Discoidal from Peck 2

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a crude discoidal that was excavated sometime between from March 2 and May 18, 1937, as part of work relief archaeology at the Peck 2 site, a Monongahela village in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Excavators at Peck 2

It is now within the archaeological collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP). It appears to be unfinished and its final form may have been intended to be a chunkey stone, such as this one from the Fort Hill site, another village excavated by work relief archaeologists.

Pottery Fragment with Carbonized Residue from Peck 1

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

 

Today’s animation is a pottery fragment recovered archaeologically from the Peck 1 site, a Monongahela village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was excavated by a Work Projects Administration (WPA) crew from October 13, 1936 to January 29, 1937 and under the direction of Edgar E. Augustine.  This artifact is now in the collections of the  Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Scanning at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

This particular sherd was radiocarbon dated as part of an effort to determine the ages of Monongahela villages excavated by the WPA in Somerset County (Means 2005, 2007).  The research potential of museum collections is shown by what we have been able to learn from this otherwise mundane fragment of a ceramic vessel.

Means, Bernard K.

2005 New Dates for New Deal Excavated Monongahela Villages in Somerset County.  Pennsylvania Archaeologist 75 (1):49-61.

2007 Circular Villages of the Monongahela Tradition.  The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Deer vertebra from Peck 1

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a deer vertebra recovered archaeologically from the Peck 1 site, a Monongahela village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was excavated by a Work Projects Administration Crew from October 13, 1936 to January 29, 1937 and under the direction of Edgar E. Augustine.

This artifact is now in the collections of Carnegie Museum of Natural History where it was 3D scanned.

Animation of the Week: Bone Bead from Monongahela Village Site

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a fragment of a bone bead recovered in 1939 or 1940 by a Work Projects Administration (WPA) crew from the Fort Hill site, a Monongahela tradition village site located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It is now within the archaeological collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP).

Animation of the Day: Susquehannock Anthropomorphic Pipe Bowl

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

 

Today’s animation is an anthropomorphic Susquehannock smoking pipe bowl from the Strickler (36La3) site located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and is within the archaeological collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania. The pipe bowl represents an individual bending over and has well defined features, including a secondary small hole in the bowl to allow another place for smoke to exit.

Bonus Animation of the Day: Beaver Effigy from the Sarf Cache Site, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

 

Today’s animation is a scan shown in progress of a replica of a beaver effigy that is normally on display at The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP).  This item is from the Sarf Cache site, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and was removed to be scanned in the TSMP archaeological collections area.

Abbie Jackson assists with 3D scanning at The State Museum of PA

Animation of the Day: Zoomorphic Smoking Pipe with Brass Eye in Color

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory

This clay smoking pipe from the collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania was made and used by the Susquehannock Indians during the later 1600s A.D.   and was recovered from the Byrd Leibhart Site, located in York County, Pennsylvania. Archaeologists originally identified the animal as representing a bear but our research shows that it was likely a Fisher or Fisher Cat, which is a member of the weasel family. The eyes of the Fisher cat were made with brass tacks traded from European settlers.  One has fallen out. A video produced for Instagram by Archaeology in the Community in the Virtual Curation Laboratory features the Virtual Curation Laboratory’s Rachael Hulvey discussing the object, using a printed version made with a MakerBot Replicator.  The InstaGram video can be found here:http://instagram.com/p/jFcjJ4qqU1/

Animation of the Day: Kirk Serrated Point from Anne Arundel County, Maryland

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a Kirk Serrated Point recovered archaeologically by the Lost Towns Project located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. This point was scanned in the Virtual Curation Laboratory on Monday, March 18, 2014, by Digital Curation Specialist Lauren Volkers.

Animation of the Day: Bark Bed Reconstruction from the Sheep Rock Shelter Exhibit

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a bark bed reconstruction from the Sheep Rock Shelter exhibit at  The State Museum of Pennsylvania (TSMP). A stone-lined hearth is visible at a lower level.  This section of the Sheep Rock Shelter was scanned with a Sense 3D scanner on July 21, 2014.

Animation of the Day: Trilobite Fossils

by Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL)

Today’s animation is a scan of a trilobite fossil cast provided by Virginia Commonwealth University student Carson Collier.  Trilobites date to 250 to 500 million years ago, well before humans existed, but we in the VCL have interests that extend well beyond anthropology.