NCC8 2013 Summer Dig Opens

Northcentral Chapter 8, Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, has opened its 2013 Summer Dig at the Glunk Site. See the Google Calendar in the sidebar at right for upcoming dates and times, and use the interactive Google Map (yes, in the sidebar) for directions to the site.

The Glunk Site has been officially registered with the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission, the Bureau for Historic Preservation and has been designated as 36LY0345.

So, what does that mean? Why bother registering the site? According to the PHMC, recording an archaeology site helps protect it:

NCC8 President Tank Baird examines
the profile of a wall in an excavation unit
at the Glunk Site in 2012.

"Archaeological sites are the only record of the prehistoric past and they are an essential part of understanding the historic past. They are a non-renewable resource and they are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Recording archaeological sites helps to protect them. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission encourages the recording of archaeological site information on Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey (PASS) forms. Thousands of avocational and professional archaeologists have already shared site locations with the Commission resulting in tens of thousands of sites being recorded in the PASS files. Information for recording sites can be found at the PHMC Web site. Once the form has been submitted, a site number will be assigned. This number can be written on artifacts from this site so that there will always be a record of where they were found. The PASS number is based on a nationwide system called the Smithsonian or trinomial system. It is divided into three parts. The first part is Pennsylvania’s alphabetical position within all of the states. The second part is the county designation and the third part is the next number available in that county. For the PASS number 36DA0020, 36 is the alphabetical position of Pennsylvania, DA. is the designation for Dauphin County and 0020 is the twentieth site recorded in the county."

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/resources/2080/pass/410724 

So, jon us at the Glunk Site this season and help us protect and preserve this area's cultural prehistory.

'Lost' Indian Village Discovery Topic of Archaeology Talk

Is this Otstonwakin, the long-lost
Woodlands Indian village? 

Diligent research and methodical investigation has solved a long-standing local mystery.

Mary Ann Levine, associate professor of anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College, is convinced she's discovered Otstonwakin, the long-lost Woodlands Indian village once inhabited by "Madame" Catherine Montour along the Loyalsock Creek.

Levine will discuss her research and conclusions at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the Lycoming County Historical Society.

Her visit and presentation, sponsored by Northcentral Chapter 8, Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, will usher in the local archaeology chapter's spring season. NCC8 President Tank Baird hopes the event not only will stir interest in contact-period history, because Madame Montour was a significant political figure during the French and Indian War, but will bring volunteers out for the upcoming 2013 archaeology project.

What's Just Below Your Feet?

Northcentral Chapter 8, Society for PA Archaeology is a partner with "Just Below Your Feet," a documentary project with the main goal being to investigate the current status of Cultural Resource Management, which includes archaeology, preservation and conservation, in Pennsylvania.

Steph Bowen and Sara Griggs

It’s been two decades since the Pennsylvania legislature passed  Act 70, a 1995 amendment to the State History Code. Historic preservationists and archaeologists argue the law weakens the state’s ability to protect its cultural heritage. Numerous prehistoric and historic sites have been threatened, and many lost, to development in the law’s wake.

What is happening to these resources and why? Are they being lost at all? Or, is Act 70 a sound and valid law?

Two Lycoming College students want to know and have planned a documentary film to explore the question. Their project, “Just Below Your Feet", will investigate the status of cultural resource management, which includes archaeology, preservation and conservation, in Pennsylvania and their list of interviews and research subjects is impressive.

Fund raising is critical to the students' success. All donations may be made via cash, check or credit card donations to NCC8. Take a minute now and donate via the project's PayPal donation link by clicking the DONATE button below:

Welcome to NCC8

Welcome to the official website of Northcentral Chapter 8 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. During spring and summer, NCC8 hosts an archaeology dig for its members and the public.

Join us for the 2013 Archaeology Dig from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursdays during spring and summer 2012, at the Canfield Lane site. (See the map at right for directions.)

The Glunk Site: End of the Second Season Notes

Lycoming College archaeology student Steph Bowen uncovers
an interesting feature in her excavation unit during 2012 Dig.

By Tank Baird

Northcentral Chapter 8 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, in cooperation with Lycoming College’s North American Archaeology Department and volunteers from various community service groups, have completed the second year of excavations at the Glunk Site in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County.

Located on Bull Run near the Susquehanna River and approximately one kilometer west of Loyalsock Creek, this site is owned by Paul Glunk.  Although it is in close proximity to the Ault, Canfield Island, and Bull Run sites, excavated by NCC8 under the supervision of Jim Bressler, this particular parcel of land has never been excavated.  To say that this is a choice location for all things archaeological may be an understatement. The entire Bull Run estuary seems to be a hot bed of prehistoric and Contact Period Native American occupation.