Lab allowed me to do just that. Many of the people who visited the Nature Lab were children who were on field trips to the Museum for the day. I loved to watch their eyes light up with amazement every time I told them that the axes I passed around to them were thousands of years old. They also asked many great questions about the axes, archaeology, and Native American culture. I can only hope that they will continue to be interested in learning more about the past in the future.

Sharing my research in the Science Lab at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.

 

I could not be more grateful for all of the help that everyone gave me at the Museum during the semester. After working with the Section of Archaeology, I realized that I could see myself working at a museum as a curator in the future. I gained so many valuable hands-on skills that will help me in the future as I head off to graduate school for bioarchaeology in the fall. Although my internship at the museum has ended, and I will be graduating from Elizabethtown College very soon, the axe project has not been fully completed. The next intern with the Section of Archaeology will pick up on the project where I left off. After spending a whole semester working with the axes, I want to continue to help with the project and hope to visit the Museum again in the summer as a volunteer.

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