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Local Archeologist Discusses Native American Life Along the Susquehanna River: 1100 AD
By: Lisa Z. Leighton
Previously printed in Lancaster Farming; reprinted with permission by the author.
Bloomsburg, PA – It’s hard to fathom what daily life might have been like a thousand years ago for native populations.
But thanks to Dr. DeeAnne Wymer, retired Bloomsburg University Anthropology Professor, a group of twenty-five rapt listeners received a glimpse of what life was like for the Susquehannock tribe living along the Susquehanna River around 1100 AD.
The Fishing Creek Watershed Association hosted Dr. Wymer, who is currently a volunteer with the Susquehanna River Archeological Center (SRAC) in Waverly, NY. SRAC is dedicated to education, research and preservation of the region’s archaeological and historical Native American assets for the communities within the Twin Tier Region of Southeastern NY and Northeastern PA.
“What I’d like to do is to give you a glimpse of what it was like to live along our famous river nearly 1,000 years ago, the folks who were the first inhabitants, the first settlers throughout this area. Our Center has been conducting a series of excavations. I’m going to talk about the most recent one that we just completed. That is literally going to be rewriting textbooks about the archeology of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York,” said Dr. Wymer.
Recent excavations by SRAC have taken place in nearby Athens, PA due to its location at the intersection of the Susquehanna River and the Chemung River.
She said of the river bed, “It’s only a couple hundred feet, so it’s a very shallow area. You can pick your canoe up, walk a few hundred feet, and put your canoe down. From this point, you can go pretty much anywhere, all through the eastern woodlands, to the north, south, east, west…so this was a really critical place.”
Wymer discussed the history of the Athens area, including the Athens Historic District, which was home to many elaborate estates owned by wealthy Philadelphia businessmen.
She said each estate would extend back to the river’s edge and would often feature an orchard or garden. Over time, small side roads were cut into the estates, therefore covering many of the buried pits of the Susquehannocks.
She said homeowners, even present day, who are putting in walkways or drainage, are frequently turning up archeology.
She said, “A lot of this area was used as a cemetery. So frequently they turn up burials, and the burials had interesting stuff, ceramic pots and stone tools.”
Archeological digs from local earthen pits (i.e. garbage pits) have uncovered items from the Susquehannock tribe, including bone tools, pottery, bone harpoons, mortar and pestles, bones of many woodland and water animals, weaving tools, combs, and much more.
Perhaps most surprising is that many unburied items still have residues on them from use. Wymer noted that many bone tools still had finger oils, presumably from the person using the tool over and over again.
Some organized archeological digs were conducted in Athens by Louise Welles Murray in the 1920s and 30s, “…we’re keeping our eye on some of these early documented sites, and we’re bringing to bear new knowledge and new technology that Louise would never have imagined, like ground penetrating radar, which lets us see if there are disturbances below the ground,” Wymer said.
“Literally within the first 10 minutes, Dan [a volunteer] pulled this out – it’s the tip of a harpoon made out of bone. I don’t think anybody slept at night. The soils in this area are acidic and bone just does not preserve. You hardly ever find bone because the acidic soil just eats it up…we came to realize as we’re excavating that the soil’s never been disturbed, it’s never been plowed,” recalled Wymer.
She continued, “These are weaving tools made out of catfish dorsal spines, that have been used as sewing needles.”
“I’ve done archeology since I was eighteen all over the world: Egypt, England, all through the United States – this is the best bone preservation that I’ve ever seen.”
“And, that is the world of women, which you can hardly ever document archeologically, weaving, net weaving, basket weaving, clothes, needles…and the polish that you feel is from the oils of the hands of a woman from 930 years ago who used that for a long length of time. The only way you get that beautiful polish on that bone is from someone using it, handling it – so to me that is just so remarkable.”
They also discovered a work zone for the village, where they processed food. Wymer said they would dig big underground pits in the ground with the purpose of storing food. They would dig the pit, line it with grass, then store foods such as dried squash, hickory nuts, and dried fish. They would also dig pits to throw garbage in, with layers of dirt in-between the layers.
“Why was the preservation so incredible? There were clam shells in the pits. The Calcium in the clam reduces the acidity. In the clam shell layers, we found some remarkable stuff and that is probably why the preservation is so good,” she noted.
“We have masses of cranial bones from fish: catfish, perch, but not a lot of big ones, like walleye or pike…[we found] fish hooks and many, many harpoons,” she said.
She said nothing was wasted – they ate the animal, then often used the bones for tools.
She said they have found nearly every woodland and water creature, but deer was the most plentiful animal found and used by the Susquehannocks. The second most common animal found in their refuse: American bullfrog, which they ate very often, according to Wymer.
The SRAC museum in Waverly, NY is open 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information about the museum and upcoming exhibits visit https://sracenter.org/ or search for SRAC on Facebook.