Insights from Metal-Detecting and Subsurface Testing: Education, Collaboration, and Experiential Learning at Custaloga Town (36ME57), Pennsylvania.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Public and Our Communities: How to Present Engaging Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Per a request in 2016 of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Mercyhurst University has been conducting archaeological field training at Custaloga Town, a Seneca-Delaware village known from historical documents for its 1750s-60s occupation. Established by the Delaware leader Custaloga, the site is located on French Creek near Carlton, Pennsylvania. The village received many French, British, and Native American visitors, ultimately becoming the final resting place of prominent Seneca leader Guyasuta. Field research focused on identifying probable burial loci via geophysical surveys, and on delineating the boundaries of the village. Targeted subsurface testing of the likely village location yielded limited aboriginal and historical artifacts. Recent metal detection surveys yielded artifacts that amplify earlier discoveries and enhance our understanding of the site. These results underscore the limits of subsurface testing, as well as the critical need to assess historical descriptions of "villages" when used in archaeological investigations.      

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• The Public and Our Communities: How to Present Engaging Archaeology

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 357