Hello Everyone,


      Today we started our own Kickstarter to help fund excavations at the John Snowdon and Son's Vulcan Iron and Machine Works. As many of you who follow me have read, this site is of national significance especially in the realm of industrial archaeology and heritage. Please click on the link and check out our Kickstarter, then if you would like, please donate. Help us change the model for how archaeological projects get funded by placing the public at the forefront. Let's crowd source this project and get a green light to start digging this season!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/casearchaeology/brownsville-archaeology-festival?ref=live

A Plea for Help!

Hello Everyone,

  I know that we are still aways off from Brownsville Archaeology Month in May, but the Mon/Yough Chapter for the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology is in desperate need of volunteers, members, and donations. At the present rate, the cost of insurance and the excavations cost over $1300. We need all of the help we can get to continue this project at the Snowdon Foundry. If you would like to join our club, the dues are $20 per year and we meet the 3rd Thursday of each month at California University Frich Hall Room #203. If you would like to donate to our organization so that we may keep educating the public about its rich heritage, please mail a check or money order to:

Mon-Yough Chapter #3
Carl Maurer Treasurer
45 Acheson Ave
Washington PA 15301

For information about our chapter and its activities, please contact me at: nemacolin.archaeology@gmail.com.

Thank all of you for your continued support!

Marc Henshaw
President Mon-Yough Chapter #3

New Mon-Yough Chapter #3 Brochure

Hello Everyone,


          I thought I would post the updated Mon-Yough Chapter #3 brochure. We are an archaeology club out of Southwestern Pennsylvania. For those of you who read my blog, the Mon-Yough has excavated various sites I talk about here such as the Gormley and Cox Houses, and the John Snowdon and Son's Vulcan Iron and Machine Works. Our specialization is integrating and educating local non-profit organizations who focus on historic preservation and the local community to come together and participate in archaeology at the "hands on" level. We also provide education resources to college students who are pursuing careers in Anthropology or Archaeology. Please download the brochure, and join up if you are passing through the area. The field season starts in May! Click on an image to enlarge it!

 

Timbuktu mausoleums 'destroyed'

Hello Everyone,

   From the BBC: "Islamists in Mali have begun destroying remaining mausoleums in the historic city of Timbuktu, an Islamist leader and a tourism official said."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20833010

'Alien-like' skulls are unearthed in 1,000-year-old cemetery

Hello Everyone,

Archaeologists have known for decades that some native groups practiced skull deformation. I guess the "Alien-Like" is something to grab the attention of readers. Very cool discovery!

'Alien-like' skulls are unearthed in 1,000-year-old cemetery

Some Post Excavation Thoughts: Snowdon Vulcan Iron and Machine Works

Hello Everyone, 

        Things have been busy for me this past month, so I haven't had time for an update. The John Snowdon and Son's Vulcan Iron and Machine Works excavations in Brownsville, Pennsylvania have come to a close for this field season. I cannot thank the volunteers enough and the students from the WVU Field School who came out to pick through some of the toughest fill material I have ever encountered. We have recovered an incredible amount of data dating back to the turn of the 20th-century. Personal items, industrial artifacts, and a variety of little unidentified items that will keep us busy for a long time. However, we also have the most important artifact, the foundry itself, a mausoleum to 19th-century industrialization in the Monongahela River Valley. It is my estimate that we have excavated 5% of the total structure. We haven't even begun to excavate within its interior except along the foundation walls. 

      In the first three photographs show an air pocket that we hit during excavation. Within it are the remains of a barrel laying on its side. The strapping is just visible to the left of that concrete floor joist support. When the building was demolished by the railroad, the area next to that floor joist created an air gap with brick from an interior wall. No artifacts were found with the barrel that would indicate its contents. the final picture is Erin who came out do some mapping of our foundations!   

Air gap with barrel strapping.

Close-up of the barrel remains.

The Completed excavation unit with exterior wall to south. Barrel removed.

Erin field mapping in the shade!

Snowdon and Sons: Random Archaeology Pictures

Hello Everyone,

        I thought I'd just post some random pictures from the excavation for some weekend viewing. Hope you enjoy!

Don and Carl

Julz excavating around bottles

Sean cleaning the foundation of debris

Our mascot Riley

A view of the foundation with railroad ballast (fill) on the left (dark Stain)