Private Collections

This site is NOT for "Treasure Hunters."

When it comes to Bradford County, the story of the Susquehannocks is still quite an incredible mystery to the archeological professionals, even today. Barry Kent, the author of the Susquehannock archeological "authority" titled "Susquehanna's Indians" made several statements in that book urging his peers to roll up their sleeves and continue the research in Bradford County. He noted there were many differences between the Susquehannocks of central PA and the Susquehannocks in Bradford County. He even went so far as to specifically point to area surrounding Athens, PA- which I believe was one of the villages of the Carantouan nation.

Here are just a couple of the many references Barry Kent made in his book "Susquehanna's Indians" concerning Bradford County :

Andaste pot found in the Murray Garden, Athens, PA in 1883

"Northward from the Wyoming Valley, evidence for the Susquehannock sites and pottery is still very thin. Not until we are well into Bradford County, PA do we encounter any quantity of this pottery. Even here, the sites are small and scattered, but there is clearly a concentration of them along the Susquehanna in the northern half of the county" (Kent 1984:297)

"Many facets of developing Susquehannock culture history in the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River valley still need to be worked out. The need for more archeology here may be tainting our understanding of settlement patterns, trade good associations, and the evolution of Shultz Incised from Proto Susquehannock. Even more mundane questions, such as the relationships of the strange vessels with faces and rim and body decorations from the Athens area of Bradford County (see Witthoft 1959; 48; and illustrations in Wren 1914; Plate 6, figures 1-8; Plate 8, Figures 1-4) can perhaps be answered through more intensive archeology." (Kent 1984:298)

 

Actual pottery referenced n the above quote by Barry Kent found in Athens, PA at the Murray Garden Site. Three miles south of Spanish Hill. (This picture is provided by the Tioga Point Museum.)

Where is our evidence? The sad truth is that the majority of the artifacts found at Spanish Hill, Athens, PA and other sites in our area have either been taken for museums far away form Bradford County or are in in private collections. Because of this, it makes it VERY hard to use artifacts spread across several collections and several states as an accumulation of historical evidence; or for them to be used by researchers to finally solve the mystery of Carantouan, or about our local Native American history in general.

Sadly, here is all the artifacts from the top of Spanish Hill that Louise Welles Murray put in her article, "Aboriginal Sites In And Near "Teaoga," Now Athens, Pennsylvania" in 1921:

I have been told by many people in the Pennsylvania Archeology discussion group that very little artifacts were believed to have been found at Spanish Hill.  For this reason, I have been trying to get pictures of as many of the artifacts that were found at Spanish Hill and the surrounding areas on my website.  Just by chance, as I was emailing with one of the archeologists at the PA Historical Commission, he told me that Barry Kent was there with him, and he showed Barry my website collections pages...here is a piece of that email:

"I have been looking at the various links you've provided and your work is very impressive. I am not quite sure if anyone here at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is aware of just how large and significant Mr. Cowles' collection is. In fact, Barry Kent, who you may have heard of, is in our office doing some research today, and he was amazed at the size of this collection, saying that he always felt that there wasn't as much material on top of the hill as there was from sites down in the floodplain of the Chemung River below. Barry is also very impressed with your website."

There is no time like the present to make this plea to all of you. We need to join together to save what remaining artifacts are still in existence in order to be able to continue the research of our area and finally be able to learn of and preserve our Native American past. It's our history - please do not let it fade away.

Email me and let's discuss how we can begin this process, together.

We are lucky enough to have some people in our area that are willing to share what they have found while digging, playing, or hiking in this area over the past years. THANK YOU!

Spanish Hill is currently private property.

Trespassing is not condoned, encouraged or permitted by Deb Twigg or SpanishHill.com

See parts of local private collections from Spanish Hill and the surrounding area:

If you would like to show our collection of artifacts on this site -  - please email me at dtwigg@spanishhill.com.

I still will only give out your names if you want them shared. (promise) - and I would like to take the pictures so that I can see they are as authentic as I claim them to be on this site (not plastic, etc..) Note - - this page will print best in the LANDSCAPE layout.

This page was last updated: 11/14/2006 05:42 PM