A Short Scoop on Archaeology 

You would be amazed at what you can find in your own backyard. There might even be the remains of an ancient village. Sound farfetched? Well, it’s not. A team of archaeologists in Toronto is carefully digging up the backyard of a suburban home because a young boy dug up a piece of thousand year old pottery. It turns out the boy’s find is part of the remains of an ancient Indian pottery works. Finding Indian ancient Indian artifacts in a city is rare because the evidence is usually destroyed by the digging and building.

In my small town of Friendsville a major archaeological dig took place before the building of Interstate 68. The west side of the Youghiogheny river was always known as the site of a Shawnee Indian summer village. The Shawnee would travel here from Ohio every summer to hunt, fish, and grow corn in the floodplain. The Shawnee called this spot on the river “The Hunters Bowl” because game was abundant and the bend in the river helped to concentrate the wild game. At the site of the village archaeologists found hundreds of arrowheads, stone tools and the remains of the village. Many of these artifacts are on display at our Friendsville Friend Family Association Museum (Open Hours: May 1st through November 1st Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday Noon to 4:00 PM ) and there is even a map showing where the individual items were found. 

Amazingly enough as the archaeologists dug deeper they found evidence and remains of even earlier visitors to this spot on the river. Some of the arrowheads dated back to the Adina Indian culture (mound builders) which was a visitor to this spot over 10,000 years ago! To think that Friendsville has been a popular spot for 10,000 years is truly mind boggling.

I have dug in my yard for yard projects and found in the process pieces of plates and china cups, old nails, and even chunks of glass from the iron smelting furnace that used to be in the area. Keep digging in your backyard (get mom and dad’s permission first) and you might find a fossil, and ancient piece of pottery, or maybe that an entire village once lived under your garden.

How does stuff from past civilizations get buried? Let’s pretend that an Indian village once lived in your backyard. Maybe the people were forced to abandon their homes, because of fire, drought or were pushed out by the white settlers. Eventually the homes (Indian long houses) rotted and were covered by dirt and then new forests that grew up. Hundreds of years passed,
then a house building crew gets to work. They chop down the trees and build your house right on top of the old village. When you dig in the backyard, you might find clues about the ancient people who lived on your land. 

Over the centuries, people may use the land for different things. The same piece of piece of land could have been the home of Native people, a settlement for pioneers, industrial land and finally, an apartment development with parks. Every time the land is used for something else, the old stuff is built over or covered up. 

Archaeologist look for clues to buried civilizations. Mounds of dirt can be a clue that something is buried underneath. Workers at construction sites often unearth artifacts such as ancient tools or bones. Sometimes ancient books refer to cities and places that no longer exist and archaeologists use these clues to locate likely spots to dig. In our area, large flat areas at places where two streams or water drainages meet is a good spot to look for arrowheads and so is recently plowed fields along river bottoms.

When archaeologist begin a ‘dig’ they divide the area into a grid of small, numbered squares. They carefully dig each square, using small trowels, sometimes even teaspoons and tooth brushes so they don’t break anything valuable. They remove the topsoil, usually about one foot deep and sift it. Any items they find are labeled and cataloged. They dig deeper inch by careful inch. Sometimes archaeologists have to coat an item in plastic resin or plaster so that it won’t break apart when they try and remove it.

Each layer of earth reveals secrets. Archeologists call these layers ‘strata. You can see strata in your bedroom. Dig through the piles of your dirty clothes or your piles of toys. Start at the top of the pile for today’s clothes and games. Keep digging and you may reach clothes and toys received from last years birthday buried at the bottom. The deeper down you dig, the farther back in time you go. The same thing happens at an archaeological dig.

Once objects are found, archaeologists try and figure out how old they are. They have to piece together bits and pieces and try to remake bowls, cups, or tools. Sometimes they try and remake whole buildings or settlements. Putting together pieces of our past can be a tricky, creative, and fun job. It’s like trying to put together a puzzle with pieces missing. 

Many times the best information and on objects are found in the trash piles of past civilizations. Apparently archaeologists can learn a lot from our trash. I suppose in the future the archaeologist will have a big job going through all of our trash.

You can experiment at home with archaeology. Make your own dig in 1X1 or 2X2 foot square you mark off in your yard (ask your parents first). Sift the top soil and catalog anything you find. If you find something interesting perhaps your local university archaeology department can help you date and identify it. We can learn a lot from what’s in the dirt.  

Dig These Cool Links!

Dig and archaeology site for kids

Find about a career as an archaeologist

Archaeology Museum