Book site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Book site (36 Jul)
|
|
Roadside view of the Indian mound
|
|
 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Off Camp Resort Road along the Enlow Fork in Beale Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, United States |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Beale |
| Area | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000067 |
| Added to NRHP | January 3, 1986 |
The Book site is a special place in Juniata County, Pennsylvania. It's an archaeological site, which means it holds clues about people who lived there long ago. This site has the remains of an old burial mound and a village from prehistoric times. You can find it on both sides of Camp Resort Road in Beale Township, close to the town of Beale.
Contents
Discovering the Past: Archaeology at the Book Site
People in Juniata County have known about the Book site for a long time. Even when the first European settlers arrived, they heard stories about an "Indian fort" there. In the mid-1800s, farmers found bones from the mound while plowing their fields. People kept digging in the mound on and off until the 1920s.
What Archaeologists Found
Professional archaeologists finally explored the site in 1929. They found many interesting things. These included different kinds of pottery, lots of projectile points (like arrowheads), and many bones. They even found twenty-two skulls.
The items found, along with the site's location near a large stream, helped experts learn more. They figured out that the Book site belonged to the Clemson Island culture. This culture existed between 700 AD and 1300 AD, during a time called the early Late Woodland period.
Clues from the Fields
Fields around the mound also had small artifacts, like tiny stone pieces. These fields were never dug up by professionals. However, other Clemson Island mounds are always found near villages. This suggests that a village once stood in the fields north of the mound. The small artifacts found there support this idea.
Why the Book Site is Important
The Book site is very important for understanding early history in central Pennsylvania. When compared to similar sites in New York, it seems to be one of the oldest Late Woodland sites in the area.
A Key Site for Pottery
The Book site also has a huge amount of Clemson Island pottery. This makes it a "type site" for this kind of pottery. A type site is like a main example that helps archaeologists identify similar pottery found elsewhere. Because of all these reasons, the Book site is a very valuable archaeological location. In 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This honor recognized its great importance for archaeology.
