Lighting up the past: an archaeological perspective on life on early 19-20th century farmsteads in central Pennsylvania

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Ruffe, Danielle Astrid
Area of Honors:
Anthropology
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Claire M Milner, Thesis Supervisor
Timothy Michael Ryan, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
central Pennsylvania; farmsteads; historic archaeology
Abstract:
The nineteenth-century farmstead lifestyle is understudied in historical archaeology, yet the majority of archaeology sites in Northern America are historic farmstead sites. The lack of knowledge about this time creates an intrigue that only a study into the lifestyle from artifacts of the era could answer. This study creates a concrete view of the lifestyle of farming communities living in rural central Pennsylvania from 1830 – 1930. Utilizing excavated artifacts from two farmstead sites located in Barree Township, PA, Scare Pond Farm and the Massey Site, this study takes an in depth look into the origin of these artifacts and more importantly the information these objects can tell us about the lives of the people who owned them. In addition to researching the nineteenth-century farm life, another result of this thesis is to create a children’s museum exhibit design for the Discovery Room, an exhibit space in Penn State’s Shavers Creek Environmental Center. The museum design follows the artifact analysis on the two archaeological sites.