Lackawanna County

Our journey through the archaeological heritage of Pennsylvania in alphabetical order takes us to Lackawanna County this week.  Approximately 60% of the county is on the Glaciated Appalachian Low Plateaus section with a section of the Anthracite Valley Section running through the middle of the county. The latter contains coal deposits that were extensively mined during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The county sits on a divide between the Susquehanna and Delaware drainage basins. Most of the county is drained to the west by the Lackawanna River. A small portion of the county drains east into the Lehigh and Delaware drainage basins.

The Lackawanna Indian Path, also known as the Onaquaga and Oquaga paths went from Pittston, Pennsylvania on the North Branch of the Susquehanna to Windsor New York located just north of the Pennsylvania-New York state line. There were a number of 18^th century Indian towns along the way, namely Adjouquay,Capoose Meadow and Tuscarora Town where three settlements were established on the Susquehanna during the Tuscarora migration out of North Carolina in 1766. They later moved on and the tribe eventually settled in western New York. Several other Indian paths crossed the Lackawanna Path which provided access to localities in north-central Pennsylvania as well as to the Minisink towns on the Upper Delaware.

Lackawanna County was part of Luzerne County until 1878. It was originally occupied in the mid-18^th century by Connecticut colonists in their attempt to claim northern Pennsylvania. Connecticut’s occupation of the region ended with the first Wyoming Valley Massacre after the French and Indian War (Basalik et al. 1992:52). In the early 1770’s, Connecticut again sent 5000 settlers to the region and Pennsylvania’s resistance to the Connecticut presence involved a long legal battle and military struggle between the two colonies known as the Yankee-Pennamite War (Baslik et al 1992:53). This ended with a major battle involving Indians and Tories who killed over 200 people and that incident became known as the Wyoming Valley Massacre of 1778. The Lackawanna path was the principal route used by the Iroquois for their return to New York after the Wyoming Massacre.  Many of the Connecticut colonists returned home by way of this route and this departure essentially ended Connecticut’s claims on the region.

After the Revolutionary War, settlement slowly spread up the Lackawanna Valley which at this time was a sparsely populated farming region of early Pennsylvania. Along with farming, lumbering was also a significant business. Small hamlets grew around saw mills and grist mills along the Lackawanna River. Anthracite coal mining began after 1820 and the iron industry began in 1850. Coal and iron were the major industries between 1880 and 1920 and contributed nationally to America’s industrial growth. The economy began to decline after 1920 and coal mining essentially ended by 1960. Considering all of the industrial development, there are only 23 sites dating to the historic period and 68% of these were habitation/domesticate sites. One of the largest surveys conducted in the county was the Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway (Baslik et al. 1992). This report provides a comprehensive background to the historical and industrial development of the Lackawanna Valley

In general terms, the archaeology of the county is not well known due the low density of sites and relatively few systematic excavations. Sites situated in upland settings represent 61% of the prehistoric sites. many, but not all , are small suggesting that these are foraging camps rather than base camps. Four large Late Woodland sites have been identified and include pottery. Two of these are adjacent to upland lakes and one is along the Susquehanna River and the other is along the Lackawanna. There are probably more but they may be covered with historic fill in floodplains.

 typical test unit at the Locust Ridge Road site (36Lw56)

There are no Paleoindian or Early Archaic sites recorded for the county, however, the Locust Ridge Road Site (36LW56), an Archaic to Transitional period site has been studied through systematic test excavations. This site is within the right-of-way of the proposed Thornhurst Bridge Replacement Project, a Federal mandated compliance project administered through PENNDOT with the work completed by Archaeological and Historical Consultants, Inc., a consulting firm located in central Pennsylvania (Hay and Diamanti 2012).

Most interesting was the recovery of diagnostic projectile points and steatite bowl fragments from the site which included stemmed points (Late Archaic), Perkiomen (late Transitional) fishtail and Meadowood (Early Woodland) types. Confirmed by radiocarbon dating these diagnostic point types at the Locust Ridge Road site date to the 1390 BC – 930 BC period.  In addition to wood charcoal, nuts fragments (possibly Oak and the carbonized remains of the fleshy fruits of berries (i.e. Raspberry or blackberry, huckleberry and blueberry as well as a seed of the plant – knotweed were identified.

 top row - Early Woodland points and steatite sherd; second row - Transitional Archaic perkiomen/broadspear points; third row Early Woodland fishtail-like points; bottom row Archaic stemmed points

The discoveries at Locust Ridge Road provided us with yet another glimpse into dimly illuminated past, of a poorly known region of Pennsylvania. Through the systematic study of this archaeological site long buried beneath a Lackawanna County floodplain we can begin to formulate new ideas, interpretations and perspectives about the prehistory of the archaeological heritage of our Commonwealth.     

The 98^th Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show opens on Saturday, January 5^th, 2013 and closes Saturday January 12^th. This year’s exhibit theme is the Archaeology of the French and Indian War (1756-1763). We will be showcasing the State Museum’s excavations at Fort Hunter as well as excavations at Fort LeBoeuf, Fort Augusta, and Fort Loudoun. A brochure detailing the archaeology of this time period will also be available.  Our exhibit wouldn’t be complete without the 20’ dugout canoe which is always an eye catching attraction. French and Indian War period re-enactors will be present to answer questions and tell stories. Also, this year the Bureau for Historic Preservation’s exhibit booth will be located directly across the aisle from our own booth, providing a united display for the PHMC.

two visitors to the Farm Show try out our dug out canoe

We are located in the Family Living Section, on the McClay Street side, not far from the carousel and the butter sculpture- Hope to see you there! January 5th - 12th Pennsylvania Farm Show, 9-9 Saturday to Friday. 9-3 on Saturday 12th

Bibliography:

Baslik, Kenneth J., Ronald C. Berge, Amy B. Keller, Judson M. Kratzer, Thomas R. Lewis, M.

Nadine Miller and Alan D. Tabachnick

1992    Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway Cultural Resources Survey and Eligibility

Report. Cultural Heritage Research Services, Inc. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Hay, Conran A. and Melissa Diamanti

2012    Phase III Archaeological Data Recovery Site 36LW0056. Thornhurst Bridge Replacement S.R. 4003, Section 01B, Monroe [Lackawanna] County, Pennsylvania ER#01-6256-089. Report prepared for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Engineering District 5-0.

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

The Joys of Toys!

This week, in honor of the holiday season, we have put our archaeological tour by county of Pennsylvania on hold.  Instead we are focused on toys.  The toys featured this week are from the archaeological collections curated at The State Museum of Pennsylvania.  They were recovered from archaeological sites across the commonwealth and are the tangible evidence of the people who played with and enjoyed these objects.  These toys reflect upon the lives of the children or adults who made or used them, from prehistoric to historic times. We hope you will enjoy this glimpse at toys of yesteryear and that they will bring to mind memories of toys that you enjoyed in the past. 

Native American Toy Pots

Made from various materials, toys provide hours of enjoyment for children of all ages and of all world cultures. To be sure, native children in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and possibly earlier who we know as the Susquehannock Indians played with toys made from stone, bone, clay and other more fragile materials. Many of these toys resemble the common objects that were made and used in the family household on a daily basis such as clay pots. Occasionally, examples of these wonderful objects are recovered during archaeological investigations of their habitation sites. In the Delaware and lower Susquehanna River valleys of Pennsylvania several village sites have revealed information on toy pottery vessels that actually mimicked conventional size pots that were used in the village. The decorations on one exceptional toy pot from Overpeck site located near Kitnerville, Pennsylvania that was found resembles a Schultz Incised pot of the 16^th century 

Overpeck site toy pot

Two smaller toy pots from the Washington Boro village site located in the small town of Washington Boro, Pennsylvania are miniature examples of Washington Boro Incised, another Susquehannock pottery type that essentially succeeded in time, the Schultz Incised type 

Washington Boro site toy pots

Following that was the Strickler Period, named after the Strickler village site, located south of Washington Boro. Here, three, more or less similarly shaped toy pots, were found together suggesting a “set” perhaps made by and used by children at the Strickler site 

Strickler site toy pots

So, in this most unusual case, these small pots not only function as toys per se but also as food containers in a food consumption environment.

Fort Hunter Toy Tea Cup

Fort Hunter porcelain tea cup

This small porcelain tea cup, probably dating to the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century, was found at Fort Hunter in 2008 during our Archaeology Month excavations.  Prior to the industrial revolution when toy ceramic tea-sets were first mass produced and exported on a large scale, children’s tea-sets were predominately made of copper, pewter, precious metals such as gold and silver, tin-glaze earthenwares and porcelains. The earliest examples of children’s tea-sets in Western culture were produced by German toy craftsmen in the 16^th century. Their expense limited their use predominately to families of wealth and prominence. During the industrial revolution, English porcelains were mass produced and lead the way for ceramic tea-sets to become a common child’s toy. (http://www.childs-tea-set.com/child-tea-set-history.htm).

toy cup compared to full-size mug or tankard

In 1870, Fort Hunter was owned by the Boas family and later passed to the daughter of Daniel Dick Boas, Helen Riley, and her husband, John Reily. The Reily’s, while childless, ran a successful Dairy on the property which they later left to their nine nieces and nephews. One can conclude from family photos that include many children and a menagerie of pets—pigs, dogs, and a macaque monkey to name a few—as well as, the numerous finds of child’s toys in the Mansion’s backyard—fragmentary porcelain dolls, marbles, and portions of toy tea-sets—that  the Reily’s were a doting Aunt and Uncle.  (http://forthunter.org/history/).

Transitioning from Native American toy pots to archaeological investigations of a nineteenth century American household, one can conclude that many toys for children resemble common household objects and the use of such types of toys continues over time and across cultures. Children learn how to function and live in the greater society by modeling behaviors of the adults around them.  The customs surrounding sharing food and beverages speak to the social animals that we all are, and the encouragement of child’s play to mimic the appropriate use of objects and as teaching tools to learn social etiquette continues today.

18th Century Toy Whizzer

This George II half-penny (1727-1760) has been modified to be used a toy whizzer.  A whizzer or whirligig, is a disc with two holes drilled through the middle which is then strung on a loop of string. Twisting the string and pulling the ends tight would allow the disc to spin, creating a buzzing or whirring noise. This piece is unusual due to the third hole in the center.

 

George II whizzer from Ephrata Cloiser

                                    

This whizzer was recovered from excavations at Ephrata Cloister  http://www.ephratacloister.org/ (36La981), a German religious communal society established in 1732 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.   Excavations conducted in 1999 by the State Museum under the direction of Steve Warfel in an area identified as Zion’s Hill yielded evidence of use of this area by wounded and sick Revolutionary War soldiers during the winter of 1777/1778.  Whizzers are frequently found on military sites. These may have been used by the sick and wounded soldiers or by their children who frequently accompanied them. Whichever the case, this toy reflects upon the daily activities of soldiers.

Wind-up mechanical Beetle

mid-20th century mechanical toy beetle:  wind-up mechanism visible protruding from underbelly and large, now fragmentary, flapping wings on top

     The toy pictured above has admittedly seen better days. It may take a little bit of imagination and straining of the eyes to recognize that it is (or what’s left of) a wind-up toy beetle. A small remnant of blue paint on its body and a trusty internet search reveal this as the “walking ladybug” model, made in Japan in the years following WWII. Surely at some point in the past this mechanical critter offered a great deal of amusement to its owner. Click here to see a video of a very similar mechanical insect in proper working condition.  Our rather crusty specimen comes to us from the Joseph Lewis Site (36Ch859), a domestic farmstead excavated by CHRS, Inc. from 2003 – 2007 as part of improvements to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Chester County. The site was recommended as eligible to the National Register of Historic Places in part due to the significance of the inhabitants’ unique socio-cultural identity within the surrounding region.  “The archaeological data indicated a strong reaffirmation of the occupants’ German identity during the nineteenth century and a continued emphasis on maintaining a Germanic identity in the early twentieth century. Unlike families that lived in areas dominated by Germanic communities, the occupants of the Joseph Lewis site (36Ch859) appear to have straddled a social divide, using cultural markers that reflected their ethnic heritage as well as other cultural markers that could be recognized by the non-German community members in the area where they lived.”(Basalik, et al. 2009)

Bibliography:

2009

Basalik, Kenneth J. ; Philip Ruth ; T. Lewis; S. Smith; M. Alfson. Phase I/II/III Archaeological Survey Joseph Lewis Site (36Ch859) S.R. 0029 Slip Ramps Project Charlestown, East Whiteland and Tredyffrin Twps. Chester County, PA  - unpublished manuscript on file at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Section of Archaeology

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

Our journey through the archaeological heritage of Pennsylvania in alphabetical order takes us to Juniata County this week.  Juniata is number thirty-four – meaning we are just over the half-way mark of exploring all sixty-seven counties. The western half of Juniata County resides in the Appalachian Mountain section of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province.

The Appalachian Mountain Section is defined by long narrow ridges with steep side slopes and corresponding long narrow valleys. The majority of surface geologic formations include shale and sandstone formations shaped by millions of years of tightly shifting and folding on one another. Lithic resources available include local cherts in various forms, including those rich in iron known as jasper.

The eastern half of Juniata County lies within Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Lowland physiographic province. The Susquehanna Lowland Section is a result of glaciation and the processes of the Susquehanna River flowing over the region for thousands of years.

The Juniata River is the primary drainage stream flowing into the Susquehanna River. The Juniata River connects the Alleghenies to the Susquehanna River across the south central portion of the state. The rugged ridge and valley terrain of much of the area contributed to the development of the Juniata as a transportation route in both prehistoric and historic times. Forested mountains and ridges of this area provide natural habitats for deer, bear, birds and other fauna important for early diets.

Excavations conducted in 1929 by Robert W. Jones at the Book Mound site along the Tuscarora Creek in Beale Township yielded pottery of the Clemson Island culture group. Clemson Island habitation sites, which date to the early portion of the Late Woodland period (1000 to 650 years ago) are mainly found along the Juniata River and in the middle Susquehanna River Valley. Archaeological evidence of the Clemson Island culture indicates they built loaf-shaped, bark-covered houses and acquired food by gardening, hunting, and fishing. They also are the only people known to have constructed burial mounds in eastern Pennsylvania.

 Clemson Island potter - exterior

Clemson Island pottery - interior

Clemson Island pottery is readily identified as a fabric-impressed or cord-marked body with a coarse temper of crushed chert and or quartz. Many of these rims are identified by a row of punctuations just below the lip.  Archaeologists continue to examine this pottery as we try to better understand this culture group and what happened to them.

The Juniata River as mentioned earlier was an important transportation route as it allowed for travel between the Alleghenies and the Susquehanna River.  This trade route likely played an important role in the 1750’s as troops traveled from the Susquehanna River to remote frontier areas to the north and west.  Private and small Provincial forts were often established for protection during Indian raids.  Fort Bigham or Bigham’s Fort was a private fort located on the Juniata River, near present day Honey Grove in Tuscarora Township.  The fort was attacked on June 11, 1756.  Twenty-three settlers were either killed or taken captive and the fort was burned.  Troops conducted a forty-five man scouting party over the area up the Susquehanna to Fort Augusta, and back down through the area to just west of Fort Bigham,  but did not find the enemy.  To learn about other forts in Pennsylvania during the French & Indian War, visit our exhibit at the Pennsylvania Farm Show from January 5^th thru 12^th. 

 Fort Bigham located between Fort Granville and Patterson's Fort

The last stop on our archaeological tour was identified as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project on the Route 22 Improvements through the Lewistown Narrows.  The area known as the “Long Narrows” or “Lewistown Narrows” is a narrow gap in the mountains with steep cliffs and slopes on either side.  This narrow opening was a formidable obstacle in the construction of the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in 1826.  The Main Line linked Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and consisted of a railroad between Philadelphia and Columbia, a canal along the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers from Columbia to Hollidaysburg, and a railroad over the Allegheny Mountains and finally another section of canal to Pittsburgh. Much of the labor was completed by Irish immigrants who were expected to move 15 cubic yards of earth each day at the rate of $11-12 dollars a month, which included tools, drink and lodging. The construction was completed with simple tools picks, shovels and wheelbarrows, in just a few years. 

 view of the tow path of the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal

excavation of the canal by Heberling Associates, Inc.

Dry laid stone created two lift locks at the upper end of the Narrows and one at the lower end. The lift lock chambers were 15 feet wide and 90 feet long with four-foot wide spillways along the uphill side.  Historical documents researched for the project indicated some of the canal features through the Lewistown Narrows included a river dam and feeder sluices, three lift locks and two lock houses. Detailed survey and documentation conducted by Heberling Associates prior to the highway project led to the development of a public canal park near the eastern end of the Narrows.  Heberling Associates recorded sections of the canal and produced detailed drawings of the surviving remains of the canal. At the upper end of the Narrows four feeder sluiced that fed water to 28.5 miles of the canal were located.  The associated dam was gone, but the stone feeder sluices were documented as were Lift Locks No. 14 and 15 which had been buried by fill in the mid-29^th century.  The locks remain buried under portions of reconstructed US 22/322.  Visitors to Canal Park can view Lift Lock No. 13 which has been rehabilitated and commemorates the 88 locks on the canal’s Juniata Division.  Also restored were sections of the canal prism and spillway.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this trip through Juniata County’s archaeological heritage and we hope you will help us continue to preserve our past for the future.

Bibliography:

Heberling, Scott D.  Canal in the Mountains: The Juniata Main Line Canal in the Lewistown Narrows. 2008

Hunter, William A.  Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1753 - 1758.  PHMC 1960

Kent, Barry C. ; Ira Smith III and Catherine McCann  Foundations of Pennsylvania Prehistory. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg 1971

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

Jefferson County

TWIPA would like to thank Kenneth Burkett, executive director of the Jefferson County Historical Center, for guest blogging this week. We continue the county by county archaeological journey with Jefferson County. 

Situated in the uplands of the Appalachian Plateau physiographic region this area consists of rolling hills and moderately steep sided valleys covered in regrowth hardwood forest.  

Transecting the county are three major westward flowing waterways with the Clarion comprising the northern boundary, the Redbank Creek in the center and the Mahoning Creek near the southern border.  These waterways were important transportation routes for Native Americans travelling between the Susquehanna and Allegheny River basins requiring only short portages over the divide between their upper tributaries and the West Branch.  The presence of these prehistoric inter-regional travelers is frequently found on streamside campsites in the form of artifacts made from non-local lithics such as jasper, rhyolite, quartzite and argillite along with an occasional steatite bowl fragment from eastern Pennsylvania. From the west, Upper Mercer, Coshocton and Flint Ridge lithics originated in central Ohio.

Steatite Pot from Redbank Valley

As this area is unglaciated, the primary sources of chert are within the Pleistocene gravels of the Allegheny river and a poorer grade of local Vanport siliceous shale also referred to by archaeologists as Jefferson County chert (Burkett 2001).  This black and tan chert outcrops on hillsides in the central part of the county where several prehistoric quarry sites are known. Many more probably existed prior to their destruction by 20^th century strip mining.  Often found at these locations are the stone digging picks used to expose the chert veins. Hammerstones and anvil stones are evidence that the raw material was tested for quality and the initial shaping of the tools began at the quarry. This process also served to reduce the weight of the tool blanks prior to transporting them to the habitation sites. Many of the rockshelters along the Redbank and Mahoning creeks contain enormous quantities of chert chips produced while refining or finishing these tool blanks.

Jefferson County Chert Artifacts

Formal archaeological investigations of prehistoric sites have rarely been conducted in this county. The only reported excavations are the Bunny Rock Rockshelter (36Je48), the Ridge Rockshelter (36Je49) and the Davis Rockshelter (36Je50) excavated in the Redbank drainage between Brookville and Summerville by Ken Burkett (nd.). In addition, the Dutch Hill Rockshelter (36Je132) near Belltown overlooking the Clarion River was excavated by Andrew Myers (2001).

Dutch Hill Rock Shelter 

Bunny rock Projectile Points

Jefferson County has an extensive 19^th century logging history and there are many remnants of mills, raceways, bracket dams and railways found throughout the county in and along the streams and tributaries.  Annually each summer since 2005, Brian Fritz and Amanda Valko have been working at Clear Creek State Park to present a public archaeology program where volunteers help excavate, catalog artifacts and document a blacksmith’s shop that was part of the circa 1870’s Frazier Sawmill complex.

Frazier Sawmill Excavation

We hope you have enjoyed this short overview of Jefferson County and that this will inspire an interest in recording and preserving the archaeological sites in your community. For more information on the history of Jefferson County visit the web site at www.jchonline.org. These resources are Pennsylvania’s heritage and for all of us it is our window into the past.  Help us to protect and preserve these archaeological resources which are crucial to our understanding of the past. We encourage every citizen to take an active role in preserving our archaeological heritage and ask that you respect these sites and Preserve our Past for the Future.

The 98^th Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show opens on Saturday, January 7^th, 2013. This year’s exhibit theme is the Archaeology of the French and Indian War (1756-1763). We will be showcasing the State Museum’s excavations at Fort Hunter as well as excavations at Fort LeBoeuf, Fort Augusta, and Fort Loudoun. A brochure detailing the archaeology of this time period will also be available.  Our exhibit wouldn’t be complete without the 20’ dugout canoe which is always an eye catching attraction. French and Indian War period re-enactors will be present to answer questions and tell stories. Also, this year the Bureau for Historic Preservation’s exhibit booth will be located directly across the aisle from our own booth, providing a united display for the PHMC.

two visitors at the Farm Show try out our dugout canoe

We are located in the Family Living Section, on the McClay Street side, not far from the carousel and the butter sculpture- Hope to see you there! January 5th - 12th Pennsylvania Farm Show, 9-9 Saturday to Friday. 9-3 on Saturday 1/12th

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