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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(1):3-30 |
| Much of the effort of archaeologists working in the Upper Ohio River drainage (and western Pennsylvania, in general) has focused on villages and mound sites, some of them of spectacular size and composition. The continued significance of small sites, such as resource procurement camps, in prehistoric settlement has generally been ignored or undervalued, although cultural resource management (CRM) studies have begun to address that bias. The results of investigations at 36WH1619, a small resource procurement site in the Pigeon Creek watershed (Monongahela River sub-basin), add to the growing body of evidence for the role of such sites in regional settlement. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(1):31-46 Who Cared? Applying a Bioarchaeological Model of Caregiving to a Paleo-Oncology Case in Late Prehistoric West Virginia Samantha H. Blatt |
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Caregiving is often overlooked by bioarchaeolgists or considered too open to bias to explore. An Index of Care was introduced to help frame prehistoric caretaking within biocultural context. This paper explores the usefulness and limitations of the Index of Care to a paleo-oncological case (i.e., cancer in antiquity) and presents scenarios of care for functional disability. As such, it is an exercise in applying social theory to bioarchaeological evidence. Pathophysiology and differential diagnoses of a basketball-sized lesion on the mandible of a 15th century Native American woman are described. Stages from the Index of Care are applied to analyze provisioning of care. Differential diagnoses are applied, but the lesion is consistent with a unique epidemiology of osteochondroma. Given the size and location of the lesion and bioarchaeological context, the woman likely required assistance in performing daily tasks. The Index of Care provides a useful framework in which to evaluate disease experience from an individual and community point of view and humanize paleopathology. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(1):47-78 The Tunis Mound: A Possible Ceremonial Context For Forest Notched Points Jeff Carskadden |
| The Tunis Mound, located in the Dillon Reservoir area of Muskingum County in eastern Ohio, was excavated sometime in the early 1930s by Harley-Davidson motorcycle salesman and amateur archaeologist Clark N. Sturtz of Zanesville. Thirteen burials were found in the mound along with a large number of early Adena chipped-stone artifacts, including Cresap and Ovate Base projectile points and early Adena leaf-shaped bifacial cache blades. Also found were eleven expanded-stem points that resemble the Forest Notched type. Other than a note listing the number of burials in the mound, there is little further information on the excavations, or the context of the expanded-stem points and other artifacts within the mound. The pristine condition of most of the Forest Notched-like points, however, and their significantly larger size compared to Forest Notched points found on nearby habitation sites, suggest that they may have been intentionally placed in the mound soon after they were made. If so, this is the first reported occurrence of this point type in an Early Woodland ceremonial context, specifically an early Adena mound. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(2):1-31 |
| Eastern Woodland Native peoples were uniformly uninterested in gold and silver artifacts, but were very interested in woolen cloth and, to a lesser extent, glass beads. Glass beads used for ornamentation were joined after the 1620s by Native-produced wampum. By the late 1600s pewter castings, probably Native made, served as a “gateway” for sterling silver ornaments (“trade silver”) made by colonial silversmiths. The archaeological evidence indicates that sterling silver ornaments, in forms produced specifically for the Indian trade, entered Native exchange networks as early as 1700, and certainly by 1733. The earliest and best documented piece of trade silver and its important archaeological find site are discussed. Trade silver in the shape of small “crowned hearts” served as cultural markers. The earliest trade in silver goods reflects an early period of cultural transition among the Lenape, followed by other tribes at later dates. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(2):33-52 |
| This paper examines The School in Rose Valley, founded in 1929 on the foothold of a local arts and crafts community and the desire for a progressive educational approach that valued making use of lived experiences to facilitate learning and social development. In 2014, Stephen Israel reconnected with The School in Rose Valley and proposed the Digging Our Past Project. Early on it was agreed the archaeology project would be based in the third and fourth grades “Middle Circle” (MC) class. O’Brien Wolff, the MC teacher spent the next several months, not teaching her students about archaeology, but instead helping them understand how to think like archaeologists at the introductory level. The Digging Our Past Project is described as a case study in a useful approach for introducing and instructing third and fourth graders to the science of archaeology, asking thoughtful questions and field excavation procedures. The Digging Our Past Project realized the successful participation of MC students, teachers, parents, and community members. The case study example is presented as a possible framework, both to teach archaeology and incorporate authentic experiences into elementary school classrooms. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(2):53-64 |
| Bowls are a small type of ceramic container used for consuming food. The intent of this paper is to document the spatial and temporal distribution of bowls, and offer a possible explanation for its occurrence: ritualized feasting. |
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Pennsylvania Archaeologist 87(2):65-76 |
| Isolated in a single location of central Pennsylvania’s Michaux State Forest rest the remnants of an Early Republic farmstead, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, a Prisoner of War Interrogation Center from World War II, and a church camp. The one common factor throughout each of these disparate time periods is the farmhouse built ca. 1788. This wooden structure stood until the 1970s when the church camp ended. Now only the stone foundation remains along with questions of the structure’s occupants throughout its history. Through an analysis of the standing structure and material culture excavated from 11 test pits on the farmstead as well as a vast array of historical documents including land deeds, historic maps, and government documents, this study depicts the lives of those who occupied and interacted with the building throughout its lifetime. The emerging picture is one of an intricate history of toil and hardship. |