Author Archives: qjjfc

We Can Now Detect Metal

by qjjfc

Earlier this semester a group of IUP graduate students had the opportunity to attend the Advanced Metal Detecting for Archaeologists course. A grant received by the organization covered our tuition, and we were able to get our lodging and travel expenses covered by the Deanne Snavely Fund at IUP. At the end of the course, we received certifications.

The Team

Metal detectors, if you can believe it, are geophysical instruments that emit a signal to detect buried metals. Their effectiveness can vary based on environmental conditions (especially ground cover, soil type, and moisture), detector quality, and operator experience. Keeping that in mind, our instructors advocated for the use of metal detecting in archaeological survey. They may only search for one material, but they are very effective at finding that material.

One of our instructors, Doug Scott, is well known for his work at Little Bighorn. His and his colleagues’ work at the battlefield involved deciphering troop movements based on the distribution of lead. Their research was a success, and it has had a significant impact on how battlefield archaeology is conducted today. This is an example of how metal detecting can make a positive contribution to archaeological research. In addition to learning about field methods and the operation of the equipment, we also looked at different case studies that implemented metal detector survey, and we learned about research design for metal detecting. Overall, the course was a success, and we left with some valuable skills. Thanks to IUP for sharing this opportunity with us!

Indigenous Archaeology is Evolving

by qjjfc

Recently our coursework has been covering community-based approaches to archaeology. One subject in particular has come up repeatedly: Indigenous Archaeology. So, what is it? Indigenous archaeology arose from the post-processual movement of the 1980s to challenge Anglocentric interpretations of the archaeological record. This practice aims to interpret the record through an Indigenous lens by merging indigenous values with Western scientific practice (Torres 2024). In practice, this involves collaboration with indigenous communities, integration of traditional knowledge, an emphasis on decolonization, and community-centric goals (Lyons et al. 2010).

One example of indigenous archaeology from our class readings is the Arviat Archaeology and Oral History Project. In their article “Person, Place, Memory, Thing: How Inuit Elders are Informing Archaeological Practice in the Canadian North,” Lyons et al. discuss how they collaborated with Inuit Elders to synthesize different forms of knowledge. Traditional knowledge was integrated into their research to aid in the interpretation of the archaeological record. Oral histories and “map biographies” were recorded to develop an indigenous perspective on the surrounding landscape and the people who have occupied it through time. The information produced in this project is used by the Elders to educate the youth in the community and preserve and transmit their cultural heritage.

Another example of indigenous archaeology is the Crow Archaeological Field Camp, a collaborative project between the Crow Nation and archaeologists (Schreiber 2011). This field school in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area utilizes ethnographic archaeology through the integration of Crow oral histories, and local Crow students benefit from educational outreach efforts. There is an emphasis on building partnerships and putting indigenous perspectives at the forefront of research.

Through legislation, indigenous archaeology is now being integrated into the cultural resource management processes in California. The AB52 amendment to CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) created a new protected class referred to as “tribal cultural resources,” and these resources are determined by tribes rather than archaeologists (Torres 2024). The treatment of tribal cultural resources is decided through collaboration between tribes and government agencies. This amendment has led to the training of tribal monitors to safeguard resources. Tribes are already bringing traditional knowledge to the table, but now there is a necessity to train indigenous archaeologists.

For some time now, archaeologists and indigenous communities have been advocating for changes in the way archaeology is practiced. They want indigenous people to be able to take a more active role in the study of their history. Recent changes to CEQA and CalNAGPRA that empower tribes should be seen as part of a wider trend that aims to more fully include indigenous people in the field of archaeology and allow them to have more say in how their past is researched and preserved.

Indigenous archaeology is the future of archaeology in North America.

References Cited

Lyons, Natasha, Peter Dawson, Matthew Walls, Donald Uluadluak, Louis Angalik, Mark Kalluak, Philip Kigusiutuak, et al. 2010 “Person, Place, Memory, Thing: How Inuit Elders are Informing Archaeological Practice in the Canadian North.” Journal Canadien D’Archeologie 34: 1-31.

Schreiber, Laura L., Kelly M. Branam, Judson Byrd Finley, Rebecca A. Nathan, Katherine L. Burnett, Maureen P. Boyle, Dawn M. Rutecki, et al. 2011. “Crow Rediscover a Piece of Their Homeland.” Archaeological Practice: A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology.

Torres, John A. 2024. Indigenous Archaeology in Practice. SAA Webinar Series.

Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month

by qjjfc

During the month of November, we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month, or American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. This celebration is in honor of the original inhabitants of America. Organizations across the States come together to learn about and commemorate the traditions, languages, contributions, and heritage of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Island communities during November. This post was originally written by former Public Archaeology Graduate Assistant Bridget Roddy two years ago, and the piece is so well written, I did not want to attempt improving upon it.

Honoring the history of the Indigenous people of this land began in 1900 when Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and director of the Museum of Arts and Science in New York, convinced the Boy Scouts of America to observe a day for Native Americans. After this, an American Indian Day was declared in 1916. In 1976, a Native American Awareness Week was declared by Congress, and in 1990 former President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution to designate November as National American Indian Heritage Month. Since 1994, other proclamations have been made with variations to the name; Native American Heritage Month and National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month are two. It was former President Barack Obama who named November as National Native American Month, which is how we continue to refer to it as of today.

Arthur C. Parker, 1918 (Buffalo Historical Society)

To honor this month, let’s reflect on some Native American archaeologists who have made incredible contributions to the preservation of this county’s heritage and past. Arthur C. Parker was born in 1881 on the Seneca tribe’s Cattaraugus Reservation in New York. He was descended from a long line of Seneca leaders on his father’s side, however, because Seneca clan member ship is matrilineal and both his grandfather and father married women of European descent, neither his father nor him were considered to be Seneca. His family moved to White Plains, NY in 1892 and graduated from high school in 1897. Although he attended Centenary Collegiate institute in New Jersey and Dickinson Seminary in Pennsylvania, he did not graduate from either. However, he continued to do archaeological work while in college and became an apprentice to archaeologist Mark Harrington. His reputation grew and he became known as an authority on the Seneca culture; becoming officially recognized as Seneca in 1903 during a ceremony which gave him the name Gáwasowaneh or Big Snow Snake. After working as an ethnologist for the New York State Library in 1904, Arthur became the first full-time archaeologist at the New York State Museum in 1906, serving until 1925. In 1911 Parker notably aided in the founding of the Society for American Indians (SAI). He married Beulah Tahamont, an Abenaki of the Eastern Algonquian, in 1904, whom he had two children with and later divorced, then married Anna Theresa Cooke in 1914, whom he had one child with. Throughout his career he wrote many books and did scholarly research and published Museum Bulletins and articles on the history and culture of Native Americans, with a focus on the Seneca and Iroquois. He was also a consultant on Indian affairs to several Presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, and Coolidge. After working at the New York State Museum, he became director of the Rochester Museum in 1925. He also served from 1935 to 1936 as the Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) first president. Throughout the remainder of his career, he received many honors and awards, before he passed away in 1955.

Bertha Parker Pallan [Cody] (Smithsonian Institution Archives)

Bertha “Birdie” Parker Cody, also called Yewas, her Seneca name, is considered to be the first female Native American archaeologist and ethnologist in the United States. She was born in 1907 in Chautauqua County, New York, and is of Abenaki and Seneca descent, as Arthur C. Parker and Beulah Tahamont were her parents. Bertha grew up with her mother who was an actor, even acting in some shows herself, after her parents divorced. She married Joseph Pallan in the 1920s and gave birth their daughter Wilma Mae in 1925. She never had formal archaeological training or a university education, but she did go on excavations with her father as a child and, after her split from her abusive husband in 1927, she began to work as a cook and expedition secretary for her uncle Mark Raymond Harrington on archaeological projects. She made an amazing discovery at the Mesa House site in 1929. She excavated, recorded, and photographed a pueblo she named Scorpion Hill, and later published her work and had the recovered artifacts exhibited in the Southwest Museum. In 1930 she made a discovery in Nevada’s Gypsum Cave using her slim hands to reach into crevices. Her method allowed her to recover a skull from an extinct species of giant ground sloth known as Nothrotherium shastense. It not only aided in getting more funding for the expedition, but the discovery also challenged prevailing theories about the occupation of ancient Native Americans in the Americas as the sloth skull was found next to ancient human tools.

Cody at Gypsum Cave, Nevada (Southwest Museum)

Bertha ended up marrying James Thurston, a Canadian paleontologist who was brought in to further aid the work at the cave, in 1931, but he passed from a heart attack only a year later. In 1933 she was hired to work as secretary for the Southwest Museum, and she eventually became assistant archaeologist and ethnologist. Bertha began to conduct more ethnographic work into the mid-1930s. She wrote and published many archaeological and ethnological papers throughout her career in the Southwest Museum’s journal, Masterkey, on many topics from Kachina Dolls to her work with Californian Indian Tribes including the Maidu, Yurok, Pomo, and Paiute. She married again in 1936 to actor Espera Oscar de Corti, Iron Eyes Cody. Her daughter passed accidentally in 1942, so Cody left the Southwest Museum where she had been working for many years and shifted towards activism and Hollywood. Along with her husband, she advised Native American programs and films as part of “Ironeyes Enterprise”, worked with him to host a 1950s television program about Native American Folklore, supported the Los Angeles Indian Center, and they also adopted two sons of Maricopa-Dakota heritage, Robert and Arthur. She died at the age of 71 in 1978, but her work in the archaeological field lives on. Not only has she conducted work and made discoveries that have greatly added to our knowledge of the past, but her efforts towards influence in the media and spreading awareness and understanding of Native American culture and history, will forever be remembered and appreciated.

Margaret Spivey (Kristen Grace Photography, University of Florida)

Young archaeologist Margaret Spivey is a member of the Pee Dee Indian Nation of Beaver Creek, an assistant chief of the nation’s Upper Georgia Trail Town, and was a Ph.D. Candidate of archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis in 2015. She has stated, “The reason I’m an archaeologist is because I believe we need more research that shows the complexity of Southeastern Native American groups.” Her dissertation focuses on understanding how Southeastern Native Americans interact with animals, identifying and deciphering carvings of animals, and using both archaeology and ethnology to gather information. Her work could provide new insight into early Native American cultures and social movements in the Southwest. Spivey switched from law to archaeology while attending Harvard University in 2004, seeking to improve public understanding and misconceptions, and influence social and political spheres when it came to the cultural past of Native Americans. She was quoted saying, “I don’t think there is a reason to ignore a Native perspective in favor of an outside perspective when looking at materials deposited by Native Americans. This isn’t me looking at it wrong, this is me looking at it differently.” She hopes that her “long-term research will help us enrich and reclaim some of our cultural practices that were unfortunately lost, we just didn’t catch them in time.” As someone of Native American descent, Spivey’s work and perspectives are crucial, as she contributes new interpretations to research being done and artifacts collected as data is being collected. Rather than having to seek out interpretations from Tribes, she can use connections and her life experiences to contribute greatly to the understanding of past Native American cultures.

Morino Baca (photo by Danny Sosa Aguilar)

Dr. Peter Nelson, a Coast Miwok and a citizen of the Federate Indians of Graton Rancheria in the North Bay, became a tenured assistant professor of environmental science, policy and management, and of ethics studies and UC Berkely, after receiving his Ph.D. in anthropology from the same university in 2017. He believes that more native Americans are being drawn into the field of archaeology as new Indigenous know-how and technology, along with Western science, is “speaking to our preservationist values as Indigenous archaeologists and to the values of tribal communities.” Morino Baca, a current UC Berkely graduate student in public health who has ancestral ties to the Genízaro Indigenous community has stated, “There’s a lot of pain associated with that colonization history, so it’s important for younger people in the community to connect to their roots in a positive way, and to engage with their elders because they’re our libraries, and when they’re gone, that knowledge goes with them.” He has worked in New Mexico at Pueblo de Abiquiú to partner with the Genízaro Indigenous community on a cultural revitalization and infrastructure project. Native scholars like Peter Nelson and Morino Baca are just a few who are leading the charge towards better collaboration with Indigenous tribes to find ways to connect western science to Indigenous science during archaeology programs and excavations.

This National Native American Heritage Month, take time to respectfully visit a reservation or Native American heritage site, attend an educational event at a library or museum, attempt to make traditional Native American dishes for Thanksgiving dinner, read the writings or explore the art of Native American authors and artists, or support Native-owned businesses. At the very least take a moment to reflect on and learn about the history of the Indigenous people of this country and the archaeological efforts that are being undertaken around the states today to expand our knowledge of their culture and heritage.

 

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Resources:

https://nationaltoday.com/american-heritage-month/

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/native-american-heritage-month.htm

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/parker-arthur-caswell

www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/ethnography/collections/research-and-collections-arthur-c-parker

www.theheroinecollective.com/bertha-cody/

untoldstories.net/1927/08/bertha-birdie-parker-cody-first-female-native-american-archeologist/

https://www.saa.org/career-practice/scholarships-and-grants/native-american-scholarships-fund/arthur-c.-parker-and-bertha-parker-cody

https://www.saa.org/quick-nav/saa-media-room/saa-news/2020/11/16/bertha-parker-cody-award

https://news.ufl.edu/articles/2015/07/native-american-archaeologist-unearths-a-complex-cultural-history-.html

news.berkeley.edu/2021/02/04/indigenous-archaeology-plows-forward-despite-anthropologys-checkered-past/

Graduate Research Spotlight: Nathan Coughlin

by qjjfc

Nathan Coughlin is in his second year here at IUP, and he is currently conducting research for his Master’s thesis. The focus of his research is the Mary Rinn site, which is a village site radiocarbon dated to the Late Woodland period (850-1550 AD). This site has been the subject of archaeological investigations since the 1970s, but more recently IUP students like Amanda Talep, Robert Szczotka, and Nathan Coughlin have been implementing geophysical survey in combination with subsurface testing to look at the site from a different perspective.

Map of Gerald, Neusius, and Smith excavations with GPR blocks by Donna Smith

The Mary Rinn site is located in the Cowashannock watershed and is property of The Archaeological Conservancy (TAC). Nathan sought permission from TAC to conduct research on the site. His goal is to confirm evidence of stratification that has been recorded in previous investigations. He will use ground penetrating radar to identify potential for buried landscapes, after which he will verify his findings using a soil auger. He is using this geoarchaeological research as an opportunity to explore the use of minimally invasive techniques and demonstrate that they still yield results. Nathan plans to start collecting GPR data soon, and we are looking forward to seeing what he finds!

 

Archaeology Day 2024

by qjjfc

On Saturday, October 12th, Indiana University of Pennsylvania held its Archaeology Open House to celebrate International Archaeology Day! The event had a lot of great tables and a huge turnout. Thank you to all the graduate students who helped make the day a success, and to all the people who came to learn about archaeology! The event was primarily organized by students taking the Public Archaeology course, and several other students volunteered their time to ensure the day was a success.

Tables were set up at the entrance and exit to bring people in and provide information about Archaeology Day to people first coming in or leaving. They handed out “passports”, which had the names of all the tables at Archaeology Day where people could get stickers. Anyone who got all their stickers was rewarded with candy at the end. The exit table handed out evaluation forms for people to tell us how we did, and they also shared additional information about archaeology and the anthropology program at IUP.

Brendon Ward, David Hay, and Nathan Coughlin at the Squirrel Hill table.

 

 

 

 

Dion DeGarmo and Rae Tuite with some cookies.

 

The hallway on the ground floor of McElhaney Hall was filled with tables where students shared information about different aspects of archaeology and offered educational activities. First year graduate student James Duke worked the historical archaeology table, where people could use a guide to identify different artifacts. Nathan Coughlin, Brendon Ward, and David Hay shared artifacts from the field school at Squirrel Hill. Jennifer Kennedy and Selena Rodriguez hosted a table dedicated to spreading awareness of issues among indigenous people in the U.S. such as missing indigenous women, repatriation, and the protection of natural resources. Second year students Dion DeGarmo and Rae Tuite took on the task of educating people about conspiracy theories and pseudoscience in archaeology. Dion even wore a terrific tin foil hat to look the part.

Ryan Devanny and Cassidy Tech teach folks about bones.

In the lab, Ryan Devanny and Cassidy Tech educated people about animal bones. Their activity involved matching long bones to the correct animal. People who came to their table would also be able to guess the different kinds of animal skulls and learn what different skulls looked like. The PHAST table was run by Elena Vories, who is the GA for the PHAST program, also known as the PennDOT Highway Archaeological Survey Team. She had a poster on PHAST, with pictures from surveys over this past summer and an activity to find all of the PHAST letters within the pictures. She would also explain what PHAST was and go through some of the projects she worked on. Abdul Jones is our GA working for DCNR, and at his table he taught people about working in cultural resources management and what life is really like in the field.

Authentic Cave Painting

The Kids Activity Room was run by Rickie Weinrich and Catie Rosler. They had several activities for kids to enjoy, including Wampum beading, pottery, and cave painting! Kids had the opportunity to make a beaded bracelet and put their handprints up on the wall. The Flotation table was run by Heidi Hepburn, who is the GA for the float lab this year. This table went through what flotation is and what it is looking for. This includes micro-artifacts and organics that can tell archaeologists things about what people were eating and what they were using different surfaces for. Heidi also processed some samples in the flotation lab while people walked through so they could see the process and answered questions about the process.

Tyler Fanell oversees a GPR demonstration.

Outside we had the Geophysics table, run by Tyler Fanell. Tyler demonstrated our ground penetrating radar (GPR) unit and let folks take it for a spin. He also had processed GPR data out on the table for people to examine. The data was both in vertical orientation, as well as 3D, so people could see what GPR anomalies look like after they are processed.

Two young archaeologists sift through the past

Next door was the mock excavation table run by Isabel Srour. She had a screening activity where people could dump dirt into a screen and screen it to find artifacts (little toys) they could then bag and write an artifact tag for. This taught people stewardship and the importance of properly recording and turning in artifacts.

The next table was flint knapping run by Emma Kinsinger and her uncle, who ran a flint knapping demonstration throughout archaeology day. They also had multiple types of precontact artifacts for people to see. Emma answered questions about flint knapping and precontact technologies.

Selena Rodriguez goes for the kill

The last table was spear throwing, using an atlatl, run by two members of the community who own several atlatls and have even participated in National Atlatl throwing competitions. They had two targets out and two atlatls for people to try out. This is a type of precontact technology people would have used for hunting. This table was probably the biggest hit of Archaeology Day and a lot of people enjoyed throwing spears.

 

Overall, we would like to thank everyone who came once again, this day never would have been possible without everyone who helped out and who came willing to learn. Thank you everyone, and see you next year!

Come to IUP’s Archaeology Open House this Saturday!

by qjjfc

On Saturday, archaeology students will be showcasing different aspects of our field for the community at McElhaney Hall. All are welcome to come and learn about archaeological research. There will be spear throwing, flint knapping, and activities for children. The event is being organized by students from the Public Archaeology class, and many students have volunteered their time to work different stations and educate people about various topics in archaeology. The event will run from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, and there will be some outdoor activities in addition to the main event on the ground floor of McElhaney. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

First Graduate Colloquium of the Semester: What We Did This Summer

by qjjfc

On Tuesday we held our first Graduate Colloquium of the semester. IUP students travel all over the country, and even around the globe, over summer break to do archaeological research. We use the first colloquium to give graduate students the opportunity to share their experiences. This year, we had four presentations on thesis research and field schools.

Isabel Srour, a member of the second-year cohort, was the first presenter of the colloquium. She spent her summer doing research on community mapping for the Tell Hisban site in Jordan. Tell Hisban is a site that has been occupied since the early iron age. Isabel’s research involved interviewing locals and attempting to gauge how accessible the archaeological research is to them. One of the objectives of her thesis is to create a website to share information about the site.

Connor Winslow is in his second year at IUP, and he presented on his thesis research at Camp Security, a Revolutionary War prisoner fort in York County. Connor used ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) to find a continuation of the previously excavated palisade wall that encircled the fort. He was then able to excavate test units and examine the features left behind by the wall. He worked alongside volunteers, many of whom were descended from guards and prisoners that occupied the camp.

Nathan Coughlin and Tyler Fanell, also in their second year of the applied archaeology program, presented on their work at IUP’s Squirrel Hill field school. It was their job to direct the students learning at the field school. Located in Westmoreland County, Squirrel Hill is a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it represents one of the largest known Monongahela villages in Pennsylvania. This summer, Nathan and Tyler were able to conduct valuable research there while also training a new generation of archaeologists.

Dakota Dickerson and Ryan Devanny presented on the forensic archaeology field school in Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany. Ryan is in his first year at IUP, and Dakota is in her second. They both worked as graduate assistants for Dr. Palmiotto, who is working with the Department of Defense to locate missing service members. Students learned field methods and were able to use GPR. On the weekends they visited various cities throughout Germany. Ryan’s favorite city was Friedrichshafen because they went boating on a lake and visited a zeppelin museum. This trip was an excellent opportunity for students to train in forensic archaeology, visit a new place, and to do important work for the families of service members back home.

 

Introducing Your New Public Archaeology Assistant

by qjjfc

Greetings everyone! My name is Brenden Patterson, and I will be managing the blog this year as the Public Archaeology Graduate Assistant. I am in my first year as a graduate student in the Applied Archaeology program here at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and I am looking forward to sharing everything we have going on in the program as the new Public Archaeology GA. I graduated from Iowa State University (in a far away land) with a B.S. in Anthropology and a minor in Biology. I attended field school at Lakeside Laboratory back in Iowa, where we excavated the area surrounding a late nineteenth century cabin tied to a major conflict with the Dakota in the Spirit Lake area. There, I was able to dip my toes into some historical research in combination with our field efforts. That being said, I am mainly interested in bones of all kinds, and I am generally interested in pre-contact archaeology. I spent the last year and a half working for Iowa’s Office of the State Archaeologist as an embedded consultant with the cultural resources team at the Department of Transportation. I did a variety of field work, interacted with the public, and contributed to the Section 106 consultation process. I hope I can use my background to come up with a variety of interesting topics to explore on the blog this year. We will be sharing some of the research our students are conducting at IUP, as well as other highlights like our graduate colloquiums. IUP students: If you have anything you’re excited about and would like to see featured on the blog, just let me know. Stay tuned for more!