Category: Archaeology (Page 4 of 16)

Meet the New PA SHPO Staff!

April 20, 2022 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 4 Comments

Since the last time I officially welcomed our new SHPO staffers, three new colleagues have joined our team. We are very excited to have Megan McNish and Frank Grumbine as the new Eastern and Central Region Community Preservation Coordinators and Alli Davis as the new Historical Marker Program Coordinator. I’m also happy to announce Casey Hanson’s promotion!

PA SHPO Special Announcement! Join our Team as a Review Archaeologist

April 4, 2022 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 0 Comments

The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking a Historic Preservation Specialist to serve as a Review Archaeologist to work between disciplines and advance SHPO priorities. This position is ideal for a detail oriented and flexible preservation professional with a knowledge of state historic preservation programs.

What’s New in 2022 with Pennsylvania’s Historical Marker Program

March 2, 2022 / allidavis / 3 Comments

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) invites individuals, public agencies, and private organizations to nominate historic people, properties, events, or innovations with statewide or national significance for PHMC’s State Historical Marker Program. Meet the new coordinator, learn more about some changes to this year’s nomination process, and sign up for our upcoming webinars below.

View looing across the Susquehanna River showing river and bordering woods. — PARW017 (36DA0283) as seen from a bridge over the Susquehanna River during an October sunrise. Three Mile Island is visible in the background. Photograph by Frederick Mayhew, 2021.

A Look at the PASS Year: The 2021 Annual PASS Report

February 9, 2022 / Taylor Napoleon / 0 Comments

It’s that time of the year again! Time to report and reflect on another successful year of archaeological site recording efforts throughout Pennsylvania. In 2021, over 300 new archaeological sites were recorded by cultural resource management (CRM) projects, independent and university research projects, Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA) members, and long-time avocational archaeologist.

Low wood shelter over gravestones in wood. — View of monument in 2021, facing north. Photograph by PA SHPO.

Reinterpreting the Underground Railroad: The Sherman’s Dale Discharge Former Slaves’ Graves Site

February 2, 2022 / Casey Hanson / 12 Comments

In my short time as an archaeologist working in southeast Pennsylvania, I’ve learned that every basement, crawl space, and root cellar older than 1860 was at one time, a stop on the Underground Railroad (UGRR). This of course is not true, but the mythologies of the UGRR are born out of the fact that the region played an important role in the network as the first free state north of the Mason-Dixon line.

PA SHPO Special Announcement! We’re Hiring an Archaeology Supervisor

January 13, 2022 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 0 Comments

Are you a qualified archaeologist with collaboration, outreach, and education skills?

The Position

The Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (PA SHPO) is seeking an Archaeology Supervisor to coordinate the office’s archaeology program.

Antol’s Drive In, Montrose, Susquehanna County. Photo by Markosky Engineering Group, October 2021.

Baseline Survey: An Essential Ingredient in Our Preservation Pantry

December 22, 2021 / Andrea L. MacDonald / 0 Comments

There are some time-honored recipes in the historic preservation cookbook. The most successful, and dare I say scrumptious, preservation medleys include an essential ingredient – survey. Survey in the historic preservation profession is like the flour in your favorite holiday desserts.

Without survey, many preservation projects are challenged to rise to a superior outcome, just like a cake. My mind just might be overflowing with visions of sugar plums and cookies this holiday season, so I’ll do my best to refrain from too many more baking similes while I share initial Year 1 outcomes from the PA SHPO’s Baseline Survey effort. I think you’ll be as excited about the results as we are!

Two adults standing next to tall metal marker as third adult claps hands. — Sue Yenchko celebrates the unveiling of the marker with other Lemoyne Borough Council members, June 2021.

Uncovering the Susquehannock Village at Lemoyne

November 3, 2021 / Andrea L. MacDonald / 7 Comments

November is Native American Heritage Month. The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people.

One way we can learn about indigenous peoples is through archaeology. Archaeology can help expand the Native American voice beyond what’s written in history textbooks and grow our respect for the people who came before us.

Juniata College Archaeology Crew, Summer 2021.

Finding the Fort: The Juniata College Field School at Fort Halifax Park – Part 2

October 20, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 0 Comments

In last week’s post, we introduced you to this past summer’s Juniata College Field School at Fort Halifax Park in Halifax, Dauphin County. This week, we’ll tell you about the “major discovery” we hinted at last week!

Beginning the investigations on Day 1 of the field school, June 2021.

Finding the Fort: The Juniata College Field School at Fort Halifax Park – Part 1

October 13, 2021 / Guest Contributor / 4 Comments

On our first day at our field school in archaeology, we searched through the soil for mountain peaks: or rather, mountain peak-shaped rocks. That’s the tip we were given for finding flakes -fragments of stone produced by Native American flintknapping.