Be An Archaeologist for a Day!

SRAC began excavating a local Native American site 2016 that is on the verge of being erased by the plow and impacted by modern land use. Lead by archaeologist Dan Caister and anthropologist Dr. Wymer, (both board members of SRAC) our excavations have revealed that the site is over 1000 years old and may be the remains of an ancient village - most importantly our research is yielding important information concerning the ancient people who once lived in our area. It is our hope to collect whatever data is still available before it is gone forever.  

Would you like to join our excavation? SRAC will be holding a public archaeology day on October 26th or 27th.

SIGN UP NOW!

Here's how it works:
1.) Download our SRAC Public Archaeology form by clicking here and fill it out, you will need to bring this along with your $25 entrance fee to SRAC on the day of the event.

2.) You can use this link https://teaoga.wufoo.com/forms/p1vusiq1ux5npf/ to signup here !

Please note that the shifts (2 per day) will be 9 am and 1 pm each day. You will need to state which day you will be able to attend on the sign up form.

There are a limited amount of openings, so you will be notified of your status once we have received the information we need.

Lastly please wear comfortable clothing with comfortable closed toe footwear. You will get an SRAC bag with water, etc so there is no need to bring your own water.

16th Annual Drumbeats Through Time Event, Saturday, October 19th

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC) located at 358 Broad Street Waverly, NY is announcing the 16th Annual “DrumBeats Through Time” to be held on Saturday October 19th, 2019. The SRAC Annual Membership Luncheon will be held from 11-12:30, and the doors open to the public from 1-5pm. The event is free to attend.

Doors open to the public at 1pm.

1:30 pm SRAC’s Dr. DeeAnne Wymer and Dan Caister will present the 2019 and overall findings from the 3 years of excavation at the Desisti site in Sayre, PA including an important discovery of ancient elk remains.

2:00 pm Vivian James, PhD candidate at the University of Albany and  faunal remains specialist will present her findings and incites concerning the elk remains found at the Desisti site.

SRAC's Tom Vallilee works on one of the sets of ancient elk antler excavated at the Desisti Site

2:30 pm SRAC’s David Moyer will present some carbon dating that SRAC with the cooperation of the Tioga Point Museum in Athens, PA has performed on a few well known sites in the area (that before this time actually had no scientific dates applied to them) and what effects SRAC’s efforts with carbon dating can have on our understanding of our region’s past and the people who lived here.

3:15 pm Dick Kane will present cultural history of the Seneca people.

4:00 pm Dick Kane and Family will provide authentic Seneca Native American dance and drumming which will also include an invitation for the public to take part.

SRACs Cofounder and Director Deb Twigg added, “The Seneca dancers have been a very popular part of SRAC’s Annual event for over a decade. They have been sharing their culture with our community and are animportant part of the day's events. We invite the public to experience SRAC and what we celebrate, our archaeology, heritage and the Native American culture - all in one amazing day.”

SRAC members are encouraged to attend the membership luncheon this year to get a tour of the ongoing construction of the Laboratory and Research Center on the second floor and to get updates on other SRAC endeavors underway. Exclusive give-aways are also a part of this luncheon. The luncheon will be catered by the Railhouse restaurant and your RSVP is requested in order to plan seating for this popular event. Please call the Center at 607-565-7960 or email info@sracenter.org to RSVP before October 3. If you have not re-upped your membership or are not sure if your membership is up-to-date, simply stop in, call the museum or plan to re-up the day of the event.

Drumbeats Through Time: Saturday October 19th, 2019

SRAC's Annual Drumbeats Through Time: Saturday October 19th, 2019

Hey everybody - it's that time of the year and we have a bunch of great things planned for this year's Drumbeats Through Time event! Hope to see you there!

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center’s 16^th Annual Drumbeats Through Time event has been scheduled for Saturday, October 19^th at 345 Broad Street in Waverly, NY.

SRAC’s Drumbeats event is meant to celebrate the Native American heritage of our region from the prehistoric past, present and future.  The free public event runs from 1-5pm and includes speakers, presentations and authentic Seneca cultural education and dances. A membership luncheon precedes the event for all current SRAC members from 11 – 12:30pm. The day’s events schedule is as follows:

1:30 pm SRAC’s Dr. DeeAnne Wymer and Dan Caister will present the 2019 and overall findings from the 3 years of excavation at the Desisti site in Sayre, PA including an important discovery of ancient elk remains.

2:00 pm Vivian James a faunal remains specialist will present her findings and incites concerning the elk remains found at the Desisti site.

2:30 pm SRAC’s David Moyer will present some carbon dating that SRAC has performed on a few well known sites in the area that before this time actually had no scientific dates applied to them and what effects SRAC’s efforts with carbon dating can have on our understanding of our region’s past and the people who lived here.

3:15 pm Dick Kane will present cultural history of the Seneca people.

4:00 pm Dick Kane and Family will provide authentic Seneca Native American dance and drumming which will also include an invitation for the public to take part.

If you are a current member, you are invited to attend the annual luncheon beginning at 11:00 am - 12:30pm where you can visit with other members, see a presentation about the current and future efforts of SRAC, and even win great prizes! If you need to update your annual membership - stop in SRAC before the event, update it at the event, or simply click here to update it online. If you aren't sure if you need to renew yet - just give us a call at (607)565-7960 and we can let you know.  (You can also forward this to others to join before the event too!)

During the same month we host a Public Archaeology day and we invite the public to sign up to take part in the actual excavation and to learn from our professional staff about what we are finding and how it is found.  Click here to learn more!

Deb Twigg
Executive Director, SRAC
607-727-3111

SRAC NEWS

I wanted to thank all of you who support SRAC and our mission. Our Center has grown so much since 2005 when Ted Keir, Dick Cowles and I only dreamed of it and even having a building too that could house a museum, lecture hall and gift shop.

Inspired by the early excavations and reports of nearly 100 years ago, our ultimate goal has always been to get back out to these sites with modern knowledge and technology and update the information and understanding of our prehistoric and early historic past. I am honored to report that over the last few years we have actually been doing just that. Our team led by Dr. Deeanne Wymer and Dan Caister have made huge discoveries at our first site that will soon be published in both PA and NY Archaeological journals and used by researchers for years to come.

Dr. Wymer and Tom Vallilee overseeing work by Bloomsburg students at our excavation site

2018 was our second year to offer a Public Archaeology Day where you can actually come out and be a part of our excavation. If you missed it and have a Facebook login, you can watch a great video of the many discoveries that day to include 1,000 year old ELK ANTLERS! here:



The Barbara Sowinski Lab: For those of you who missed the unveiling at our last annual Drumbeats program, the need for a laboratory became evident as we began our excavation work and we were blessed to get a seed matching donation from Barabara Sowinski for our lab which is currently under construction on our second floor. Walls are up, windows are in, lights and electric are in, insulation and ceiling tiles (we are looking for more if you have any that you'd like to donate) being added right now. We need to finish up the floor, add the bathroom and wet lab area then start adding equipment and furniture next. FYI: If not for our Tom Vallilee, I can tell you that none of this could have been achieved as he does most of the labor as a volunteer.

In fact we continue to be staffed 100% by volunteers, which is an amazing statement for the Center and the people who are working so hard to achieve it's goals every year. Currently, we also have four gift shop volunteers that try their best to keep our doors open 5 days a week. Rose Carpenter, Donna Blanton, Tim Ellis, and newbie Gary Eltringham are hard working, dedicated Center and community members that we all are so lucky to have on our team every week. If you'd like to volunteer at the museum, please contact me to learn more!

It humbles me to report that to date SRAC now has three archaeologists on our staff with the most recent addition of Dave Moyer, who has been with us in the background for many years now. In 2018 Dave, who wears many hats within NYS Archaeology professional and avocational organizations also owns his own Archaeology company in Norwich, NY. We are blessed to have Dave and his knowledge and expertise. He is well respected throughout New York State and within SRAC.

Dave Moyer

It's also hard to believe that 2018 was our FIFTEENTH "Drumbeats Through Time" event filled with great presentations, our membership annual luncheon, and of course the Kane Family Seneca Traditional Dance exhibition. The Kanes come from the Cattaraugus Seneca Reservation in Erie County, NY and travel a long way to be a part of our annual celebration for over a decade and are part of our SRAC family. We are blessed to have them come every year to share authentic Seneca traditions with us. "Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the past and present but also the coming generations…- The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations"

Part of the Kane Family Traditional Seneca Dance Troupe

Some of you have asked about the SRAC Journal that was published several times a year in the past. Unfortunately, SRAC's cofounder and board member Susan Fogel has been diagnosed with a quite debilitating health issue and no longer can commit to the Journal. We do however hope to get it back to publication in the future. Thank you for your patience.

Susan Fogel looks down at the excavation underway

Goals in 2019 include finishing the laboratory and a more accessible library as well as beginning a new site for our excavations and publishing the article on the last site work.

Again I want to thank all of you for supporting SRAC over the years and allowing us to do this important work for our region and PA and NY Archaeology as a whole. I am blessed and honored to be a part of this amazing organization that Ted, Dick and I only dreamed could be just a few years ago.

But without your support, we simply will not be able to continue our work. We do not receive state or federal funding and literally ALL of funding comes from our community.

We do accept antiques, collectables, used furniture that we can sell at the Crooked River Co-op, and 100% of the sale goes back the SRAC as a fundraiser every month. Over the years we have raised quite a bit from generous people that either are cleaning out their garages, shops, homes or estates, and we have volunteers who will come and pick up as well. We also can give you a donation letter for these donations based on market value for your taxes next year. If you have items and or questions, please contact me to learn more. 

I hope that you will consider supporting us in 2019.  You can donate online via our GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/SRACGiving&rcid=r01-155163632376-e13fa6a08c7d426c&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_w

or you can download a mail in form here: https://www.scribd.com/document/400962898/SRAC-Donation-Form

SRAC Donation Form by dtwigg123 on Scribd

JOIN US!
To become a member, click here: https://sracenter.wordpress.com/memberships/


Thank you for whatever you can do!
 And, please share where you can.

Thanks again for all you do.

Deb Twigg
dtwigg@sracenter.org
607-727-3111
Visit SRAC's Website:  http://www.sracenter.org/

DrumBeats Through Time Scheduled for October 6th

(WAVERLY, NY) The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC) located at 358 Broad Street Waverly, NY is announcing the 15th Annual “DrumBeats Through Time” to be held on Saturday October 6th, 2018. The SRAC Annual Luncheon will be held from 11-12:30, and the doors open to the public from 1-5pm. The event is free to attend.

SRAC members are encouraged to attend the membership luncheon this year to get a tour of the ongoing construction of the Laboratory and Research Center on the second floor and to get updates on other SRAC endeavors underway. Exclusive give-aways are also a part of this luncheon. The luncheon will be catered by the Railhouse restaurant and your RSVP is requested in order to plan seating for this popular event. Please call the Center at 607-565-7960 or email info@sracenter.org to RSVP before October 3. Postcards will also be sent to current and recent members as a reminder.

If you have not re-upped your membership or are not sure if your membership is up-to-date, simply
stop in, call the museum or plan to come early and re-up the day of the event.

Doors open to the public at 1pm.

SRAC’s Dr. DeeAnne Wymer and Dan Caister will present "The 2018 Field Season Findings at The Desisti Site: A Tale of Two Occupations.”  The presentation will illustrate the unique items being excavated at the site this year and what findings have been revealed using scientific carbon dating methods. 

At 2pm past NYSAA President Dr. Bill Engelbrecht will present ” Early Late Woodland Pottery from Northwest Pennsylvania” Current terminology used to describe ceramics in the Northeast presents a challenge for both avocational and professional. In some cases two or more ceramic type descriptions overlap while in other cases type names in different areas describe similar material. Some types describe ceramics used for a long period of time, rendering them poor temporal indicators. Using an attribute approach provides a clearer picture of individual specimens but renders comparison with ceramics from other sites problematic unless they are described using the same system. This presentation describes ceramics from a pre-Iroquoian multi-component site in northwest Pennsylvania using a revised ceramic typology coupled with an attribute approach.

At 3pm, SRAC's David Moyer will present, "Prehistoric and Early Historic Native Landscapes in the Upper Susquehanna Valley." The late prehistory and early history of the Upper Susquehanna Valley has created a unique landscape that has presented many challenges to archaeologists. In the 1300s and 1400s the region boasted a large population of prehistoric farmers. It appears that the valleys were then abandoned until the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when the Susquehanna and Chemung valleys were occupied by Native refugees from other regions displaced  by war and European encroachment. These village communities continued to expand throughout the 18th century until the outbreak of the American Revolution when these settlements were abandoned.

At 4pm, Seneca Native American historian Dick Kane will give a presentation on the cultural history of the Seneca. Mr. Kane will display authentic cultural items and discuss their significance.

At 4:30pm, the Seneca Dancers will perform, sharing their culture, music, and dance.The Seneca dancers have been a very popular part of SRAC’s Annual event for over a decade.

We invite the public to experience SRAC and what we celebrate every day, our Native American archaeology, prehistory, history and culture - all in one amazing day.

15th Annual DrumBeats Through Time, October 6th

(WAVERLY, NY) The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC) located at 358 Broad Street Waverly, NY is announcing the 15th Annual “DrumBeats Through Time” to be held on Saturday October 6th, 2018. The SRAC Annual Luncheon will be held from 11-12:30, and the doors open to the public from 1-5pm. The event is free to attend.

SRAC members are encouraged to attend the membership luncheon this year to get a tour of the ongoing construction of the Laboratory and Research Center on the second floor and to get updates on other SRAC endeavors underway. Exclusive give-aways are also a part of this luncheon. The luncheon will be catered by the Railhouse restaurant and your RSVP is requested in order to plan seating for this popular event. Please call the Center at 607-565-7960 or email info@sracenter.org to RSVP before October 3. Postcards will also be sent to current and recent members as a reminder.

If you have not re-upped your membership or are not sure if your membership is up-to-date, simply
stop in, call the museum or plan to come early and re-up the day of the event.

Doors open to the public at 1pm.

SRAC’s Dr. DeeAnne Wymer and Dan Caister will present "The 2018 Field Season Findings at The Desisti Site: A Tale of Two Occupations.”  The presentation will illustrate the unique items being excavated at the site this year and what findings have been revealed using scientific carbon dating methods. 

At 2pm past NYSAA President Dr. Bill Engelbrecht will present ” Early Late Woodland Pottery from Northwest Pennsylvania” Current terminology used to describe ceramics in the Northeast presents a challenge for both avocational and professional. In some cases two or more ceramic type descriptions overlap while in other cases type names in different areas describe similar material. Some types describe ceramics used for a long period of time, rendering them poor temporal indicators. Using an attribute approach provides a clearer picture of individual specimens but renders comparison with ceramics from other sites problematic unless they are described using the same system. This presentation describes ceramics from a pre-Iroquoian multi-component site in northwest Pennsylvania using a revised ceramic typology coupled with an attribute approach.

At 3pm, SRAC's David Moyer will present, "Prehistoric and Early Historic Native Landscapes in the Upper Susquehanna Valley." The late prehistory and early history of the Upper Susquehanna Valley has created a unique landscape that has presented many challenges to archaeologists. In the 1300s and 1400s the region boasted a large population of prehistoric farmers. It appears that the valleys were then abandoned until the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when the Susquehanna and Chemung valleys were occupied by Native refugees from other regions displaced  by war and European encroachment. These village communities continued to expand throughout the 18th century until the outbreak of the American Revolution when these settlements were abandoned.

At 4pm, Seneca Native American historian Dick Kane will give a presentation on the cultural history of the Seneca. Mr. Kane will display authentic cultural items and discuss their significance.

At 4pm, the Seneca Dancers will perform, sharing their culture, music, and dance.The Seneca dancers have been a very popular part of SRAC’s Annual event for over a decade.

We invite the public to experience SRAC and what we celebrate every day, our Native American archaeology, prehistory, history and culture - all in one amazing day.

SRAC NEWS: New SRAC Video!

I wanted to share this video with you and ask that you share the video with your family and friends. We have some pretty exciting things going on at SRAC for the coming year and I hope you will continue to be a part of what we do in our community! Thank you Roger Katchuk at First Tioga Reality.

Link to Video: https://youtu.be/-0M1yMeICGI

Link to our donation page: https://www.gofundme.com/SRACGiving/donate