This Week In Pennsylvania Archaeology: So Long, Agnes

With this blog we say good-bye to our series on Tropical
Storm Agnes and her impact on the Commonwealth. 
The previous blogs have traced her path through the major river basins of
Pennsylvania, leaving behind massive destruction and hardship.  Cultural resources – churches, museums,
libraries, and cemeteries- were significantly impacted, but the communities
surrounding them rallied together to help salvage these resources. Improved
preparation and planning by many of these institutions were implemented in anticipation
of the potential for future floods. Flood protection programs that had been
proposed decades prior to Agnes were finally approved, funded, and constructed
by Army Corp of Engineers who recognized that flood events were happening more frequently,
and their impact was becoming increasingly destructive.

		Figure 1-Aerial view of Cowanesque Dam, Tioga County. Image By Bjoertvedt – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The archaeology conducted in the aftermath of Agnes provided
a broader resource for examining the past. Rural areas and previously
undeveloped landscapes yielded evidence of cultural activity over thousands of
years and improved our understanding of movement and settlement patterns by
Indigenous peoples.  This could be viewed
as a positive outcome from such a destructive event. Archaeological sites are
often destroyed by private construction projects, natural disasters, or
careless destruction by those digging for “treasures”, preventing systematic
investigations that ends with the loss of cultural heritage.  Unfortunately, some of the destruction from
Agnes could not be rectified.  The
displacement of cemetery burials at Forty Fort, in Luzerne County couldn’t be
repaired, but the monument dedicated in memory of the individuals from this
gravesite is a reminder of the destruction. and our need to plan and prepare
for the future.  Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) is currently developing a multi-year project to address
flooding in the Wyoming Valley. Development within the watershed has led to storm
water runoff reaching the river faster and with the increased frequency and
intensity of storms, the threat of flooding intensifies.

Figure 2 Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County Image courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives

State and Federal agencies have put many planning tools in
place since Agnes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dedicates
funding to implement flood mitigation projects, to improve planning and
assistance for communities.  Flood
insurance programs have expanded to assist homeowners and businesses impacted
when these events occur. Improved land management practices have been put in
place to control run off from paved surfaces. Flood plain management programs
are updated and revised as development occurs which also impacts communities. These
measures are important tools for protecting our resources and preparing for the
potential of future flood events. The impact of climate change has already been
realized in flash flood events and extreme fluctuations in temperature-by
rapidly melting snowpack due to a sudden spring thaw.

Archaeologists have examined climate change over time and
the impact on cultures, but how did they adapt and change due to changing conditions?
Our climate has evolved since the first Ice Age 1.8 million years ago to the
present, marked by extreme temperatures and drought. In the Paleoindian and
Early Archaic periods, characterized by low population density, humans
responded to changes in climate by moving to more favorable regions. During the
Middle and Late Archaic periods families occupied all the river valleys and
movement was generally not an option to offset population increase. Instead,
incremental technological improvements were incorporated to obtain food
resources more efficiently.

 The decrease in
precipitation and relatively high population density during the Sub-Boreal
episode (5800-2850 years ago) required significant changes in Native American
technological systems. Technology was not the only solution and changes
certainly occurred in social organization that resulted in groups that could
exploit the environment in a more organized and efficient manner. Hunting and
gathering was supplemented with the gardening of seed plants of the Eastern
Agricultural Complex. By 900 AD, gardening could not maintain pace with a
growing population and maize based agriculture became the dominant subsistence
pattern. After 1350 AD, the Little Ice Age created some level of stress among
Native American farmers, especially those occupying the northern regions of
Pennsylvania where frost -free growing seasons were reduced. High fertility
soils and settings with more frost-free days would have been very important in
this environment and competition for these settings may have contributed to the
widespread social stress among groups.  

	Figure 3 Schultz site (36LA0007) diorama.  PHMC image.

In the 21^st century, our high population density,
a global economy, and an advanced technical society are part of a delicate
interrelated cultural system. Climate is part of that system. Global warming
will cause sea levels to rise. Populations will be displaced inland. Some
cities may be abandoned. In the United States, a decrease in rainfall is
predicted for the western corn belt and that will result in reduced food
production. An increase in hurricane activity is predicted along the East coast
and this will result in costly disasters. Competition for agricultural land and
the resources to farm this land will increase and result in our own instances
of social stress. As in the past, we will have to develop technological and
economic solutions to produce more foods. Scientists, farmers and concerned individuals
are already coming together to examine current agricultural practices and crop yield
and where changes can be made to better utilize our resources. Sustainability
of our food resources is vital to population growth, implementing best
practices for management of these resources is just one step we can take
now.   Archaeologists have seen cultures adapt and
change over thousands of years and that belief that we, as a society made up of
many communities, will adapt and change for the future is promising.

We hope you have enjoyed our Agnes series, for some it
reminded us of a significant event in our past, for others it was a picture
into the past and an event that helped to form many of our land use and flood
protection programs across the Commonwealth. Preservation of our cultural resources
continues as an initiative of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
(PHMC).  We encourage you to learn about
the resources in your community and support the preservation of the
archaeological and historic sites that enrich our lives.  We remind everyone of the need to have an emergency plan in place for your household
and to engage in discussions within your community for emergency preparedness
and land use practices.