GEOARCHAEOLOGY AND LANDSCAPE HISTORY AT THE MONONGAHELA PERIOD SQUIRREL HILL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

The Squirrel Hill archaeological site (36Wm0035) is a Johnston-phase (AD 1450-1590) Monongahela village located in western Pennsylvania on a second terrace of the Conemaugh River near the modern town of New Florence. Although the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, previous investigation is extremely limited; many questions remain to be answered, including verifying occupation and cultural affiliations; characterizing the internal arrangement of houses, plaza, and stockades; and reconstructing the site’s paleo-landscape. In partnership with the Eastern office of The Archaeological Conservancy and the Seneca Nation of Indians, we began to investigate these questions as part of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s 2016 and 2022 archaeological field schools using a combination of geophysical survey, test excavation, and geomorphic testing.

Preliminary results of a ground penetrating radar survey in the northwest portion of the site revealed a large rectangular structure at 23-46 cmbs, along a paleochannel of the Conemaugh River, with a size and shape that does not conform to the typical circular Johnston-phase houses. Auger cores taken from the northern end of the site revealed a series of buried landscapes at depths of ~108, ~130, and ~163 cmbs, suggesting that earlier occupations at the site may exist. Interestingly, buried horizons do not appear in cores taken from the southern end of the site, but rather suggest substantial overbank deposition which decreased concomitant with the Johnston Phase occupation. Cores along the eastern edge of the site revealed alternating flood and gleyed deposits, suggesting and that the paleo-environment was more dynamic than previous researchers have previously thought. This paper will report on these field results, as well as recent radiocarbon, particle size and soil micromorphology analyses designed to refine the nature of occupation and past landscape history for the site.