ANNE DYJAK RECEIVES MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD

Donald A. Windsor

Anne Dyjak served as our Chapter Secretary from 2000 through 2010.  She has also been the driving force for the refreshments provided at our monthly meetings.

The award was presented by President David Moyer at our March 10, 2012, meeting.

Congratulations Anne!

Book Review: ARCHAEOLOGY AND GEOCHRONOLOGY ...

Donald A. Windsor

Cole, John R. ; Godfrey, Laurie R., Editors.
Archaeology and Geochronology of the Susquehanna and Schoharie Regions.
Proceedings of the Yager Conference at Hartwick College
November 6, 1976.
Oneonta, NY: Hartwick College. 1977. 146 pages.

Thirty-five years after a book is published is a long delay for a book review, but I just read this one.  It was hard to stop, because this book contains some very useful information, including drawings, of the geological features of the area just east and south of Chenango County.

The chapter on the deglacial chronology of the Oneonta area by P. Jay Fleisher is terrific.  Doctor Fleisher gave our chapter an eye-opening presentation on this subject about six or so years ago.

The archaeology is covered from the earliest Paleo times into our historical period.

Of special note is the chapter on the Otsiningo site by Dolores Elliott.  Drive to Binghamton and you go right by it.  Here is a good opportunity to read about its prehistoric inhabitants.

The highlights of the book are the spirited discussions after each chapter.  My favorite exchange occurs on page 137.  Joseph P. Timlin, defending his eponymous site, claims that "The stratigraphic records are right in front of you out there".  William A. Starna responds "No, they have to be on paper.  This is archaeology, not show and tell.  Archaeology is not simply what you see or what you get down on your hands and knees to look at.  That is antiquarianism; that is not archaeology.  Archaeology happens to be a very well structured discipline with a number of tenets and precepts and theoretical structures and formulae.  These claims have to be verified or falsified like any other claims in science."

Well said, Doctor Starna!

And thank you, David Moyer, for bringing this book to our February 11 meeting.

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NEW OFFICERS ELECTED

 Donald A.Windsor

 New officers were elected at our Chapter meeting on Saturday 14 January 2012.

President = David Moyer
Vice-President = John Antonowicz
Treasurer = Robert Mason
Secretary = Donald A. Windsor

 The vote was unanimous. Two members rose to the officer ranks, Dave and Bob.  John returns for his third term.  I shifted from President to Secretary.  Terms are 2-years.

I was surprised to be awarded an engraved,ceremonial gavel.  The photo below shows Dave on the right presenting it to me.















It was indeed an honor and a privilege to serve and I regret having to leave.

For some mysterious reason, we neglected to take a photo of all four of the new officers.  We will try to get one at our next meeting on Saturday 11 February 2012, 1:00 pm at the Museum Research Center.

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DUGOUT CANOE IN OTSEGO LAKE 1894

Donald A. Windsor

A dugout canoe 16 feet long was pulled out of Otsego Lake during the summer of 1894 by George Rathbun of Cooperstown, according to an article in The Morning Sun (Norwich, NY) of 4 October 1894.  Thanks to Tom Knapp for finding this article.

The canoe was down 50 feet underwater and was pulled up in a fishing seine.  It bore the marks of the blunt instrument used to dig out the hull.  The location was between Hutters Island and Mount Wellington, directly in front of Hyde Hall.  Hyde Hall is on the northern shore of Otsego Lake, just northwest of Glimmerglass State Park.

Note that the length approximates the 17 feet of our Dave Walker canoe, posting of 16 August 2011 on this blog.

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Stone pile site discovered in Smithville

Donald A. Windsor

 This article is posted on my history blog:  exploring-chenango-county-ny.  Just click on the link above.

BLACK ASH IN PHARSALIA

Donald A. Windsor

Black ash are growing in Pharsalia within a half-mile of Deer Pond.

On Tuesday morning 23 August 2011, four of us Bullthistle Hikers found a grove of at least 7 black ash trees in a small swamp east of Camp Pharsalia.  The swamp was about a furlong south of Center Road, about a half-mile east of its intersection with State Route 23, at an elevation of about 1850 feet.

Joining me on this excursion were: Stan Benedict, Sue Berkeley, and Ted Robinson.  Sue was the first to spot a black ash.  Here are some photos.

Identification was based on the corky bark, the compound leaves with 9 leaflets (8 sessile), and samaras.  The samaras were viewed through a telescope, because we could find none on the ground.  Samaras were hanging on 3 of the trees but were too high to reach.  The largest tree was about 4 1/2 inches diameter at breast hight and about 20 feet tall. 

The habitat was a nice swamp.  These trees were growing among sphagnum, spice bush (with fruits), cinnamon fern, sensitive fern, and deep black muck criss-crossed by mossy fallen trees.

Some of these trees were gnarled and exhibited the signs of struggle, with dead limbs and heroic attempts to grasp as much light as they could. 

This was an important discovery because it shows that black ash are still growing near Deer Pond, where our 1720-25 AD dugout canoe was found by Dave Walker in 1946. 

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GUILFORD FUNFEST

A. Gail Merian

Dave Moyer and I staffed our chapter exhibit at the Guilford FunFest on Saturday 20 August 2011.

I tried to get a photo with people visiting but there were not a lot of people at one time and when I got the camera out they would evaporate.  It was nice weather but not a big crowd, maybe because of the Blues Fest and Bouckville.


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