As summer comes to a quick end (it feels like it was May just yesterday!), we want to spotlight the wonderful work done by our three Keystone Interns this summer.
Category: Archaeology (Page 1 of 19)
This is part of a biannual blog series highlighting the agreement documents executed by PA SHPO in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and its implementing regulations.
This year’s Independence Day is the United States’ 250th birthday and all over the country there have been celebrations and events to honor this anniversary. this is a great opportunity to examine the archaeological record in the City of Brotherly Love.
One of the fundamental concepts in archaeology is the Law of Superposition, which states that older material is located underneath more recent material. So generally, on an archaeological site, the deeper you dig, the older the materials will be. It’s a simple concept that at times can require a good amount of interpretation and investigation. But for archaeologists before the mid-20th century, the law of superposition provided the only means of estimating the age of objects at an archaeological site.
In the late 1980s, the City of Harrisburg began to experience economic rejuvenation under the driving force of the newly elected mayor, Stephen Reed. One of his projects was the revitalization of City Island, situated in the middle of the Susquehanna River.
There are lots of things I look forward to in March as spring nears, like melting snow, daffodils, warmer sunny days, and… the PA SHPO Annual Report!
The Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey (PASS) is the Commonwealth’s inventory of recorded archaeological sites. The program officially started in the late 1970s—when site files held by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History were combined with those kept by the State Museum of Pennsylvania—but it was built on a foundation of nearly 100 years of site recording by numerous institutions and individuals across the state. Since that time, the PASS files have been kept in a centralized repository at the SHPO, where they are now submitted, archived digitally, and made available to qualified archaeologists and researchers through PA-SHARE.
In painstakingly precise recreations, archaeologists of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) created three vessels during the innovative outreach program, the Pennsylvania Dugout Canoe Project, which educated thousands of visitors about this fascinating aspect of travel by Native Americans. This project, which concluded in 2005, was done through public programs using replicated historic and/or prehistoric tools and techniques.
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) recently approved an additional 9 new historical markers, to the previously approved 47 markers in September. Many of these markers will contribute to Pennsylvania’s celebration of America250, while others contribute to Native American history and religious tolerance.
Leading up to the new year, enthusiasm at PA SHPO was building as we plan to welcome new staff, commit to fulfilling our NAGPRA responsibilities, honor America’s 250th anniversary, and unload a sleigh-full of enhancements to PA-SHARE.
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