After not being able to host it last year due to covid, the Department of Anthropology was finally able to have our annual Archaeology Day Open House here at IUP! We had over 50 visitors who came to learn about and explore the field of archaeology and what it means to be an archaeologist!

We had many stations and activities set up inside and outside of McElhaney Hall. Beginning at the Entrance Table, we had undergraduate students, Kaylee and Callie, along with second-year graduate students Pat and Sonja, welcoming visitors into our Open House. There were posters and pamphlets, candy and snacks, and a place to sign up for anthropology club. This is also where the Archaeology Day passport could be picked up. This passport was used to guide people around to each set-up, so that they could get a stamp for each exhibit and table they visited.

Another station outside was led by first-year graduate student Emma, who presented on the importance of mapping in archaeology. Using a poster, worksheet, and mini grid, children and adults alike could practice mapping. She instructed people on why we do mapping, what we map, why we prefer mapping over taking photographs, what we need to include on our maps, and why we use a grid system when mapping. She stated that it is our goal as archaeologists to record as much information as possible, and that because digging is destructive, we need an accurate mapping of our excavation units before we continue to dig artifacts up, as mapping provides context for the location of the recovered cultural resources, as well as a record of any features and stratigraphy in the unit.

First-year graduate student Liz also had a set-up outside, where she was teaching people about stratigraphy. She used different colored, kinetic sand and small rocks and pottery sherds in a clear box to mimic the stratigraphic layers archaeologist encounter as they dig down into the soils. She also had a bright and colorful poster, along with a matching worksheet that allowed visitors to learn more about stratigraphy, and what various layers can look like.

Also outside was Susanne Haney from PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) and the Westmoreland Archaeological Society Chapter #23 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. She was doing flint knapping and instructing others on how to do it as well. She also had brought many examples of prehistoric artifacts, many of which she had made herself. A few things she showcased were an atlatl, stone tools and pendants, a nutting stone, flint ridge chert, obsidian, red catlinite from Wisconsin that can be used to make pipes, bifaces and scrapers, a tiny, dried gourd to represent the ones used by ancient Native American to hold up fishing nets in the water, and cordage made from plant materials such as basswood bark and dogbane, and also deer sinew fibers.

When you entered McElhaney Hall, on one side you could enter the Children’s room. This room contained many activities to keep kids entertained, but also to introduce them to the world or archaeology. From ceramic analysis to coloring worksheets, paleolithic “cave” paintings, making wampum bead bracelets, and more, kids were guided by volunteer Heather and first-year graduate student Kahlan through a range of archaeological topics. This will hopefully serve as a foundational step for the younger generation in their archaeological journey.

The next room over held our section on Zooarchaeology, led by first-year graduate student Emily and second-year graduate student Zach. Emily discussed hominins and showcased how skulls changed over the course of millions of years to bring us to the skulls of the modern-day humans. She also laid out stone tools that correlate to each skull and displayed a replica of footprints made by the primitive species Australopithecus afarensis, or “Lucy,” from 3.6 million years ago. There was even a worksheet for students to match the pictures of the skull replicas to their corresponding names and date ranges. Zach was in charge of animal bones and skeletons and used a display that had visitors match the animal to an individual bone, which included a bear skull amongst others. He also displayed whole turtle shells, cat, fish, and frog skeletons, shells, and a pig head that had many visitors intrigued and curious to know what it was!

In the same room, third-year graduate student Ashley was displaying her ongoing master’s thesis on Modoc City. She exhibited many of the historic artifacts that she has excavated from the site, which dates from 1873 to around 1890, although these were just a few from the 9+ whole boxes Ashely has filled. She also laid out several newspaper articles describing life in the city during its time of occupation. Some of the historical artifacts presented include a broken frozen charlotte, makeup containers or compacts, utensils, suspender clasps, bells, an original Dr. Scholl’s foot-eazer, glass and ceramic pieces, pocket watch components, dresser handles, boot heels, and even a mint container!

  Second-year graduate students Amanda and Emma, along with Dr. Chadwick, a professor here at IUP, were also in this room, discussing the PHAST (PennDOT Highway Archaeological Survey Team) program, what goes inside a dig kit, and what some of the geophysical tools used in archaeology are and how they operation. These such geophysical instruments included metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar.

Back in the hallway second-year graduate student Luke was displaying a historic artifacts collection. He explained that historic sites are those that date between European contact in America to our modern day. As part of his graduate assistantship, he takes care of the legacy collections here at IUP. Some of the artifacts he works with are from excavations done 50 years ago at Hanna’s Town, a 1700s site, so he has been going through them, organizing them, and putting them in archival bags for storage, to keep up to new standards of preservation and to prevent deterioration and disorganization. He also displayed a historic artifact learning collection of things we see often at historic sites for visitors to observe and interact with.

 There was also a prehistoric artifact collection, hosted by Westmoreland Archaeological Society Chapter #23 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. Many of the artifacts on display were recovered by Sidney Guest, a member of the chapter, as well as from the group themselves. Their exhibited collection included, petrified wood, a wide assortment of bifaces and projectile points, a large nutting stone, and even some tools archaeologists use in the field, to name a few. Mr. Guest explained that some of the artifacts were from excavations at a rock shelter near Derry, PA. He also stated that their chapter had just sent many boxes of artifacts to the State Museum after finishing up a dig they had been conducting over the past 16 years at a Monongahela village site with two overlapping village components. The Consul site (36WM100) included 49 houses and produced over 19 radiocarbon/AMS dates, with one of the villages dating to the Early Monongahela period around A.D. 1350, and the other to the Middle Monongahela period around A.D. 1450. We are so grateful that the Westmoreland Archaeological Society were able to come out and join us!

First-year graduate student Laura was next to the prehistoric artifacts set-up, and her station was about garbology, the study of modern humans through analyzing modern-day waste, and its connection to archaeology. She noted that archaeologists excavate landfills and utilize ethnographic interview methods to understand how humans create and dispose of waste, to answer questions about waste disposal, and to help apply these interpretations in other settings and studies. Laura also included a QR code on her handout that links students to “A Tale of Garbage” by Ian McTaggart for more information, and she provided a take home activity worksheet that had visitors keep track of their trash disposal habits to see what this can tell them about their trash practices. She also engaged with visitors by having them participate in an activity where they had to determine which bag of trash came from which room in the house, which simulated how trash can lead to inferences about people.

In the final room inside, we had second-year graduate student Jacob in the floatation lab teaching and instructing people about how and why we use the laboratory technique of archaeological flotation. The floatation machine is used to recover tiny artifacts and plant remains from soil samples, which visitors got to experience up close.

And finally, as people exited our Archaeology Day event, they passed by our Exit table, manned by first-year graduate student Wesley. He was passing out free posters and information on stewardship through fliers. He was also having those who left voluntarily fill out a paper with questions about their experience. We had great feedback, one visitor commented, “It was fun and interesting😊,” and many people noted their favorite activities.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported this open house, and to those who put everything together, Dr. Andrea Palmiotto and second-year graduate student Mikala Hardie! We will most definitely be hosting this event next year, so please join us again, or for the first time, in 2023!

Homecoming was this past Saturday, and it was packed with fun events and activities, celebrations, a parade, a football game, and the crowning of the Crimson Homecoming Court. In America, the idea of selecting a Homecoming court and having a King and Queen arose in the 1930s. Originally, Kings and Queens were chosen based on the float the came in on during the Homecoming parade. The crowning of royalty is something other parts of the world are exposed to as well. With the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, sometime in 2023 King Charles III will be crowned during a coronation ceremony. In August of this year Misuzulu Zulu was crowned as the new Zulu king in South Africa, wearing a headdress of traditional leopard skin and black feathers.

Princess Blanche’s crown, ca.1399

Although receiving a cheap, bedazzled crown after being voted as the most popular by classmates does not really compare to the coronation of British or Africa royalty, the ceremonies do have something in common; something worn on the head as a symbol of royalty, leadership, and power. Typically called a crown or headdress, these physical symbols are usually made out of rare or symbolic materials, and they legitimize who is in charge and who has the authority to sometimes do whatever they want.

The oldest known crown belonging to the British royal family is the Princess Blanche’s crown, that dates to around 1399; it is set with pearls, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. Although the origins of the royal crowns we recognize today reach back to the emperors of the Roman Empire, crowns, headdresses, and other forms of adornment that showcase the leader of the group have been used by other civilizations across the world in many different periods of time.

Empress Xiao’s crown before it was cleaned,  CNS/Tian Jin

Empress Xiao’s crown after it was cleaned,  CNS/Tian Jin

In 2012, archaeologists in China uncovered a 6^th century crown that originally belonged to Empress Xiao from the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618). It is the oldest imperial crown ever discovered in China, found in a tomb in Yangzhou, in the modern-day Jiangsu Province. The crown had been resting in a rotten wooden box and was restored at the Cultural Relic Protection Institute in Shaanxi Province. It was decorated with pearls, cotton, silk, fragile copper wires, and thirteen flower decorations, each composed of gilded bronze wires with delicate representations of stalks, stamens, and petals.

Silla Gold Crown, National Museum of Korea

In Korea, five gold crowns excavated from five royal tombs, helped the ancient capital of Guemseong, modern day Gyeongju, justify the meaning of its name, ‘city of gold.’ The five crowns are from the Silla Kingdom that extended their rule from southeast Korea during the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC-AD 668) all the way to the Unified Silla Kingdom period (AD 668-935). The crowns belonged to Silla kings and queens who were buried in large, stone-lined tombs within earth mounds, when they passed. The crowns were preserved and survived because of the clay placed between the layers of stone, the lack of horizontal entrances to the tombs, and the fact that the tombs were never looted. The first of the National Treasures of Korea were found in 1921 in a tomb known as the Gold Crown tomb that dated to the second half of the 5^th century. The other four tombs with their crowns were found nearby and are called the Great Tomb at Hwangnam, Cheonmachong (the ‘Heavenly Horse Tomb’), the Gold Bell Tomb, and the Auspicious Phoenix Tomb. The Silla crowns are made up of three parts, an openwork tall conical cap, a piece resembling a wing or butterfly which fits into the cap, and a diadem; chains with pendants also hang from the sides of the crowns. In addition to the embellished, sheet-cut gold pieces that form the crowns, they are adorned with jade pendants.

Baekje Gold Crown Ornaments

Researchers note similarities to gold crowns from the Black Sea area, Bactria, Japan, and China. Baekje and Goguryeo, the other two kingdoms from the Three Kingdoms period besides Silla, also had crowns. Recognized Goguryeo crowns were made of guilt-bronze, but Baekje has famous crown ornaments, in addition to crowns, known as Geumjegwansik attributed to their kingdom, that were excavated from a tomb in Gongju, South Korea in 1971. The two gold diadems are shaped like flames with flower and vine-like patterns and were worn by the king of Baekje. They were found in the tomb of King Muryeon who was in power from AD 501-523.

Gold Greek wreath

Box the crown was found in

In 2016 a man found a 2,300-year-old Greek myrtle wreath dating to around 300 BC underneath his bed. The crown, valued at over 100,000 English pounds, was in a cardboard box in Somerset, England. Usually worn for religious ceremonies or given as prizes at athletic and artistic contests, the crown from Ancient Greece is pure gold, handmade, and weighs about 100 grams.

Assyrian crown

Tombs dating to around 750-700 BC were found by Iraqi archaeologists in 1990. One contained a gold crown with trellis vines, lapis-lazuli grapes, four-winged robed figures, and rows of pomegranates and rosettes. The crown was from the ancient Assyrian empire of Mesopotamia and the tombs were found under the floors of rooms in Ashurnasirpal II’s (883-859 BC) harem.

Late Indus Valley civilization copper crown remnants, A.K. Pandey/Archaeological Survey of India

Archaeologists uncovered a 4,000-year-old copper crown in modern day India in 2015 that belonged to the late Indus Valley civilization. It is one of two crowns from an Indus Valley site ever recovered, was found resting on a skull, and is decorated with a carnelian and a fiance stone. Along with the skeleton and crown, pottery and animal bones were also found nearby. Researchers suggest that this person could have been someone important, like a local leader of some kind, based on the crown. However, the crude, simple, local decorations on the pottery, suggest that this person might have not been all that powerful, that they were more likely to have been someone who was rich or had good taste, rather than a political figure.

6,000-year-old Dead Sea Cave crown

One crown that has claimed to be the oldest in the world is a 6,000-year-old crown found in 1961 in a Dead Sea Cave. The cave was in the Galilean highlands of the Judean Desert of Israel and recovered by archaeologists Pessah Bar-Adon. The crown dates to the Copper Age between 4000-3500 BC, more specifically the Chalcolithic period (4500-3600 BC), and was amongst 400 other artifacts in the cave, a finding that has become known as the Nahal Mishmar Hoard. The thick copper ring with vultures and doors jutting from the top was one of five crowns from the hoard. The objects are thought to have been placed in the cave for safe keeping, and from the Chalcolithic Temple of Ein Gedi, which is around 12 kilometers away. Some question if the “world’s oldest crown” was even used as a crown at all; perhaps it was a stand for an urn, or something else, but the seven-inch tall with about equal diameter band of blackened copper, is eye-catching, with its rim of pointed figures, hilt-shaped cross, long-necked birds, and gates or grilles with horns.

The largest fragment of the ivory tiara found in the Denisova Cave, depicted from three separate angles, Institute of Archeology and Ethnography

The claim to the “world’s oldest crown” is challenged by what some believe is a 35,000-50,000-year-old crown or headband made of woolly mammoth tusk ivory and broken into three pieces. Rediscovered by archaeologists in a Denisova Cave in the Altai mountains of Siberia, the head piece was worn by a man, but it is up for speculation if it was used to designate royalty or leadership, a mark of a family or tribe, or if it was just used to hold his hair back. Diadems such as these are rare, and there would have been several steps taken to create this item. The tusks would have to have been separated from the animal, cut into pieces, soaked in water to be shaped, then physically shaped, scraped, cut, grinded, drilled, and finally polished. This crown was too long to be a bracelet, had microscopic wear that showed it had contact with organic material like skin, was bent to fit to an adult male’s temple, and the longest piece had half a hole on one side drilled into it that was most likely used with cords or straps to affix to the head; all reasons that contributed to the belief that these pieces of ivory potentially had a crown-like function.

Crowns and other head-adorning symbols of leadership are prevalent in many other societies and civilizations; some have survived, while others are recognized through art, written records, oral histories, carvings, and sculptures. Native Americans in Pre-Columbian times wore headdresses, headbands, and war bonnets, in various styles and sizes depending on the tribe and location in the country. They could be made from the hairs of animals such as porcupines, moose, and deer’s tails, from feathers, buffalo fur and horns, and otter fur and tails, in addition to beads, quillwork, and decorative patterns. Ancient Maya headdresses were worn by the elite, with the King’s being the largest, the larger the headdress the more important the person. Wood, cloth, jade, shells, and colorful feathers were used to carefully craft these headdresses that were made to look like animals that were important to the culture, such as the jaguar, snake, or falcon. The quetzal bird was coveted by the Mayan culture and its feathers were used solely for royalty.

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs also had recognizable crowns and headdresses, each with a certain meaning indicated by their shape. The Deshret or Red Crown, established the king as the ruler of Lower Egypt. No physical examples of this crown survive today. Hedjet, the White Crown, establishes the king’s rule over southern Egypt; it too has no surviving example. The Pschent, the Double Crown, also known as Sekhemti or the “Two Powerful Ones”, symbolizes the king’s rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt. This crown is the merging of the Red and White Crowns, a move done under King Narmer during the Pharaonic period (3000 BC-332 BC). Nemes, was a striped head cloth that is easily recognized as being worn by King Tutankhamun on his coffin. The earliest depiction of this headdress was found on an ivory label of King Den from the 1^st dynasty. It was typically worn to cover a crown and the backside of the head. The Khepresh, or Blue Crown, made from stained leather, became popular by the 18^th dynasty, but is known as a war crown, as it was depicted often as being worn by Ramesses II in the Battle of Kadesh. The Atef Crown was the crown of the first mythical king Osiris but was worn by other deities. Its earliest depiction is of being worn by the Pharaoh Sahure in the 5^th dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The Hemhem or Triple Atef became popular during the reign of Akhenaten (1353-1336 or 1351-1334 BC) and the Ptolemaic period or dynasty (323/305-30 BC). It was a variation of the Atef Crown, was also called the “Roaring One”, and was worn by Heka, the god of magic.

The craftsmanship that has gone into making crowns of all shapes, sizes, and materials throughout the centuries is astounding. But archaeologists have to be careful when determining what should be labeled as a crown, or whether the artifact they are studying just resembles the familiar shape. From fakes to mistakes, like when researchers initially concluded that a 6^th century bucket fitting was a crown, archaeologists and scholars need to be vigilant when examining and labeling artifacts.

Crowns will always fascinate people because of what they stand for; power, authority, and even popularity. They are still used by royal families, in Halloween costumes, and to adorn the heads of Homecoming Queens and Kings today. As you celebrate occasions such as Homecoming, take some time to recognize that so many of the mundane parts of customs we celebrate today, are reflections of objects used in ancient traditions for many, many years.

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Further Reading and Sources:

https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/history/history-homecoming

https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-thousands-witness-crowning-of-new-zulu-king/a-62877697

https://www.grunge.com/865856/this-is-the-oldest-known-british-royal-family-crown/

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/6th-century-crown-chinese-empress-revealed-first-time-its-full-glory-006631

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/957/the-gold-crowns-of-silla/

https://www.worldhistory.org/image/5961/baekje-gold-crown-ornaments/

https://www.primidi.com/crown_of_baekje/national_treasure_of_korea_no154

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3610916/Incredibly-rare-2-300-year-old-Ancient-Greek-gold-crown-worth-100-000-kept-decades-tatty-box-old-newspapers-bed-owner-no-idea-was.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/mesopotamia_gallery_08.shtml

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/4000-year-old-copper-crown-found-india-002558

https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/34290

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/6000-year-old-crown-found-dead-sea-cave-revealed-001436

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-worlds-oldest-crown

https://www.livescience.com/64297-ancient-woolly-mammoth-tiara-denisova-cave.html

https://theamericanhistory.org/important-facts-native-american-headdresses.html#:~:text=The%20roach%20headdresses%2C%20also%20known%20as%20porcupine%20roaches%2C,headdresses%20were%20often%20worn%20by%20dancers%20and%20warriors.

https://mayansandtikal.com/mayan-clothing/mayan-headdresses-clothes/

https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/crowns/

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa-news-general-opinion/crowns-pharaohs-00579

https://quickjewelryrepairs.com/articles/what-is-the-history-of-the-royal-crowns/#:~:text=The%20oldest%20crown%20in%20the%20world%20was%20discovered,of%20this%20culture%20is%20their%20mastery%20of%20coppersmithing.

https://www.dw.com/en/a-crown-or-a-bucket-when-archaeologists-make-mistakes/a-46807172

It’s been getting chilly and crisp in Indiana, PA this past week and I don’t know about you but fall weather makes me want to sit inside and make something. If you are like me, you might be interested in experimental archaeology which is a practice where archaeologists make and utilize technologies of past people in order to understand them better. Archaeologists use experimental archaeology to test hypotheses of how and why people used different technologies. Typically, materials are gathered from the environment around you making it an accessible hobby for anyone interested in the technologies of the past.  Here are some experimental archaeology crafts that you can do while you enjoy the lovely fall weather! 

The first and most beloved example is flintknapping! This is a process that pre-contact societies used to make stone tools. It involves carefully chipping away at specific parts of a “raw” stone, also called a core. You first start with percussion flakes which chip off because of the force you apply to certain parts of the core. Then, you take off smaller pieces by applying pressure to an edge of the core with a deer antler or some other type of sharpened tool. This step refines the tool into whatever you want it to be such as an arrow/spear point or an adze. If you have kids or if you’re worried about injuring yourself you can also try “soapknapping” which takes some of the same ideas of flintknapping as you carve your stone tool out of a bar of soap. The supplies needed for flintknapping are flint/chert which is what you make your stone tool out of, a hammerstone, a piece of leather to protect your leg, a billet made from deer antler or hard wood, and an antler tine or sharpened wood for pressure flaking. 

The process of flintknapping. Credit: Closter Nature Center

If stone tools aren’t your thing maybe you would like to make a basket out of pine needles, sweetgrass, or other dry plant materials that you can forage. There are many ways to make a basket but one of the most comprehensible ways is by coiling. To make a coiled basket you first have to collect the materials. Once you have your pine needles or sweetgrass make sure to wash them, bundle them, and lay them out to dry before you start working with them. Once they are dry, you can finally begin by wrapping a cord that is attached to a tapestry needle around a bundle of around four to six pieces of your material. Your foundation cord should be wrapped 10-15 times and be ¾ inch long at first. Then, you will curl the end in and start the spiral formation by pushing the needle through the middle of the two beginning rows and sewing the new rows into the previous coil. If this sounds incredibly confusing don’t worry, there are step-by-step instructions linked at the bottom under “Sources and Further Reading”. 

Making a coiled pine needle basket.

If you’re looking for an easier project, you could make a pinch pot which is one way Native Americans made pottery for food storage and cooking. To make a pot you need to either find clay in a local clay bed,  buy it at your local craft store, or make it by looking up a salt-dough recipe. If you collect your clay, you will likely have to process it so if you are looking for a really easy project you might want to stick with air-dry clay. Once your clay is prepared, roll it out and then roll it into a ball. Then you will put your thumb in the center to make a crater in the clay and from that crater you can pinch the sides of your pot to your desired thickness. From there you can add imprinted designs using a pencil or anything else you have around your house! If you are using air-dry clay then you can simply set your project out to dry but if you are using a salt-dough or you gathered clay you will have to bake and fire it respectively. 

A pinch pot made by a young girl from Abbott Farm excavations. The center scar is from a twig impression in the clay. NJSM # AE98089.

No matter what project you choose, you will be able to get into the mindset of the people who created and used these technologies many years ago. This is what archaeologists are interested in, understanding the people of the past through the materials that they produced. By making these materials ourselves, we can get a sense of what it was like to make them and experiment with different processes to test the feasibility of certain hypotheses. We can also have fun while we’re at it which is a big benefit! 

Sources and Further Reading: 

https://exarc.net/experimental-archaeology

Flintknapping: 

https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/flintknapping-0 https://www.elymuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HAH-worksheet-Pre-history-Stone-Age-Knapping.pdf 

https://wildernessawareness.org/articles/stone-tools-and-flintknapping/

Basket Weaving: 

http://www.nativetech.org/basketry/coilinstr.html

https://www.knowitall.org/interactives/anaturalstate/pine-needle-basket/

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/sflarch/collections/seminole-baskets/technique/

Pinch Pot:

https://exploreandmore.org/sanity-savers-make-a-pinch-pot-for-the-archaeological-society-anniversary/

https://www.instructables.com/Harvesting-Your-Own-Clay-Dirty-But-Delightful/

https://exploreandmore.org/sanity-savers-salt-dough-unicorns-and-easter-eggs/

https://thepotterywheel.com/pinch-pot-history/

https://newjerseyarchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/miniature-clay-pot-an-ancient-toy/

Image Credits:

https://closternaturecenter.org/?event=primitive-technology-2

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/how-to-weave-pine-needle-baskets

https://newjerseyarchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/miniature-clay-pot-an-ancient-toy/

The first day of Fall for 2022 was officially on September 22^nd. As the season change, flowers of summer will begin to fade. Flowers die out every season, every year, and some species are known to have even gone extinct. Flowers are fragile and rarely preserved in the archaeological record. However, biologists, archaeologists, and other researchers have been able to recover evidence of flowers, such as fossilized flowers, in the archaeological record. Researchers can also gather information from studying the iconography on ceramics and jewelry, in paintings, texts, sculptures, and other forms of artistic expression, to learn more about the flowers that were popular in the past.

Nazca Lines Flower

Flowers permeate many aspects of the ancient world. Ancient Egyptians worshiped, Nefertum, the god of perfumes who was also the god of the lotus blossom. In the Egyptian creation story, Ra, the sun god, emerged from a blue lotus. Statuettes and amulets often portrayed Nefertum with a lotus on his head or as a lotus flower with two feathers. During the Tang dynasty in ancient China, around 8-12^th centuries CE, tree peonies were seen as symbols of feminine beauty, love, wealth, and status. They became common and popular in paintings during the Song dynasty. Even one of the famous Nazaca Lines, 2,000-year-old giant geoglyphs etched into the ground in Lima, Peru, includes a shape that resembles a flower.

Ancient Bouquet Found in Teotihuacán

In 2021 bouquets of flowers were discovered in the ancient city of Teotihuacán in Mexico by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. The four bouquets date to 1,800 years ago and were found in a tunnel under a pyramid, 18 meters down. They were well-preserved and likely a gift for the deity Quetzalcoatl.

Plant Impressions In Israel

Archaeologists in Israel from the University of Haifa have also found plant impressions, including flowers, in graves. The plants appear to have been buried underneath the dead and date to around 12,000 years ago. This is one of the earliest uses of flowers in ceremonial burials.

Strychnos electri

In terms of preserving ancient flowers, amber is a fantastic means as it is essentially fossilized resin. In 1986 a cave in the Dominican Republic was discovered. It was home to hundreds of fossilized plants and insects. However, it wasn’t until 2016 when a preserved fossil flower was announced. The flowers were a new species, Strychnos electri, and are around 45-15 million years old. They were part of the asterid plant clade, which are one of the largest lineages of flowering plants, and are antecedents to over 80,000 species, such as potatoes, coffee, and even the poisonous strychnine tree.

Lijinganthus revoluta

Valviloculus pleristaminis

A flower dating to the mid-Creataceous, Lijinganthus revoluta, was discovered by a team from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018, in Myanmar amber. A new genus and species of fossil angiosperm was also found by paleontologists in 2020 from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Myanmar in their mid-Cretaceous amber deposits. This fossil flower is almost 100 million years old and is named Valviloculus pleristaminis.

Notiantha grandensis

In the Salamonca Shale Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina, fossilized flowers dating to around 66 million years ago, the early Paleocene epoch, were found in 2017. The compressions and impressions on flat-laminated gray shale are part of the Rhamnaceae, buckthorn, family, and are called Notiantha grandensis.

Montsechia vidalii

Fossilized remains of an aquatic plant from the beginning of the Cretaceous period were discovered in Spain in 2015. Montsechia vidalii dates to around 130 million years ago and looks similar to the modern-day coontail. Prior to this discovery, Archaefructus sinensis, a 125-million-year-old fossil from Liaoning Province in China, was thought to be the world’s oldest flower.

Nanjinganthus dendrostyla

However, in 2018, scientists at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology found fossilized flowers that date to 175 million years ago, the early Jurassic in the South Xiangshan Formation in China’s Nanjing Region. There were over 200 specimens of the fossilized flowers, named Nanjinganthus dendrostyla, which allowed the researchers to combine information and reconstruct a single flower, now recognized as the oldest evidence of a flower plant, an angiosperm.

Florigerminis jurassica

It was debated whether N. dendrostyla represented a true angiosperm, for it was too “primitive” to be considered a flower and too “complex” to be a gymnosperm (a plant that does not have a flower but does have unenclosed seeds). Then, Florigerminis jurassica, a fossilized flower bud dating to 164 million years ago that included a stem, flower bud, fruit, and a leafy branch, was found in China earlier this year! F. jurassica appears to be more of an angiosperm and will shift how researchers organize angiosperm evolution.

What is clear today is that as work continues and new discoveries are made, researchers will be able to continue to piece together the evolution of flowers on this planet. Flowers are small, but each uniquely made with the tiniest of beautiful details. They have and will continue to fascinate humans, as we incorporate them into ceremonies and art, at weddings and funerals, in paintings and as decorations in our homes. When we pass, how will archaeologists and anthropologists view our practices with flowers?

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Sources and Further Reading:

https://www.ancientpages.com/2021/04/17/nefertum-god-of-lotus-blossom-perfumes-aromatherapy-beauty-in-egyptian-mythology/

https://www.treepeony.com/pages/peonies-in-chinese-art

https://www.history.com/topics/south-america/nazca-lines

https://www.txtreport.com/life/2021-08-16-archaeologists-have-discovered-in-mexico-bouquets-of-flowers-of-1800-years—curious.SyPdZkdet.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-year-old-flower-bouquets-found-below-temple-teotihuacan-180978518/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/archaeologists-find-evidence-of-flowers-buried-in-a-12000-year-old-cemetery-4280031/#:~:text=SCIENCE%20Archaeologists%20Find%20Evidence%20of%20Flowers%20Buried%20in,were%20buried%20ceremonially%2C%20atop%20a%20bed%20of%20flowers

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-species-prehistoric-flower-discovered-preserved-amber-180958156/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nplants20165

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35100-4

https://phys.org/news/2018-11-ancient-fossil-core-eudicot-boom.html

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/valviloculus-pleristaminis-09184.html

https://journals.brit.org/jbrit/article/view/1014

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176164

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/17/fossilised-remains-worlds-oldest-flower-discovered-cretaceous

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/17/fossilised-remains-worlds-oldest-flower-discovered-cretaceous

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-known-flowers-world-180956962/#:~:text=Excavated%20in%20Virginia%20by%20a%20former%20Smithsonian%20curator%2C,oldest%20known%20flowers%20in%20North%20America.%20Nathan%20Jud

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-news/earliest-fossil-flowers-found-china

https://www.livescience.com/64354-oldest-fossil-flower.html

https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP521-2021-122

https://ancient-archeology.com/charles-darwin-mystery-solved-after-140-years-as-scientists-make-stunning-ancient-find/

Welcome back students, the new semester and school year has begun. You’ve reconnected with friends here at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but also some of you might have said goodbye to friends in your hometown. Friends play powerful roles in our lives, and sometimes, we wish to show that bond by giving and wearing tokens of our friendship for the world to see. As children, some of us might have even purchased beads and string to create friendship bracelets! These tiny and simple circlets showcased to whomever saw them that those wearing the matching ones were connected, firm, friends.

Modern friendship bracelets.

The origin of friendship bracelets is difficult to track down. Some credit influence to ancient China as decorative knots on bracelets trace back to 481-221 B.C., but these knots were used not solely on bracelets. Macrame is also seen as an influence and was popular in 13^th century Arabia, spreading to France and Italy, and was also used by sailors at sea. It became popular in 19^th-century Britain and found its way to the United States in the 1960s.

Band of lace made from human (head) hair, likely worn as a bracelet, ca. 1640-1680, in the collection of the V&A.

In the Victorian era, giving mourning jewelry with strands of a loved one’s hair incorporated into the piece was common, and leads some to believe that this also contributes to the trend of exchanging meaningful pieces of jewelry between friends. Others claim that the popular trend youngsters across world take part in today actually dates to ancient Central American times. Many friendships bracelet designs we see today mirror Native American patterns, as well. In the United States, the art of making friendship bracelets became popularized again in the 1980s when they were seen during rallies and protests about the disappearances of Mayan Indians and laborers in Guatemala.

Ringed ornaments and ornament fragments from the Finnish region.

Earlier this year though, archaeologists in modern-day Finland made an incredible discovery. They found both intact and fragmented ‘slate rings’ that date back to around the 4^th millennium B.C. at several Stone Age sites. The ring-shaped artifacts were made of different slates and tuffites. After studying geochemical composition, micro details, and use-wear, and piecing fragments back together, it was suggested that many of the rings were actually broken up on purpose and as part of the prominent gift-giving system in that region. Many of the fragments appear to have been fashioned into pendants and some from the same ring were even found in two different locations with different finishes, thus showing that the fragments were used as ‘friendship ornaments’ or “tokens of social relationships.”  The few that were intact, were “likely worn as personal ornaments.”

Ringed ornaments in situ in an early 4th millennium BC hunter-gatherer burial, positioned together with amber pendants. Photo. M. Torvinen 1978/Finnish Heritage Agency

Some of the slate traces back to a region in northwest Russia near Lake Onega, supporting theories of widespread trade networks in northeastern Europe and social relationships with people hundreds of kilometers away. Some fragments were also found at settlement sites, with the matching fragment from the same ring, stone, and manufacturing process being found at a nearby burial site. This practice suggests there was a belief in a connection between the living and the dead through the use of these objects prevalent during this time period in this region.

It’s fascinating to think that by wearing a broken heart trinket around your neck or tying a woven or beaded string around your wrist, you have something in common with the person that around 5,000 years ago wore a whole or fragmented slate circle to also represent their social bonds and relationships with others.

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Sources and Further Reading

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-022-09556-8

https://ancient-archeology.com/these-5000-year-old-stone-age-rings-may-have-been-the-original-friendship-bracelets/

https://www.keyssoulcare.com/connection/the-history-of-friendship-bracelets.html#:~:text=The%20exact%20origin%20of%20the%20friendship%20bracelet%20is,recognizes%20the%20Native%20American%20tradition%20of%20exchanging%20bracelets.

https://www.braceletbook.com/history/#:~:text=A%20friendship%20bracelet%20is%20a%20handmade%20bracelet%20intended%20for%20a%20special%20person.&text=Macrame%2C%20a%20craft%20of%20tying,items%20made%20on%20a%20loom.

https://www.wristband.com/content/all_about_friendship_bracelets/

https://www.jewelslane.com/blog/the-origin-meaning-and-importance-of-friendship-bracelets

https://www.novica.com/blog/friendship-bracelets-their-origin-meaning-and-importance/

https://www.harbourukbracelets.com/blog/friendship-bracelets-their-history-and-significance-explained

https://ericaweiner.com/history-lessons/hair%20jewelry

Time for a new introduction and a reintroduction! This year the blog will be managed by Bridget Roddy and Mikala Hardie! We are both second-year graduate students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania studying Applied Archaeology, and are this year’s Public Archaeology Graduate Assistants!

Hello everyone! My name is Mikala Hardie and I will be sharing the public archaeology duties with Bridget this year which includes writing for this blog! I am a second-year grad student with interests in public/community archaeology, historical archaeology, and hidden narratives. My alma mater is Kutztown University where I received a B.A. in anthropology and minored in history, music, and Spanish. My other hobbies include taking nature walks, crocheting, and reading. This past summer I interned with the National Park Service’s Northeast Archeological Resources Program where I ran their social media, revitalized their website, and developed lesson plans for children ages 4-12. I am excited to use the writing and public outreach skills I have learned over the summer to create interesting and engaging blog posts!

Hello readers, my name is Bridget Roddy! I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in both psychology and sociology/anthropology, and I minored in international studies. I also studied abroad in Ireland for a semester in undergrad at the University of College Cork. My favorite dig was at the Roman Fort of Halmyris in Romania where I volunteered for a month! Outside of archaeology, I have a passion for running, making resin earring (check out my Etsy shop at SpringDazeByBridget), reading, painting, drawing, and traveling! But the most important thing to me is my family! I love exploring other cultures and ancient traditions, so check out future blog posts to explore some fascinating topics and reflections!

The rainy morning of April 21st was met with a sunny visitor to IUP, with the arrival of Kelley Berliner, the Eastern Regional Director of the non-profit organization known as The Archaeological Conservancy, for our final Graduate Colloquium of the semester. We had a great turnout for her fascinating presentation on the Conservancy’s preservation efforts from Paleoindian to Historic sites.

The Conservancy is the only non-profit dedicated to the acquisition and preservation of archaeological sites in the United States. Founded in 1980 from the realization that most legislation focused on preserving sites on public land, the Conservancy sought to purchase and protect sites on private property, and now they have over 20,000 members! They also publish the American Archaeology magazine, provide archaeological tours out of their offices, and of course, preserve and manage archaeological sites. The sites are now all open-space research preserves open to professional archaeologists, but they do keep parts unexcavated for future researchers with improved technologies.

The Archaeological Conservancy is made up of five regional offices, with Pennsylvania in the Eastern Region. In the history of the Eastern Regional Office, the Conservancy has up to around 70 preserves. Kelley does a bit of everything as being the only person in the Eastern Office, such as acquiring and researching sites, handling real estate closings, managing properties, reviewing proposals, attending descendent community events. She gets together two times a year with the other offices, which is their general board meeting as they are run by a board that approves their acquisitions.

So how do they start their process? They first identify what sites would be good for preservation, using the disciplines network of archaeologists, university professors, CRM professionals, avocational archaeologists, state societies, travel and state offices, and more, in order to locate sites that could need the Conservancy’s efforts. This might even include reviewing museum and library archives or old site records that have not been looked at in a long time.

When determining whether a site is important for preservation, a main consideration is whether it is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Conservancy does nominate their preserves for the National Register, and many are already on it. There are of course other considerations, such as, budgetary issues, how it will be managed, its research potential, and accessibility, to name a few. Threats sites are facing, such as development, fracking, coastal erosion, and looting, are also factors.

The next step is to contact the property owners and get acquisition options. Berliner noted that it takes quite a bit of work to get to the point of sending out letters, and for about every 25 letters she sends, they might get about one response back. If they get someone willing to work with them, they try to acquire the land through outright purchase, ideally a donation, or a bargain sale, so that people can sell slightly below the appraised value and receive tax benefits! She also mentioned that depending on the site, she does work with descendent communities often, and in various ways, from contacting them to having site dedications.

They then of course must manage the sites. All sites are unique, some require surface collection and some don’t, some need to be kept mowed and some are woods lots, and some are going to have different management needs, and therefore management plans will be developed with the site’s differences and best interests in mind. Berliner stated that when the Conservancy monitors sites after they have been acquired, it depends on the sites and their needs, so for example, some sites are fenced. Their main deterrent is working with a national system of site stewards, such as former property owners, a neighbor, a farmer, a hunter, a local archaeological society or local archaeologist. In the east, the biggest issue is metal detecting on military sites. The Conservancy is careful when posting or writing about their properties, and they follow purple paint laws (marking purple blazes for property lines). In terms of public access to their preserves, they want to keep their locations secret in order to prevent looting, and some sites are just challenging to get to. However, they do post videos on YouTube, and they are open for educational purposes, such as a school field trip.

The sites they preserve include a range of Prehistoric and Historic sites. Prehistoric sites include Paleoindian sites like the Nevers Preserve in New Hampshire, Archaic sites like the Dresden Preserve in Maine, Woodland sites like Koon’s Landing in North Carolina, Contact period sites like the Oscar Leibhart Preserve in Pennsylvania, and quarry sites likes the Prince Edward Soapstone Quarry Preserve in Virginia. Historic sites include colonial sites like Kippax Plantation Preserve in Virginia, which is also a multicomponent site, African American sites like the 18th century Arbuckle’s Fort Preserve in West Virginia, industrial sites like the 19^th-20^th century Pamplin Pipe Factory Preserve in Virginia and the Big Pond Furnace Preserve in Pennsylvania, religious sites like the Upper Lunenburg Episcopal Church in Virginia and the Synagogue parcel of the NEHFES Synagogue and Creamery site in Connecticut which is the site of a 19th century Russian-Jewish immigrant community, and military sites like forts, battlefields, and the Royal Blockhouse of Fort Edward in New York.

In Pennsylvania, the Conservancy has 17 preserves. These include sites like Prehistoric Earthworks like the Dingfelder Circle in Erie County, Monongahela village sites, Woodland village sites which include the largest preserve they have in the Region, the Queen Esther’s Town in Bedford County that is almost 100 acres in size, quarry sites like King’s Quarry in Lehigh County that was used for a long period of time as people returned to it, and of course Historic sites like the Fort Littleton (Lyttleton) Preserve in Fulton County.

A vessel from the Ebbert Spring Preserve.

They also have the Ebbert Spring Archaeological Preserve and Heritage Park in Franklin County which is open to the public. This site has a dense Prehistoric component, dating back 10,000 years, and a Historic component, and yet it is not near any major waterway. However, it has a karste, limestone landscape that creates many high-output freshwater springs! Ebbert Spring in particular puts out over 600 gallons of water a minute! The area was also highly desirable for industrial development and the property was owned by a man named Al Bonnell. The Archaeological Conservancy was able to purchase the site from his son after Bonnell passed, knowing that his goal was to have it preserved ultimately. And today, after 15 years of work, it is a site that is now a park that is accessible to the public through a partnership with the local museum and the town, and by working with the nearby developers.

We thank Kelley Berliner for her presentation and for all of the incredible work she has done and will continue to do at the Conservancy!

Visit their website at https://www.archaeologicalconservancy.org/msclkid=1734ee7dc7dc11ec80df9ec684a2c46b for more information! And check out their YouTube videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheArchaeologicalConservancy

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