Squirrel Hill Site

	Squirrel Hill Site
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Fields near the site
Location	West of New Florence near the banks of the Conemaugh River in St. Clair Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°22′49.05″N 79°5′20.28″W / 40.3802917°N 79.0889667°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	80003647
Added to NRHP	March 26, 1980

The Squirrel Hill Site is an archaeological site in northeastern Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in St. Clair Township west of the borough of New Florence, it was once occupied by a large Monongahela village during the pre-contact period.^[2]^: 2

The village site lies on a bluff above the Conemaugh River northwest of Squirrel Hill, an imposing summit immediately southwest of New Florence, for which the site is named. The site has frequently been farmed since European settlement, and the disturbance resulting from plowing has brought up a large number of artifacts; consequently, locals have long been aware of the site's archaeological potential. A large area of permanently darkened soil suggests that the site was frequently the home of a dense population.^[2]^: 2

Archaeological investigation has determined that the Squirrel Hill Site is the location of one of the largest Monongahela villages in the valley of the Ohio River. Like the similar Johnston Site to the northwest, it was likely composed of a group of circular houses around a central plaza and encircled by a stockade.^[2]^: 3 Objects found at the site include flint tools, pieces of pottery, and a wide range of bone fragments.^[2]^: 2 The presence of human burials is expected, as the Monongahela often buried their dead within their villages.^[2]^: 3

Aside from plowing for agricultural purposes, the site has only rarely been disturbed; a dirt road crosses the property,^[2]^: 4 but it is believed that the range of artifacts below the plow line has seen little damage.^[2]^: 3 Few other Johnston phase Monongahela villages have been so well preserved as the Squirrel Hill Site. Accordingly, it has been seen as a prime potential site for yielding information about the poorly known late prehistoric Johnston phase.^[2]^: 3

In 1980, the Squirrel Hill Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places because of its archaeological value.^[1] One acre of the site, including land on both sides of the small dirt road, was included in the area added to the Register.^[2]^: 4

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Dragoo, Don W. (April 19, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Squirrel Hill Site" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved November 10, 2014.

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
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Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

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Squirrel Hill Site

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