Investigations At the James Hatch Site and the Houserville Archaeological National Register District, Centre County, Pennsylvania: The Benefits of Collaboration between Institutes of Higher Learning and Government Agencies

Summary

In 2017, the coupling of a Federally funded transportation project with an undergraduate archaeological field school, and Applied Archaeology thesis research, produced an innovative approach to archaeological mitigation. The project funded a Phase III investigation of a lithic workshop site—the James W. Hatch Site. The site was occupied during the Early Archaic Period, and attracted occupations focused on jasper reduction at a location 1.2 kilometers from a quarry. The site produced over 9,000 prehistoric artifacts from contiguous block excavation. Another part of the federally funded project included the synthesis of survey data from sites surrounding the jasper quarry, and helped re-evaluate and map the boundaries of the Houserville National Register Archaeological District. The reevaluation of the district will help guide the management of sites affected by future infrastructure projects for many years to come. This project serves as an example of an innovative and cost-effective alternative mitigation solution providing valuable experiential learning opportunities to students and young professionals while effectively managing cultural resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21142