2013 PA Farm Show Wrap-up

The 2013 PA Farm Show is nearly done for another year with today, Friday the 11^th, and tomorrow the final days of the show. As in years past, our archaeology exhibit has been well received by the attendees. Occasionally, folks passing by would thank us for our work in preserving and interpreting the Commonwealth’s rich cultural heritage. Such praise from the public is flattering, and a wonderful moral boost for the troops, reinvigorating us to bolster our efforts in raising awareness about all things archaeological in Pennsylvania.

This year’s theme, commemorating the 250^th anniversary of the end of the French and Indian War, seemed to engender a great deal of interest with the crowd. By way of a little bit of statistical extrapolation, we’ve calculated that throughout the week, somewhere in the neighborhood of 38,000 people were engaged in our exhibit, enjoying complimentary Archaeology Month posters, Heritage magazines, temporary tattoos of the Archaeology Section logo, and our growing series of archaeology brochures, including this year’s, that focuses on the French and Indian War in Pennsylvania.

Volunteers answered questions and shared their knowledge of archaeology
 and the French & Indian War period with visitors.

The large and colorful hanging text panels detailing important events of the conflict were intently studied by many, and some of the best artifacts recovered from French and Indian War forts in Pennsylvania were on display, sparking questions from young and old interested in learning more about that time period or archaeology in general.

Mr. Lynn Otto of the Augusta Regiment

Also, the addition of re-enactors from the Augusta Regiment was a perfect complement to our exhibit, the icing on the cake so to speak, especially given this year’s theme. A big thank you goes out to Lynn Otto and all the members of the Augusta Regiment for collaborating with the State Museum’s Section of Archaeology and bringing the French and Indian War soldier to life for our visitors.

Of course, it goes without saying that the 20 foot long dugout canoe continues to amaze and impress. For many the photo op is simply irresistible, with some folks making it an annual event. Here are just a few of the candids:

Front to back; David Dunn, Director of The State Museum; Brad Smith,Curatorial Supervisor;Jim Vaughn, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) and Brad Miller, volunteer.  Looking on is Kurt Carr, Senior Curator, Section of Archaeology. 

One final thank you goes out to our senior management for their support of this program, the State Museum of PA exhibits staff , our own Section of Archaeology staff, and last but certainly not least, our loyal volunteers for making this year’s farm show exhibit another resounding success, THANK YOU!

To those of you looking ahead, next week we will resume our county by county tour of Pennsylvania archaeology with Lancaster County. Stay tuned!

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .