2011 Pennsylvania Archaeology Month Poster
Download a copy of the poster [pdf]
About The 2011 Poster
The 2011 Pennsylvania Archaeology Month poster features four artifacts recently discovered in the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Fishtown, Northern Liberty’s, and Port Richmond. They include (left to right on the poster):
Click for enlargement
Handpainted pearlware dish
Manufactured in England sometime between 1780 and 1810, this small dish was merchandise that was sold in a shop in Philadelphia. This kind of dish would have been a somewhat pricy item in its day and it would be a symbol of the owner’s financial and social status.
Mouth-Blown bottle
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This squat, square bottle with a flared mouth-opening dates from long before the time that machines could make bottles. This bottle was manufactured by a glassblower who blew molten glass into a wooden mold. The flared opening to the jar was then shaped by hand using a tool. This bottle was possibly made locally near where it was found as there were glassblower shops in the vicinity, or it may have been made in New Jersey which had a significant glass industry during the colonial period. In the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, bottles like this served as an important container source and were reused (refilled) again and again. A bottle such as this could have held any number of liquids, foods, or even tobacco.
Incised Two-Hole Slate Gorget (ca. 800-1550 A.D.)
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This artifact, called a gorget by archaeologists (ca. 2.5 inches long), represents an ornamental piece manufactured by Native Americans, and that was attached to clothing or worn around the neck as a sort of decorative pendant. Manufactured from ground and polished slate, this artifact features two hand-drilled holes for stringing the gorget, as well as a series of incised geometric designs on one side. Read about this Native American object
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Projectile Point (‘arrowhead’)
Archaeologists call this item a ‘triangle point’ due to its shape. This was made by the local Lenni Lenape, or Delaware Indian, peoples using a type of stone known as Jasper. It would have been hafted (attached) to a wooden shaft of a spear or arrow. It was a tool for hunting. (This item as shown is not to scale. It has been made larger in order to use it in the poster).
Where Were These Artifacts Found?
All four of these objects — and many thousands of others — were found by archaeologists conducting excavations along a stretch of I-95 just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in the City of Philadelphia. The archaeologists, who were working for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), were performing an archaeological assessment prior to new road construction work.
These particular objects were selected for the 2011 Archaeology Month poster as a way to honor the rich and important history of the Delaware Waterfront. Native peoples had long lived on the banks of the Delaware River prior to the arrival of European immigrants and this deep history is recognized by the jasper projectile point and the incised gorget. These objects are residues of the village life and industrious activities of these early inhabitants.
The backdrop for the poster is a copy of Thomas Birch’s 1800 lithograph, Penn's Tree, with the City & Port of Philadelphia, on the River Delaware from Kensington (see right). This engraving commemorates the meeting of European and Native American cultures on the banks of the Delaware while at the same time depicting the industrious and cosmopolitan city of Philadelphia that had grown and flourished in the interim. Birch’s scene depicts the massive elm tree known as the Treaty Elm in the foreground. It was at this tree, in 1681, that an agreement of friendship was reportedly made between William Penn and Tamanend and other Delaware chiefs of the Turtle Clan. Learn more about the treaty.
Penn’s involvement in these historical events are recounted in the poster via inclusion of his quote: "We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good will".
The wampum belt that the Lenapi gave to William Penn. Today this item is part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection at the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent. Click for enlargement.
The imported dish and the squat glass bottle artifacts featured on the poster reflect the experiences of those inhabitants who later come to live in the riverfront neighborhoods as the city expanded, as well as those who worked in the local industries that made 19th century Philadelphia the ‘Workshop of the World’. You can learn more about this industrial heritage at Workshop of the World — A Selective Guide to the Industrial Archeology of Philadelphia, a web page project created by the Oliver Evans [Philadelphia] Chapter of the Industrial Archaeology Society.
Selected from the thousands of recently excavated objects, the four archaeological artifacts featured on this year’s poster help to honor the lives of all those who have lived and worked along the Delaware riverfront overtime. The 2011 Pennsylvania Archaeology Month poster provides our citizens with a tangible touchstone to our city, our nation’s, and our continent’s past.
Who Made This Posters, And Why?
Pennsylvania Archaeological Month is a designation created by Proclamation of the Governor. The annual Archaeology Month recognition is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc., and the Pennsylvania Archaeological Council. Its purpose is to increase awareness of the important historic and prehistoric archaeological sites in the Commonwealth. These sites are part of the heritage of all Pennsylvanians. It is hoped that through Archaeology Month events, more Pennsylvanians become aware of this part of our history and work to protect our state’s endangered resources.
Funding for this year’s Pennsylvania Archaeology Month poster came via a state agency, from the professional and avocational archaeological communities, and from several business concerns: the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, the Pennsylvania Archaeological Council, URS Corporation-Burlington, Navarro & Wright Consulting Engineers, Inc., CHRS, Inc., Louis Berger Group, Inc., GAI Consultants, Inc., A.D. Marble & Company, and Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute.
The 2011 poster was designed by URS Corporation whose archaeologist’s performed the PennDOT excavations for the I-95 road work. The artifact images are courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation via URS Corporation.
Pennsylvania Archaeology Month posters are made available to approximately 7000 schools, museums, historical sites, and state offices across the state where they serve to generate interest in, and protection for, Pennsylvania’s archaeological heritage.
Text by Patrice L. Jeppson 09/19/11