Geoarchaeology and Landscape History at the Squirrel Hill Archaeological Site, USA
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-10-20

The Squirrel Hill archaeological site (36Wm0035) is a Johnston-phase Monongahela village located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania (USA), on a terrace of the Conemaugh River near the modern town of New Florence. Although the site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, previous investigation is extremely limited; many questions remain to be answered, including verifying occupation and cultural affiliations; identifying the location and extent of site boundaries; characterizing the internal arrangement of houses, plaza, and stockades; and reconstructing the site’s paleo-landscape. In partnership with the Midwest office of the Archaeological Conservancy, we began to investigate these questions as part of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s 2016 Archaeological Field School using a combination of geophysical survey, test excavation, and geomorphic testing. Preliminary results of a ground penetrating radar survey in the northwest portion of the site revealed what may be a large rectangular structure at 23-46 cmbs, with a size and shape that does not conform to the typical circular Johnston-phase “petal structure” house. Auger cores taken from the northern end of the site revealed what appear to be a series of buried landscapes at depths of ~108, ~130, and ~163 cmbs, suggesting that earlier occupations at the site may exist. Interestingly, these buried horizons do not appear in cores taken from the southern end of the site. Cores along the eastern edge of the site revealed alternating flood and gleyed deposits, suggesting and that the paleo-environment was more dynamic than researchers have previously thought. This paper will report on these field results, as well as recent radiocarbon, particle size and soil micromorphology analyses designed to refine the nature of occupation and past landscape history for the site.

Lara Homsey-Messer and William J. Chadwick Department of Anthropology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA