Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As we all begin preparing for the family feast, let’s return to the first Thanksgiving which happened in 1621.  What would this feast look like?  What food would they have? And how does that differ from what we have now? Many of you are probably aware that the traditional turkey and cranberries are species native to America, and even more specifically the New England area where the first feast took place.  For this comparison, I will look at what ingredients are native to America, however, not specifically to New England.  Many of the food we love to have for Thanksgiving are actually native to South America.

I will begin with one of my favorite side dishes, green bean casserole.  Green or String beans have been cultivated in Mexico for over 7,000 years.  They actually originated in Peru and migrated North overtime.  The Spanish explorers introduced green beans to Europe in the 16^th century.  In New England “Three Sisters” Corn, Beans, and Squash were present. Although they might not have been green beans. But for you Corn Casserole lovers, corn was definitely present.  And squashes that would be used for pumpkin pies, although the spices would have been different.  Other than the green beans, a major component of green bean casserole is the cream of mushroom soup.  Mushrooms would be available for gathering but the cream is not native to America.  Cattle were brought to the Americas with the European colonists.  Bison are similar to cattle but were never domesticated and they do not have the large utters for milk producing seen in the domesticated cows and thus cannot be milked.

Moving on to arguably the best part about Thanksgiving, the stuffing (or dressing)!  Stuffing is made with bread.  Bread as we know if (Loaf) is from the Old War.  Egypt, Rome, India, Persia, and many other counties have been making variations of bread from wheats and like grains for many thousands of years.  In the Americas, corn was ground and made into meals and tortillas.  Mexico is still famous for tortillas, a bread-like flat baked dough that they have been making since 100 BC.  There were forms of bread present, although I do not know if tortillas would work in stuffing.

The final side I will be talking about is the potato.  Whether you use them for mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, or part of your stuffing, they remain a family favorite side dish, especially with gravy.  Most people associate the potato with Ireland and the Potato Famine.  However, the Inca grew potatoes since 8,000-5,000 BC.  The potato plant produced a rather pretty purple star shaped flower that the French aristocracy, Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, wore it in their clothing.  Not only can you have your mashed potatoes, but you can also make a nice centerpiece with the flowers.Thank you for reading this blog and enjoy your New and Old World food with all your family and friends.

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Happy Halloween! This candy and costume filled holiday has some very interesting roots.  The Halloween we celebrate today is a combination of Samhain (an old Celtic holiday), standard begging traditions, and teenage angst.  Samhain (traditionally held on November 1) was celebrated over 2000 years ago in modern day Ireland and marks the transition from summer into winter.  During this festival people would feast, light bonfires, take advantage of the supernatural activities present.  This period was not only a transition into winter but during Samhain and All Hallows Eve, the wall between the living and spirit worlds would thin and allow for communication with the dead.  There is very little archaeological evidence of the Samhain ritual so a majority of the information come from oral traditions or documentation.

Researchers believe that the Samhain (soon to be Halloween) tradition arrived in the US with the mass immigration of Irish people during the early 1900s.  Before the arrival of Samhain, the US practiced traditions that were very similar to trick or treating.  During Thanksgiving, children would go from house to house begging for food.  In other areas a tradition known as Mumming and Guising was popular during which people would dress up in costume and going around asking for food.  All Hallows Eve tricks were also present during the 1800s.  Children would tip over outhouses, egg houses, and release livestock as tricks.  As time moved on these tricks escalated into block parties and vandalism.  Around WWII parents started to encourage their children to go Trick-or-Treating as a way to stop most of the tricks.

The much beloved Jack-o-Lantern also originates from Ireland.  This custom is unrelated to Samhein and actually comes from an old legend about a man name Stingy Jack.  Jack invited the Devil to drink and tricked him into turning into a coin.  Rather than paying for the drinks with the Devil coin, Jack kept it next to a cross so the Devil could not return to his original form.  Jack eventually freed the Devil who agreed to leave Jack alone for a year and not claim his soul when he died.  The next year, Jack trapped the Devil in a tree only freeing him once he agreed to leave Jack along for ten years.  When Jack died neither heaven nor hell would take his soul, so the Devil gave him a burning coal to use for light as he roamed the Earth.  Jack put the coal into a carved turnip and thus Jack of the Lantern was born.  The Irish began carving turnips and potatoes to ward of Jack and when they arrived in the US found the native pumpkin to be an even better Jack’s Lantern.

Have a Happy and Spooky Halloween Everyone!

IUP Anthropology

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With Halloween fast approaching we need to prepare for the many monsters that will come out to terrorize innocent victims.  One such monster is the horrific undead blood-sucking vampire.  Vampires have been around in folklore for ages.  They are said to rise from the dead at night and kill living people.  In order to prevent the vampires from rising villagers would cut off the corpse’s head, take out its heart, nail or weigh it down, reinforce the coffin so it can’t get out, or stab it repeatedly with wooden stakes.  Some cultures thought that vampires had uncontrolled compulsions and would distract the vampire with tasks like picking up seeds in its coffin or untying fishing nets.  Archaeologists have excavated many graves, especially from Europe that show signs of postmortem violence.  Their limbs have holes from metal spikes and some even have rocks or bricks jammed in their mouths so they cannot bite people.

JB 55 burial with crossed limbs

This vampire phenomenon has even spread to the US where a Connecticut cemetery was excavated.  One of the burials had the remains rearranged so that the head and limbs were crossed on the chest similar to the pirate skull and crossbones.

Vampire burial in Poland with a rock in her mouth prevent her from biting victims

So how we know how to rekill or restrain a vampire but how do we know who is a vampire?  Folklore has many rules about how to identify a vampire.  The main identifier is that when the body is exhumed, there is a lack of decomposition, however the body may also show signs of bloating, blackening, and other changes.  They are often found with blood coming out of their mouths, eyes, nose, and even ears.  The lore suggests this is because the vampire gorges on so much blood that it seeps out.  The suspected vampire also produces a terrible smell, no rigor morits, and the hair and nails appear to still be growing.  I don’t know about you but these all sound like common elements of natural decomposition.  Especially considering that the lore specifies that most of these vampires appear in winter and take between 9 and 40 days to actually become vampires.  All of these ‘vampire characteristics’ occur naturally during the early stages of putrefactions.

Holes in limbs of Polish vampire to nail her to the coffin.

Now you know what to look out for if you come across a dead body.  So, what are some signs in the living?  Vampirism is essentially a plague.  Once one person becomes a vampire, they infect those around them.  Often, when a vampire dies their family and close friends die shortly after.  And those most likely to become vampires die from murder, suicide, or the plague.  The Connecticut vampire shows signs of having died from Tuberculosis which is a common plague and trend seen in vampire burials.  The victims of TB would often cough blood from their mouths and take on a pale appearance.  Sounds like a vampire, right? Because TB is extremely contagious and people lived in very close proximity to each other, it isn’t hard to see the connection between one death and the deaths of the rest of the family.  The vampire was probably just the first victim of the plaque.

The vampire epidemics were probably responses to plagues with unknown origins and cures.  People sought to explain the process of decomposition and illness in a world of superstition.  These people were likely innocent victims of illness who were then violated after death.  These burials provide more information about the living community than the dead community (or undead).  How people treat their deceased tells archaeologists a lot about their culture.  In this case vampire burials tell us about a time of superstition, fear, and sickness.  So next time you open a coffin, don’t judge the skeleton by its burial. It might come back to haunt you.

IUP Anthropology

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This is a special extension of Material Culture Monday featured on our Facebook Page.

Written by Dr. Lara Homsey-Messer

In 1974, the crew of the scallop trawler Cinmar were dredging off the coast of Virginia when, to everyone’s surprise, a mastodon skull was reeled in. Recognizing this as an unusual find, the Cinmar captain plotted the water depth and locational coordinates on his navigation charts. To expedite getting back to dredging, the Cinmar crew broke up the skull and removed the tusks and teeth for souvenirs, throwing the rest of the bone overboard. The mastodon was later radiometrically dated to 22,760 ± 90 Radiocarbon years before present (RCYBP), prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM).  In addition to the

Photograph of the Cinmar Biface

mastodon fossil, a bifacially flaked tool was also recovered. Made out of a fine-grained volcanic rock called rhyolite, the so-called “Cinmar biface” is a large, thin knife with evidence of well-controlled percussion thinning flake scars on both faces. Because rhyolite is an extremely durable rock, it is very difficult to flake correctly. As the Cinmar biface is well-crafted, it clearly represents the workmanship of a highly skilled knapper. Several prominent archaeologists (including lithics expert Bruce Bradley, geologist Darrin Lowery, and the late Dennis Stanford of the Smithsonian Institute) have examined the biface and concluded that it bears a striking resemblance to the Solutrean “laurel leaf” biface tradition of southwestern Europe. As such, the Cinmar biface has been cited as evidence for a pre-LGM “Solutrean crossing” from Europe to the eastern coast of North America via the north Atlantic coastline. Proponents argue that at least 8 other laurel leaf bifaces can be firmly provenienced to the Chesapeake Bay region in addition to the Cinmar biface. You can read more about the biface here.

The Cin-Mar scallop trawler that found the skull and biface

Certainly, this is a tantalizing discovery, but it is not without its critics. Several problems have been noted by skeptics. First, the 22,760 RCYBP date is about 2,000 years before the appearance of Solutrean style bifaces in western Europe. Second, geochemical analysis of the biface, and hundreds of other rhyolite artifacts with known origins from Maine to the Carolinas, showed the rhyolite to originate from the Catoctin Mountain region of south-central Pennsylvania and north-central Maryland. Finally, we have only the word of the Cinmar crew that the biface and mastodon are associated; given that they were found during dredging, it is difficult—if not impossible—to confirm that they originate in the same deposit. This raises questions about the European origins, as well as the Solutrean peopling of the Americas hypothesis. You can read more about the skeptics’ response here.

But before we completely dismiss the Cinmar biface and the Solutrean hypothesis, we should remember that archaeology is all about testing hypotheses, and the Solutrean hypothesis is certainly testable. It will be up the next generation of archaeologists to delve more deeply into the origins and manufacture of laurel leaf style bifaces!

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IUP Anthropology

Written by Nathan Bokros

I am Nathan Bokros, a first-year grad student at IUP’s Applied Archaeology Master’s. This past summer, July-August 2019, I had the opportunity to be a graduate supervisor for IUP’s archaeological field school alongside another IUP graduate supervisor, Rachael Marks and under the directorship of Dr. Ben Ford and Dr. Bill I have enjoyed working at a field school, this summer was the first time I was a graduate supervisor and not an undergraduate taking a class.  Rachael and I were responsible for supervising, teaching, logging bags for artifacts, taking photos of walls and units, driving vans filled with equipment and students, and giving advice to the undergrads.

The objective of the summer 2019 archaeological field school focused on surveying and excavating the Newport Site, 36IN188, near Blairsville, PA.  Newport was once a village site founded in the late 1700’s situated along the Frankston Road and the Conemaugh River as a sort of dock and resting area for traders and travelers. The site declined after the construction of a new village at a warmer location down river and the development of a railroad.  As a result, the village was abandoned by the mid-1800s.

The field school involved two phases and two groups. The first phase involved leading eleven IUP undergrads and two IUP grad students in conducting shovel tests throughout the site, which was situated in the middle of the woods on a slight hill. Phase two began two weeks later after all the shovel testing was completed.  The undergrads were now working on one-meter by one-meter test units.  The two graduate students conducted their own project, under Dr. Chadwick and with a crew of undergrads, trying to find two buried roads.

Through the heat, occasional rain, flies, and visits from various guests, we all had a good time and learned valuable skills.  We found some interesting artifacts such as large pieces of redware, tiny pieces of ceramics (some had colored designs), glass, bone pieces, unusually large rocks in close formation, a toy horse, and charcoal. Some test units did not contain many artifacts, though there was one that I was fortunate enough to supervise and excavate personally that uncovered many artifacts, like large pieces of redware and a rock so large we dubbed it “The Big Kahuna”.  The graduate students found at least one road and possibly part of another road.

This field school was enjoyable with lots of work digging at the site and processing artifacts in the lab alongside interesting characters making memories and funny quotes. There were a few days where the rain was too heavy so excavate, so we either processed artifacts in the lab or went on field trips to local historical sites, like Hanna’s Town and the Underground Railroad Museum in Blairsville, PA. Along with these trips, there are some unforgettable quotes that will always make me smile. One last memory to share is the mascot of the field school: a golden lab named Maddie who served not just as a service dog for one of the undergrads, but served as a source of joy, laughs, and moral for everyone with her dedication when on the job and adorable friendliness when off her leash. Such a great, busy, and fun field school made for an excellent summer, as well as a looking forward to the start of being a graduate student at IUP.

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Hello All! This is Rachael Smith the new Public Archaeology Graduate Assistant and blog manager.  I am very excited to be adding to this account and hope to get feedback from you all about things you want to see posted.  If you have interest in a topic, comment and I’ll do my best to write something about it.  I little history about me first through.  I graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA in 2018 with a BA in Archaeology, Environmental Studies, and Classical Studies. While I did major in Classics, my heart belongs to historical archaeology.

I have recently been working with a Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology group near my hometown of Pottstown, PA excavating a 1716 Swedish home along the Schuylkill River.  I also recently worked for a non-profit organization recovering the remains of US Marines who died at the Battle of Tarawa during World War II. Personally, I play flute, ride horses, reenact (1830s-60s), spin and dye yarn, knit (a lot), and brew beer with my dad. At home I have a cat, two dogs, two guinea pigs, two horses, and some fish. 

I am currently at IUP working on a Master’s in Applied Archaeology and a Certificate in Geographic Information Systems.  In the future I hope to do more military related recovery operations.  I have discovered that I really enjoy forensics and hope to make that a large part of my career. I also have an extensive history of public archaeology jobs (hence my GA).  It is always a great idea to inform the public about what we archaeologists really do.  And that is exactly what I intend to do.

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Howdy folks, we’re back again for maybe the last post until next semester (maybe I or someone else will decide to post in the meantime).  So, I wanted to end this academic year with some reflection.  It’s already been a year (of the academic variety) since I started graduate school here at good ol’ IUP.  It seems like this year was over in the blink of an eye even with these last few weeks of cramming in assignments and final exams.  I’m somewhat dumbfounded thinking about it, compared to my undergrad experience, grad school has been far more stressful, faster paced, and more rewarding overall.  In this post, I want to narrow that down to partially organize my own thoughts, but to also provide some firsthand experience and advice to anyone considering grad school or that are going to enter grad school soon.

I’ll be blunt, this year has had its share of high and low points.  From all-nighters and sleeping under the desk in my office to spending time with the other grad students, there is much that stands out in my mind.  Probably the most important thing I could hope to pass on to future grad students is the necessity of time management.  I swear, figuring out how to efficiently manage my time drastically cut the amount of stress I was under in most situations.  Frankly, it probably could have helped in the other cases if I was a bit stricter with my time, but we’re all human.  You need to balance your time between academics, the things that let your life function (sleep, laundry, meal prep, etc.), and socializing.  DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!  That one small assignment you think you can get done the morning before class will take longer than expected.  Then guess what, there’s six articles you’ve neglected to read to prepare for that or another class.  There is always more to do, hence why I’m writing this from inside McElhaney Hall after finals week.  Some things will get pushed to the back burner, and that is perfectly fine.  Just make sure you make time for whatever got pushed aside, be it GA hours or calling your mother (seriously though, make time for that or you might have local police checking to see if you’re alive).  My personal suggestion for anyone else that has issues with time management: make a list of everything that needs to be done within a week, set goals of what you want to have done by when based on due date and how long you think it should take, and then just try to meet those goals.  It’s fine if you don’t always meet your goals, the point is to see your assignments get crossed of that list and keep yourself motivated because there’s always more to do.

Now that the obligatory time management speech is out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff.  Some of the best advice I can give is to get to know your cohort.  I’m not saying you must be friends with everyone, that would be incredibly difficult, but get to know them and build some feeling of solidarity.  You’re all going to be under the same types of stress, at least class related stress, so they’ll understand the best about what you’re going through.  It’s common for my cohort to ask questions about assignments and bounce ideas off one another.  They will probably help you more than you’ll realize, and you will likely return that favor.  Build this support system and you’ll be better off in the future because of it.  Connect by doing assignments together, going bowling, or hanging out at the bars (whatever works for your cohort).

The last thing I want to say is take advantage of every opportunity you’re given.  Make the most out of what you can.  Is there a colloquium or webinar happening? Sit in and take notes, bring your lunch/dinner if you need to.  Is the department going on a trip to something like Meadowcroft Rockshelter or a local conference?  Get on the list of people going and be active with your department.  Does another grad student need volunteers to help with field work or maybe an undergrad course needs extra supervision in the field?  If you have the time, then join in.  These are some of the things that will let you make the most of your time by letting you learn and grow in some way.  In my opinion, being active in the department shows that you care and that you’re committed to what you want to do.  You don’t have to do everything I’ve listed, but you’ll be glad you did what you could.

Grad school has been a wild ride so far.  I can’t wait to see what will happen this coming academic year.  Until then, this has been your blogger extraordinaire, Zac.

IUP Anthropology Department

Projectile point from a donated collection.

I’ve been snooping around the old, donated collections that we keep in the big lab room.  Partly for my own curiosity and partly to find something Instagram (@iup_archaeology) worthy.  Honestly, there are some amazing artifacts but there’s so little information about them.  Given time and a few good resources, I could probably narrow down the projectile points to typical typologies found in Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.  I might even be able to narrow the types further if the associated note cards have any useful or reliable information, but half of them are blank beyond an artifact number.  It’s unfortunate, I wish I could know more about the what, where, and when but that’s just how the cookie crumbles.  I guess it goes without saying, but that’s the downside of collectors doing what they love to do.

A gorget with suspiciously modern looking drill holes.

An artifact without provenience provides far less information than one with provenience.  Some archaeologists might even go as far to say that an artifact without provenience, or more specifically, an artifact from a private collection is useless since we can’t confirm anything about it.  Those same archaeologists, well, let’s say they’re probably less than willing to take any information provided by a collector seriously.  Their skepticism renders provided information, as limited as it’s likely to be, useless and I can’t say that doesn’t have some valid reasoning behind it.  However, I would like to argue that an artifact without provenience or with questionable provenience remains useful for archaeologists.  Not as useful as it would have been, but we can still potentially learn from it.  For example, if we were to look at a private collection from the Squirrel Hill site.  Sure, the current holder of the collection might not be able to tell us where every artifact came from exactly, but as Squirrel Hill has been plowed over the years, these items would not have been found in context beyond the tilled soil (if they were surface collected).  It would have assured us that these artifacts came from the site but if a collector has documented the location, maybe through a photo or a GPS point, then that’s arguably reliable for connecting it to the site.  Again, I’ll say arguably because there is room for skepticism.  So, how would this be useful?  Frankly, it would be an example of material culture from the site, adding to our understanding of what material culture from that site could be like.  Again, leaving some room for skepticism but considering the possibilities.  Something out of context could also prove useful for interpreting the humans behind the tool.  You don’t need to connect it to a culture to ask why something was made or how it was produced.  Sure, connecting to a culture helps answer these questions by bringing in specifics and potentially comparisons of similar samples.

I think I’m rambling, so I’ll try to sum up my point.  Even if an artifact lacks context, it is still a piece of the archaeological record.  I see the information it provides, as limited as it may be, as worth having and using even if it means including an asterisk to keep potential issues in mind.  I’d rather we take the time to work with collectors, to gain whatever information that we can, than to lose out on everything.

Projectile point of unknown provenience from a collector’s donation.

Projectile point of unknown provenience from a collector’s donation.

IUP Anthropology Department