Animal bones, cracked pieces of pottery and beaded jewelry are currently on display in the High Library alcove. Elizabethtown College students have been digging in Washington Boro, Pa. since 2006 looking for artifacts of the Susquehannock Indian tribe, who resided nearby from about 1600-1630. Students’ discoveries can provide insight to a unique group of people and an unfamiliar culture.
Students have the opportunity to participate in field school for three weeks over the summer, and the program is open to all students, no matter their major. Dr. Robert Wheelersburg, professor of anthropology, mentioned that many students in the program are not anthropology majors but they participate because it is a unique and different experience. This program has been offered to Etown students since the mid 1990’s, but they have only been searching for artifacts in the Washington Boro area for the past few years. Typically, there are about six to ten Etown students involved with the project at a time. Wheelersburg stated, “All the artifacts were found by students.” The display in the library is the result of seven years of hard work and many students and faculty exploring the area in which the artifacts were found.
In addition to the artifacts on display, there are multiple drawings by senior Jeanette Koczwara, an Etown student. She has been drawing for Wheelersburg since the spring of last year, she said. Photographs don’t show the details of the artifacts, so Kocawara’s work helps express what photography can’t. “When it came to drawing the historical context, I had plenty of references for the artifacts (that’s what we dug up after all) but there are very few visual records of Susquehannock. I worked off of illustrations by John Smith of a closely related native population to design the Native American’s clothes,” she added. “I was able to apply my drawing ability to field school as well. The area we dug was stratified with layers of different soil types. Photography, again, can only capture so much and in the shadow of the pit a lot of the distinction was lost. So I got a clipboard, graph paper and measuring tape and was able to designate where one layer of darker, more organic soil ended and denser red clay began.” Koczwara’s drawings are a valuable part of the exhibit and provide detail that would otherwise be unnoticed.
The artifacts displayed in the library also have fascinating historical ties. “The artifacts show the connection between the Indian village and the colonists at Jamestown, including Captain John Smith of Pocahontas fame,” Wheelersburg offered.
According to Wheelersburg, the display will remain in the library until Oct. 7 when it will move to the Washington Boro historical society permanently. Wheelersburg hopes the exhibit helps students understand that “Archeology is a discipline … and how contact between Europeans and Native Americans influenced their cultures.”
It’s not every day that ancient animal bones, cracked pottery and colorful beaded jewelry from a local Indian tribe are displayed in the library. Student drawings add detail that would otherwise be unseen from a photograph. Many years of hard work and digging by students who participated in the summer field school program resulted in an exhibit for everyone at Etown to learn from and enjoy.
