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This paper describes the results of excavations conducted from 2016 through 2019 at the DeSisti site, located at the juncture of the Cayuta Creek with the Susquehanna River in northern Bradford County. This historically known, yet relatively undocumented, locality was brought to the attention of the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center personnel as recent construction activity impacted the floodplain terrace and a salvage excavation was deemed critical. We summarize the archaeological materials recovered from a number of large, complex, pit features, and provide an important suite of radiocarbon dates from the site. The DeSisti site data serve as a focal point in assessing and understanding a critical time period just prior to the archaeologically visible traces of the peoples known historically as the Iroquois.

Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(1), 33-52
Quaker Values and Consumer Trends: A Nineteenth-Century Privy Deposit From the York Friends Meeting House (36YO470)
Benjamin Luley, Meredith Amato, Brandon Katzung Hokanson, and William Thompson

This article analyzes an important deposit of mostly nineteenth-century artifacts recovered from the fill of a privy associated with the Friends Meeting House (36YO470) in the historic center of York, Pennsylvania. Over 300 artifacts were discovered, including ceramics, glass bottles, and animal bones, the majority of which date to the first half of the nineteenth century, along with a smaller number of later artifacts. The ceramic evidence in particular points to relatively modest tableware and an emphasis on food consumption, rather than food preparation, likely in the context of the gatherings associated with the monthly meetings and meetings for worship held at the site. The results from the analysis of this deposit are then compared with a slightly earlier Friends Meeting House from Burlington, New Jersey. The comparison of the artifact assemblages from these two archaeological sites indicates certain important similarities in terms of consumer trends among Quaker communities in the Middle Atlantic region.

Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(1), 53-68.
Low-Cost Ground Resistivity at Fort Machault (36VE212)
Brian L. Fritz and William Black

Fort Machault (36VE212) is one of only four French forts that were built in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War (1753-1763).  Archaeological remnants of Fort Machault are located on the west bank  of the Allegheny River in what is today the town of Franklin. Members of the Venango Chapter of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology completed a ground resistivity survey on a portion of the site in 2016. Follow up archaeological excavations were conducted to ground truth three anamolies identified in the resistivity results. Evidence of an eighteenth century frontier blacksmith shop was found in the excavations. An assessment of the effectiveness of the resistivity method is provided.
 

Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(2), 1-16.
Arisen From the Ashes: Owasco Archaeology at the DeSisti Site (36BR20), Sayre, Pennsylvania. Part 2: Environmental Context and Significance.
DeeAnne Wymer, Dan Caister, and Tom A. Vallilee

In Part 1 we described the results of excavations conducted from 2016 through 2019 at the DeSisti site, located at the juncture of the Cayuta Creek with the Susquehanna River in northern Bradford County, and summarized the archaeological materials recovered from large complex pit features, along with reporting a series of radiocarbon dates. This current article will place those results of this Owasco site into a larger archaeological context to assess and understand a critical time period just prior to the archaeologically visible traces of the peoples known historically as the Iroquois. We also summarize recently discovered data utilized to place the DeSisti’s inhabitants in their environmental context to illuminate the impact that these early populations had upon their place and space.
 

Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(2), 17-35
The Archaeology of Camp Letterman, Gettysburg Civil War General Hospital: A 25 Year Retrospective and the Archaeological Investigations at the Lady Farm Site (36AD0475).
Thomas Lewis

The Battle of Gettysburg, the most decisive battle of the U.S. Civil War, left at least 10,000 men dead and many more wounded as the three-day battle concluded on July 3, 1863. Initially, the wounded were tended to in dozens of sites scattered around the area of conflict. On July 22, 1863, the Union forces established the U.S. General Hospital with the aim of providing centralized and better care for the approximately 30,000 wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. This field hospital, known as Camp Letterman, was in operation for four months and was disbanded in November 20, 1863. Although a camp of that size and duration must have left a noticeable impact on the terrain, and despite numerous attempts at archaeological analysis, 158 years later the precise location of the encampment has yet to be identified. This article addresses the mystery of the difficulties encountered in attempting to locate the site, suggests reasons for those difficulties, and offers a new perspective for locating Camp Letterman.
 

Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(2), 37-50.
Evidence for Smoking During the Early Woodland in Western Pennsylvania and Vicinity
Mark A. McConaughy

Direct evidence for the earliest smoking by Native Americans in Pennsylvania is limited to the discovery of smoking paraphernalia. Tubular pipes constitute the earliest evidence for smoking during the Early Woodland Half Moon and Cresap phases in Western Pennsylvania and vicinity dating between 1100 B.C. and A.D. 100. Most of the pipes were recovered from Cresap phase burial mounds suggesting they at least had a ceremonial function during interment. Direct evidence that the Native Americans were smoking tobacco is limited, but the presence of nicotine residue in some of the pipes suggests it was present.
 

 Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 92(2), 51-77.
 Phase I/II Archaeological Investigations At 36BV51 And 36BV380, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Andrew Wyatt and Jesse Walker

Between 2013 and 2015, AECOM conducted Phase I and II archaeological investigations on the Ohio River floodplain in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Excavation and analysis focused on two stratified Native American sites, 36BV51 and 36BV380 on the T1 terrace of the Ohio River. 36BV51 contained Middle Archaic through Late Prehistoric components while 36BV380 contained Early Woodland and Late Prehistoric components. Pit and hearth features containing charred floral remains were present at both sites. The investigations were guided by research topics that included depositional and cultural chronology, landform development and environmental reconstruction, subsistence, site function, and settlement patterns. This article summarizes the results of excavation and analysis at the two sites and offers comparisons with other stratified sites along the Ohio River in Pennsylvania.