Native American Archaeology in Jefferson County

The first people to live in Jefferson County arrived sometime during the last ice age more than 12,000 years ago. These First Americans and their descendants established campsites and villages along the streams and hill tops across the landscape. Archaeologists study the items left behind at their campsites, including artifacts such as stone knives, arrowheads, and axes, bone tools, and fragments of fired clay pots that were once used for cooking and food storage. Join archaeologist Ken Burkett as he explores the lives and world of the prehistoric Native Americans of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
Jefferson Co. History Center jchconline.org/
Scripture Rocks Heritage Park scripturerocks...

[@SavannahLogsdonBreakstone]

Oh hey name drop of franklin, my home town, talking about the glacial sheets? 🎉 very cool. I definitely didn’t expect to see such a well done archeologically focused documentary from Jefferson County today!

[@quemahoning]

Thanks! I was involved with the archaeological excavations of Fort Machault, the French and Indian War fort built by the French located within city limits of Franklin. I have archaeology friends who have worked on a number of sites in and around Franklin.

[@quemahoning]

Hello, My name is Brian Fritz, the videographer and editor for the History Happening series. We want to hear from our viewers. Drop us a comment and let us know what you liked or disliked about the Native American Archaeology in Jefferson County. Your input will help guide us as we make more videos. We are looking for interesting topics about the history of Jefferson County and how that history has shaped the present and our future. My wife and I are both working archaeologists, so this video was a labor of love. The work of local archaeologists like Ken Burkett and artifact collectors who document their finds are vital to our attempts to reconstruct the lives of these lost cultures. Try to imagine living off the land, in a virgin forest, without the convenience of modern tools and amenities.

[@Mrfixit434]

Hello Mr. Fritz. My name is Brian, and I am a resident of Brookville, PA. Over the past 19 years, I have been actively engaged in avocational research within the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and history, with the last 14 years being particularly fruitful. I would like to inquire about your specific area of expertise or focus within the fields of archaeology and whether your work is conducted locally. Your production on this video was great BTW. When I initially clicked on this video I was hoping to see more site specific archaeological information related to this area. I’ve lived in this area for 17 years, and I’ve only really been exposed to the Fish Basket site. Are there other notable archaeological sites near Brookville?

[@SavannahLogsdonBreakstone]

Yall did a great job! I grew up in Venango county, and my stepfather was an archeologist for years before leaving for a more stable family compatible job (at the joy in Franklin until they closed.) these days he’s a rock hound retiree, but I know he delights in stopping at places like the history center on his adventures. I hope your future videos go wonderfully and inspire the surrounding areas to do similar- and maybe even hire yall for the production of theirs 😂.

[@quemahoning]

@@Mrfixit434 Ken Burkett has worked on a number of sites within the county. He completed the archaeology at the rockshelter excavations featured in the video. This rockshelter site is open to visitors within the Scripture Rocks Heritage Site. Ken also conducted the excavations that found the remains of Douglas Stahlman's cabin at Alter Rock within the park. I also worked on the archaeology at Fishbasket and the surrounding area. My field crew discovered an Early Archaic camp site along Redbank Creek. We recovered a Kirk corner-notched point and two pitted anvil stones within a hearth feature. Charcoal from the hearth returned a radiocarbon date of 10,300 calibrated years before present.

[@quemahoning]

@@SavannahLogsdonBreakstone Venango county has a lot of cool archaeological sites. There is the Indian God Rock, a Native American petroglyph site located along the bike trail on the east side of the Allegheny River.

[@JeffersonCountyHistoryCenter]

Hi Brian, if you want to be more involved with the archaeology in your community, the North Fork chapter of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology meets at the Presbyterian church in Brookville on the third Friday of each month. The next meeting is Nov. 15 at 7 pm. Both Ken Burkett and I will be there. This archaeology chapter works closely with the History Center. Go visit the Native American display at the History Center if you haven't already.

[@skipperson4077]

Thank You for your excellent presentation and if ever in the area I will try to come visit. One question about the Clovis point you exhibited: Is the point thought to be made locally or brought in from somewhere else? Another way of asking this question is what is the earliest evidence of trade networks?

[@JeffersonCountyHistoryCenter]

People of the Clovis culture were highly mobile, probably composed of small extended family bands. We can track their movements by identifying the flint/chert use to make the fluted points and other tools back to their geological sources. A lot of their tools trace back to source quarries located hundreds of miles away in Ohio, Kentucky, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania. Some of this may have been through trade, but we think these people moved over a large territory. We don't find large, densely occupied camp sites from this time.