The theme of this year’s program centers around archaeology as a tool for discovering a pathway to the past. Archaeologists have identified physical pathways such as Indigenous foot paths, portages,
and trade routes but there are also the pathways archaeology can offer in enriching, and sometimes correcting narratives of the past. Pennsylvania’s landscape of rolling mountains, plateaus and ridges, and major river valleys were physical factors that influenced settlement of the Commonwealth. Foot paths created by Indigenous peoples thousands of years ago led to trade and exchange routes that eventually developed into roadways. River valleys served as transportation corridors for commerce and trade from Precontact throughout time defining the locations of communities. Some pathways are not as evident, as in the underground railroad network that transported formerly enslaved peoples to communities here and elsewhere. Discovering the stories of the past can be a difficult emotional journey to uncovering heritage, as is often true for the disenfranchised, but their contributions to our Commonwealth’s development are important and the archaeological record is a pathway for sharing their stories.

Visit https://www.paheritage.org/2022-annual-workshop-in-archaeology.html for more information.

Early registration ends October 24. Walk-in registration will be available at the door at $35 per person.