73rd Annual Meeting 
April 26-28, Four Points-Sheraton, Greensburg, PA
Digging into Pennsylvania’s Past: Prehistoric, Historic, Industrial
Included with the Annual Meeting will be a Membership Forum Workshop scheduled for Saturday, April 27.  All Chapters have been asked to assign a representative to this forum.  We ask that everyone attend the forum to help with formulating a plan for expanding the membership of the SPA.  Everyone benefits from increased membership

Plans to promote the SPA, to raise its visibility and public identity should result in increased membership at the state and chapter levels. New informational and educational materials will be developed from this forum.  They will be available for all chapters to use for membership recruitment and educational activities. 

The Pennsylvania Archaeological Council will hold its annual Symposium on Friday afternoon. Registration for the Annual meeting is open to all. Only members in good standing may be nominated for awards or be eligible to present papers. 
Please see the registration form included in this mailing for the Annual Meeting of the 
SPA being hosted by the Westmoreland Archaeological Society #23.

Announcement to all Members:
The Constitution of the Society has been revised by a committee headed by Dr. Verna L. Cowin.  The revised document is ready for review by the membership at website: www.Quemahoning.com. This notice serves as the first announcement to the membership.  Please review the document and be prepared to vote on the revision at the next Annual Meeting in April in Greensburg, PA.

PAC Symposium
The Pennsylvania Archaeological Council will hold its annual Symposium on Friday afternoon. Registration for the Annual meeting is open to all. Only members in good standing may be nominated for awards or be eligible to present papers. 

Chapter Notes:
Chapters have received a request from the Secretary for Annual Chapter reports. Please return them by the stated deadline.  All Chapters have also received a copy of the  Jacob L. Grimm C-14 Award Application Please keep that on file for future use 

Archaeology Month 2002
The 2002 Archaeology Month poster was approved by the SPA.  The work is being done as a contribution from the Army Corp of Engineers.  The poster features the Leetsdate Site with an emphasis on all aspects of cultural resource management, public involvement, education, volunteer and professional working partnerships on archaeological sites.  The SPA will use the poster theme through to the Calendar of Events, speakers list and educational materials being produced for Archaeology Month.

Please remember that 2002 is the SPA’s year to mail the Archaeology Month informational packets.  This involves assembling the bulk mailing.  Volunteers are needed.  If your chapter would like to do the mailing as a chapter project or volunteer to help in other ways, please contact the Secretary.  The poster and calendar production is underway.  Send calendar events to Philip and Valerie Perazio at kittarch@sunlink.net before June 30, 2002.

Annual SPA Awards
Archaeology is a discipline in which people with diverse interests and talents can find numerous paths for expression. Thus it is that such dedicated Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology members have received the following awards at the annual meeting in Bartonsville on May 5, 2001. Jack Holland received the J. Alden Mason Award for Professional archaeologist. Michael Middleton and Dutch Wylie received the Archey Award, that is presented to archaeologist who work on a volunteer basis, and Katie Mc Keever received the youth award, named the Shrader/George Award. We congratulate them for their awards as presented.  The Awards Committee.
Anyone wising to nominate someone for this years SPA awards can do so by contacting Donna George at: dlgeorge00@earthlink.net  or write to her at 370 Mac Donald Drive, North Huntingdon, Pa 15642. All nominations must be received by April 13th, 2002.

Private Collections Policy Committee
The President, Philip Perazio has appointed a new committee to develop the SPA’s policy
for disposing of collections from estates or guidance for collectors who would like to donate collections to an appropriate institution. This would also be a good reference for our membership to take the necessary steps to preserve their own collections. If you are a curator or have experience with curation or collections guidelines, please forward any comments on the process to the President or committee chairperson, Stephen Warfel at the State Museum.  Contact any of the committee member to discuss this issue.  They are: Bill Johnson, Donna George and Paul Raber

ESAF 2002
Preliminary Announcement and Call for Papers, Archaeological Society on New Jersey invites you to the ESAF 69th Annual Meeting, November 7-10, 2002 Wyndham, Mt Laurel Hotel, 1111 Rte.73, Mt Laurel, NJ.  Two symposiums are scheduled: The Raritan Landing Excavations and its implications on Revolutionary War Trade and The State of Algonkian Research, in memory of Herbert Kraft.  Abstracts of proposed presentations should be sent to the Program Chair before June 1, 2002.  Presenters must be individual members of ESAF for 2002.  Submit abstracts to: R. Michael Stewart, 164 Burlington Path, Cream Ridge, NJ, 08514, schurch@ushwy1.com

Updates for the ESAF Meeting and membership information will be available at www.siftings.com/esafmt.html
 

Archaeological Site Preservation

Dr. SPA Members:

The Archaeological Conservancy is a national, non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to buy archaeological sites so that they will be preserved.  With a national headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Conservancy, founded in 1980, solicits funds for acquiring and preserving significant sites.  Recently, I was hired to be their Western Pennsylvania representative whose task is to find the sites, appraise them and determine their ownership.  Thereafter, the owner would be contacted by my supervisor who, after making his own appraisal of the site's significance, would contact the owner and make an offer.

     If you know of any prehistoric sites that might qualify, please contact me as follows:  Mrs. Donna George, 370 McDonald Drive, North Huntingdon, PA  15642.  My E-Mail address is: dlgeorge00@earthlink.net

Historical Archaeology Field School at Ephrata Cloister

Location: Ephrata,  Pennsylvania
Site:   Ephrata Cloister

Period:  1732-1813 AD; also some          prehistoric
Dates:   June 3-July 26, 2002

Sponsors:         The State Museum  of  Pennsylvania, 
Elizabethtown College,
Ephrata Cloister Historic Site

Application Deadline:
April 8, 2002; for application contact Director or visit www.statemuseumpa.org

Director and Contact:
Stephen G. Warfel
Senior Curator, Archaeology
The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Tel.: (717) 783-2887 – day; (717) 774-5559 – evening, email swarfel@state.pa.us 

Academic Credit: Variable; students may enroll for the field school class through Elizabethtown College for either 6 or 9 credits OR arrange to take the class as an independent study or internship through any other college or university OR take the class on a not-for-credit basis.

Costs: Elizabethtown College options =$300/credit ´ 6 or 9 credits
Other college or university option = $800 program fee + tuition fees required by college or university
Not-for-credit option = $800 program fee 
"dig kit" = $35 (estimated; required for all students)
 texts = $40 (estimated; required for all students)

Optional Costs: Housing at nearby college = $800 for single room (estimatedFood, other living expenses = $250 (estimated) 

Description: This field school is an intensive eight-week program, structured to provide training in excavation techniques, record keeping, artifact identification, processing, cataloging, and classification.  Students devote seven and one-half hours daily to on-site field excavation/laboratory work and four or more hours weekly to artifact identification labs.  Scheduled lecture and discussion of assigned readings supplement hands-on instruction.  Individual achievement is measured by effort, ability to work as a team member, acquired knowledge, quality of 
completed recording forms, and field journal.  No previous experience is necessary, but all applicants must have completed at least one year of an accredited undergraduate program and be capable of manual labor. 

The 2002 Historical Archaeology Field School is the tenth season of a multi-year research project at the Ephrata Cloister Historic Site, a German religious commune founded in 1732.  The project’s purpose is to discover and mark the location of original structures, determine their ages and functions, and interpret lifestyles of community members.  Excavations will seek to discover the remains of a 1739 prayer house located on a hilltop known as Mount Zion.  Documentary accounts indicate the structure was used as a military hospital during the Revolutionary War.  Investigations will evaluate the validity of oral histories and documentary evidence related to the site.  Students will learn how archaeological and historical information are integrated to yield a more accurate interpretation of the past.
 

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Pennsylvania Archaeology