COMING SOON! DrumBeats Through Time 2009

Every October is Archaeology Month in PA and since our earliest event 6 years ago, we have held true to our promise that we would host this event, jam packed full of artifacts, history, and Native American culture for FREE every year. Thanks to Guthrie Health, and many other individuals in the community who have donated towards our event this year, we are able to keep our word! Click the image below to download the Event Calendar!

"A Buck a Bag" of Books! at SRAC

Right now at SRAC you can get a bag of books for a buck as we close out our used book sale through the end of September. Also during this time ALL children's used books are FREE!

Lots of great titles in soft and hard covers are still available.

SRAC located at 345 Broad Street in Waverly, and is open from 1-5pm Tuesdays through Fridays and Saturday from 11 - 4pm.

The Woolly Mammoth at SRAC

Monday - September 20th Ted Keir will be doing a very special presentation about the Woolly Mammoth that was excavated at Spring Lake near Wyalusing, PA. In 1987, the Andaste Chapter assisted the Carnegie Museum in this excavation and recently has committed to funding the exact replicas of the 10 foot long tusk and jaw and teeth of this very same wolloy mammoth to be placed in the SRAC Exhibit Hall this winter.

Come see actual photos and hear from the people who took part in this excavation of remains that date back to 14,000 years ago, when the ice sheets of the ice age may still have been seen to our north and the average size of the woolly mammoths was 13 feet at the shoulders and 6 tons in weight. This is the joint meeting of the Andaste Chapter of PA Archaeology and SRAC and is also open to the public as well.

We will also discuss our design plans for the SRAC Woolly Mammoth Exhibit. Free admission is also included to the SRAC Exhibit Hall during this event.

Hope to see you tomorrow night!

DrumBeats Through Time - 2009

Every October is Archaeology Month in PA and since our earliest event 6 years ago, we have held true to our promise that we would host this event, jam packed full of artifacts, history, and Native American culture for FREE every year. Thanks to Guthrie Health, and many other individuals in the community who have donated towards our event this year, we are able to keep our word! Click the image below to download the Event Calendar!

SRAC Rummage Sale and HUGE Book Sale!

The SRAC Lecture Hall is being setup for the SRAC Fundraiser later this week.

There is still time to drop off books and rummage sale items for the upcoming SRAC rummage sale September 17,18, and 19 (this Thursday, Friday and Saturday!) and huge used book sale going on throughout September. Both sales are fundraisers for SRAC.

Stop in SRAC at 345 Broad Street Waverly from 1-5pm tues - fri , and Saturdays from 11-4 and support the preservation of our local archaeology.

University of Cincinnati May Have Uncovered Link to Certain Mound Builders

The Serpent Mound, built on a hilltop near Locust Grove, Ohio is an amazing site to see...
all 1/4 mile of it. It was created by what scientists refer to as the "Fort Ancient" culture.

For years I have heard that the Iroquois are most likely the people whose ancestors were the ancient Hopewell and Fort Ancient people. Now the University of Cincinnati has found new evidence that it probably was not an Iroquoian but an Algonquin people that built at least one of the well known and continuously occupied hilltop Native American sites in North America.

Science Daily reports, "Ohio's Shawnee Lookout Park, with a major new mound being located and a rare kiln used to fire pottery excavated in recent weeks ... evidence was also found to bolster the theory that Shawnee Lookout was the largest continuously occupied hilltop settlement established by any Native American group. The dating of recent evidence found argues for cultural continuity at the site, meaning the Hopewell who lived at Shawnee Lookout up to 2,000 years ago are showing direct links to the Shawnee people who were living on the site less than 300 years ago...It had already been established that the Hopewell and Fort Ancient were at the site in ancient times – and historically they were the society given credit for constructing the earthworks at Shawnee Lookout. It was also obviously known that the Shawnee and others were at the site more recently."

Me standing in one of the ditches at Fort Ancient, not unlike what was found at Spanish Hill by the earliest Europeans to our region.

Click here to watch several personal videos of Hopewell and Fort Ancient mounds built by the these cultures that are seemingly being connected with the later Shawnee/Algonquin cultures. Since the mounds continued through NY and the northern edge of Pennsylvania, it will be interesting to see how this story AND OUR PREHISTORY unravels in the future.

Stay Tuned!

References: University of Cincinnati (2009, September 4). Shawnee Lookout May Be Largest Continuously Occupied Hilltop Native American Site In United States. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 8, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/09/090903110816.htm

SRAC September Fundraisers

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC) is gearing up for a rummage sale / fund raiser September 17, 18, and 19th. This event will occur in tandem with the current "Big Book Sale" taking place at the Center throughout the month of September. Anyone wishing to donate books or other items (excluding clothes) for either event to support SRAC are asked to drop off items during normal business hours. SRAC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit located at 345 Broad St., Waverly, NY. Their business hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 1-5pm, and Saturdays from 11am - 4pm. For more information, please email info@SRACenter.org, or call the Center at 607-565-7960.