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'll learn a lot from historic digBy?The Sentinel, July 17, 2004?Jul 17, 2004?Top of FormBottom of FormArchaeology is painstaking work.You just can't start digging and see what happens. Treasures buried beneath the soil would be destroyed without a plan and a method to unearth and extract them.Most of us would be awful at the job because it can take years to explore a promising site. Patience is required, along with skills in finding and extracting artifacts.But the thought of working at what is believed to be a historic site is exciting. And the enthusiasm level hits new highs when considering the possibility that the work could yield knowledge of ancient Native Americans.Right now, aspiring teenage paleontologists and archaeologists are doing just that somewhere outside of Carlisle.The Sentinel hasn't disclosed the exact location because of concerns that the site could be damaged if too many people went there out of curiosity.As we all know, however, nothing is a secret when more than one person knows it. So, we suspect plenty of local folks already have pinpointed the location.We would urge everyone, however, to honor the need to protect the site while attempts are being made to determine whether it harbors what may be products of a civilization that we know nothing about.More history may be unfolding near the site's 18th century farmhouse, which is historic in itself in a county that only celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2000.With such a short history, the idea that a civilization flourished here in ancient times is awesome.The people working this site believe the artifacts indicate a civilization existed here 8,000 or more years ago.The effort is being run under the name of the Frankford Museum Society. The digging area is called the "Lost Valley" site.While the findings have not been substantiated scientifically, the land is registered with the Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey and has been recognized as historically significant by Cumberland County Historical Society.The Carlisle-area site could very well be what the owners envision, since other ancient Native American sites have been found along the Susquehanna River.The "Lost Valley" is a quest that can't help but fire the imagination while providing a learning experience for the Penn State Kids College students at the dig.It isn't just for would-be archaeologists; it's for everyone to gain an appreciation of the land and the history of civilization itself.And as this story unfolds, we also gain a better understanding of the workings of such a site and the slow and expensive nature of figuring out how it may have looked thousands of years ago.Watch for more. The Sentinel will report back to you as work goes on. gets first glimpse of local rock collectionBy?Karla Browne, October 24, 2004? HYPERLINK "" \l "1" Gary Yannone, right, talks about some of the items found at Frankford Museum's archaeological site on McClure's Gap Road in Lower Frankford Township. Saturday's dig and exhibits marked the first time the public was invited to the site.?(Wally Shank/The Sentinel) HYPERLINK "" \l "2" Don Barrick, right, of Carlisle looks over some of the items at the museum's rummage sale as Jeff Kottmyer looks of FormBottom of FormA steady stream of visitors from near and far kept volunteers busy Saturday at Frankford Museum's archaeological dig and exhibits on McClure's Gap Road in Lower Frankford Township."I was not sure what to expect," said Diane Evitts, a senior at Shippensburg Area Senior High School who wants to study archaeology.Evitts echoed the comments of several visitors who responded to ads in The Sentinel or e-mails from a society volunteer inviting them to the site's first public event."It was definitely a worthwhile visit," said Diane's father, Tom Evitts of Shippensburg Township, after an hour-long guided tour of exhibits in the 18th-century farmhouse.Prehistoric possibilitiesWhat visitors saw was a rock collection that may go back to prehistoric times. Site founder Gary Yannone, lovingly holding up one specimen after another, challenged visitors to see animals and human faces in the convolutions of the surfaces."He held one stone," said Joe Kennedy of Harrisburg, "and it struck me right off the bat - canus lupus. It's a wolf."His son, Michael Kennedy, a freshman at Central Dauphin High School, said what most interested him was that "these people are lugging these gigantic rocks in here and the only significance is in their minds. A lot of labor for nothing."Kennedy, who "has wanted to be a paleontologist since he was in second grade," said his mother, Audrey Miller of Harrisburg, was repeating Yannone's theory that springs on his property were a ceremonial site for a prehistoric culture.A stream of scientists who visited the site - archeologists and geologists among them - have fueled his excitement over the possibility.Yannone says one scientist told him, "It's not Iroquois, not Susquehannock, not Delaware," but much older.And excitement is growing over the upcoming visit of Moscow's Arsen Faradzhev, a cultural anthropologist who responded to Yannone's world-wide mailing to scientists and has examined e-mailed photos of the finds. (See sidebar.)"What separates this site" from others in the U.S. "is the animal images," Yannone says, which he says are more similar to the Lascaux, France, cave paintings than any artifacts found in this country.Yannone knows it's an uphill battle to convince scientists to rewrite North American archaeology over his site, and he's not fighting for it. He just wants to know "who and when" and is willing to let the scientists hash that out.Help is hard to findOver the last five years since Yannone began finding the artifacts at the hilly farmstead about three miles north of the Conodoguinet, he was most encouraged by the late Dick "Hays" Eschenmann, a Shippensburg-area historian and writer."If it wasn't for Dick, this historical site wouldn't have happened," Yannone says.Help also came from a set of former military buddies - all originally from Pennsylvania - who became partners in the charitable organization Yannone is setting up.Nolan Chew, society treasurer, was busy Saturday selling hot dogs, chips, sodas, cookies and T-shirts to all comers to raise a few dollars for the cause.Will Foshag of West Pennsboro Township, owner of the nearby historic Heishmans Mill, enjoyed a dog with plenty of mustard and onions and bought a diet soda to take along, but said he wouldn't be joining the society.Help is hard to find for such causes, he said, and he's looking for some of his own with the mill.Several visitors carried applications for memberships away with them, however, either to join or get on the mailing list to learn about upcoming events.Professional help remains the key to authentication of the site, however, Yannone says."If we can just get enough help with the lab work, we'll find out who and when." Wilson, July 15, 2004? HYPERLINK "" \l "1" Ian Brinkman, 14, of Etters sifts dirt looking for items.?(Wally Shank/The Sentinel) HYPERLINK "" \l "2" Testing water samples are from left, Liz Biddle, 14, of Shippensburg, Katherine Thorwart, 14, of Harrisburg, Allison Shanafelter, 14, of New Cumberland, and Allie Owens, 16, of Carlisle.?(Wally Shank/The Sentinel)Top of FormBottom of FormAspiring teenage paleontologists and archaeologists are doing their part in cataloging and exploring a historical site in the Carlisle area this week.High-schoolers from south-central Pennsylvania are unearthing historic treasures near an 18th-century farmhouse on land that some believe was an ancient Native American "vision quest" site.'Like a giant puzzle'Digging in four-by-four-foot patches, 11 teen participants from Penn State Kids College unearthed handfuls of pottery and glass shards, early metal artifacts and what may be ancient Native American carvings."When you first find something, you never know if in five minutes you'll make history," said Hershey High School ninth-grader Sebastian Moyer Wednesday."Apparently, none of these kinds of rock are supposed to be here," he added, holding up dirt-caked samples."I didn't know what I was coming to see," said Red Land High School ninth-grader Ian Brinkman. "I thought we'd be digging up arrowheads."Through Kids College, the teens are helping the Frankford Museum Society establish a "baseline" study ? analyzing soil, water and invertebrate samples.Over the past five years, business partners Gary Yannone, Jeffrey Kottmyer and Nolen Chew have been unearthing and analyzing what they believe to be evidence that a shamanistic Native American culture lived or worshiped at a convergence of springs."It's just like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle," Chew said. "There's something here that drew (early Americans)."The Cumberland County Historical Society has recognized the site as historically significant. The farmhouse on the property, owned by The Lost Valley LLC, dates back to 1795, and history buffs have documented period artifacts found near the house.8,000 years ago…Most of what the Kids College participants have unearthed so far is believed to be household "garbage" buried or burned between the late 18th century and very early 20th century.But Kottmyer and Chew believe soil layers below the surface may contain artifacts linked to a civilization that was established in Cumberland County at least 8,000 years ago.Already the trio and museum society volunteers have located hundreds of examples of man-worked stone tools and what they believe to be ancient carvings of animals.Although the findings have not been substantiated scientifically, several organizations have told the museum society there is "definitely something" at the Lost Valley site.The land is registered with the Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey and the Cumberland County Register of Historic Places.Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed has acknowledged the Lost Valley, pointing out the Native American sites that have been found along the Susquehanna River. An archaeological site is being excavated on Harrisburg's City Island, and artifacts dating back 8,000 years have been found, he said. Independence Island, just north of City Island, also was found to have remnants of a Native American civilization.Theories discussedSome of the teens involved with Kids College have visited those sites but say they were not allowed to dig there.The Kids College session is "just a beginners' course, but you learn a lot," Brinkman said. "I've never had an opportunity like this before now. It's a pretty great experience for me," Moyer added.A second group of students spent Wednesday cataloging and preserving artifacts found on previous digs. This group also was charged with developing ideas about what they were seeing."It's kind of fun to shoot theories back and forth," said Harrisburg ninth-grader Michael Kennedy."You never really know what it's going to be," added Corey Lazarus of Hummelstown."It's just cool to know that there's stuff actually there ? it's not just dirt," said Michelle Cermanski of Harrisburg."We think that might be a fireplace down there," she said, pointing.This week the group uncovered large quantities of brick and charcoal buried in the yard, not far from the farmhouse. The remnants could indicate an outdoor fire pit used to burn trash.The students are taught the basic principals of preserving and respecting an archaeological dig site, Penn State faculty member Ed Owens said.They must be especially careful because Native American artifacts are being uncovered in the same soil layer as 19th-century items."What we're hoping is that once we get below the pioneer level, we'll start finding (Native American artifacts)," Chew said.Museum society members say the next step is to authenticate their findings.One project they hope to fund is a $4,000 "geomorphology study," in which experts look at existing terrain and, using detailed studies of ancient climates, provide a sketch of how it would have appeared thousands of years ago.FYIFrankford Museum Society says members of the public are invited to take a look at its findings or become involved in the search for evidence of early inhabitants of the Carlisle area. Those interested may write to the society at P.O. Box 157, Plainfield, PA 17081 or call 241- of Form Faradzhev gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Lost Valley artifacts Friday.?(Jason Minick/The Sentinel)Top of FormBottom of FormArsen Faradzhev flew halfway around the world to see a bunch of rocks that kept breaking Gary Yannone's lawn mower.And later this month, the Russian art history professor will fly to India to tell a group of international scholars why he thinks they could rewrite history on North American stone art."It's very important to find something new in paleoart," Faradzhev said Friday. "Lost Valley has the diamonds right now."Lost Valley is the region in Lower Frankford Township northwest of Carlisle where Yannone began finding unusual rocks in 1999.Research needed"They were rocks that should not have been there," Faradzhev said of the rocks, some of which weigh more than 100 pounds. "It's some kind of mystery - this is a scientific fact - and right now we have no reason for them to be there. That's why we need to research there."The quartz and limestone rock is not normally found in the native clay soil. Some of the artifacts are tools, while others are prehistoric art works.Under close magnification, Faradzhev found the rock artifacts contain up to 25 lines of contour. This means they are not natural shapes and are the product of many hours of rubbing and sanding, he says.And they're thousands of years old."You see that spot," Faradzhev says, pointing to a red circle on the surface one tool. "That's an iron composite."This type of rust takes at least 1,000 years to form, he says. And since it is on the textured side that was broken off of a larger rock, it means the artifact was carved long ago."I have no dates," Faradzhev adds, reluctantly saying it might have been 20,000 years ago.The Frankford Museum Society, founded by Yannone with help from some old military buddies, is researching and preserving the Lost Valley artifacts."We're a bunch of like-minded people who have faith that it's something special and who want to share it with everyone," says Nolan Chew, the society's treasurer.The society has roughly 30 members, the newest of whom is Faradzhev.International gatheringIt may gain a few more members after Faradzhev tells members of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO) about the Cumberland County site. IFRAO is meeting Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 in India for its four-year congress."The timing is perfect," says Barbara Bartos, vice president of the Frankford Museum Society.The organization is trying to raise money for the expensive research that is needed, she says. Members pay dues and there is also a donation box at the museum. Although the museum is private, it is open to organizations upon request, Chew says."We have had showings in the morning, we have had showings at 9 o'clock at night," he adds. "We try to work with people."Faradzhev is visiting from Moscow State University, where he holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology and teaches art history. He will be doing a slide show for the public at 3:30 p.m. today at Bosler Free Library in of Form ................
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