The Oshnock Archaeology Collection

State Museum archaeology curators David Burke, left, and Janet Johnson, right, and intern Sam Azzaro, middle, unload roughly 50,000 artifacts donated by brothers Bob and Jim Oshnock. The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Archaeologists at The State Museum of Pennsylvania plan to spend this summer entering thousands of Native American artifacts collected from western Pennsylvania into a database that will organize the objects according to specific sites and locations. It’s a lot of work, but not nearly as much as curators typically tackle when inventorying similar collections, thanks to the brothers Oshnock.

In June 2014 paraprofessional archaeologists Bob and Jim Oshnock donated about 50,000 artifacts, including a portion from the collection of family friend Jake Grimm, to the museum’s Section of Archaeology. The collection represents roughly 40 years of archaeological investigations across more than 300 sites in western Pennsylvania, including Westmoreland and Bedford counties. The donation contains artifacts representative of multiple ages ranging from the Paleoindian Period (10,000 to 16,500 years ago) to the mid-1800s.

A spearhead dating from 1,000 to 6,850 years ago found in Westmoreland County. The State Museum of Pennsylvania

The collection is considered to be the most significant of its kind received by The State Museum from western Pennsylvania in 50 years. Through earlier agreements, a majority of artifacts discovered in that region typically would have been preserved at institutions within that area, such as the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. More recently, however, western Pennsylvania artifacts such as those collected by the Oshnocks have made their way east, allowing The State Museum to house comparative collections.

For more than four decades, the Oshnocks, natives of western Pennsylvania, spent time away from work and family walking local fields in search of Native American artifacts such as spearheads and soapstone plumb bobs, or sinkers, weights that early Native Americans used to hold down fishing nets. “I was always worried about what would happen to these artifacts once I passed away,” Bob Oshnock said. “So, I convinced my brother to donate his collection to The State Museum as well.”

Several years ago, when the brothers were working out where they would donate their collections, Bob Oshnock contacted Janet Johnson, a curator in the Section of Archaeology at The State Museum, with questions about how to label and process artifacts to conform to the procedures of state archaeologists. “He was really interested in making sure that the collection was prepared to come here for curation, so that we wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time researching and cataloging,” Johnson said. “Normally, artifacts will come in and we have to research and determine if the collection comes from a recorded site or is adjacent to a recorded site. It’s really about trying to figure out where the collection is coming from.”

An unusual soapstone object – found in Bedford County and likely dating from 1,000 to 6,850 years ago – with an unclear function, as its shape does not conform to typical net sinkers from this period. The State Museum of Pennsylvania

That legwork is important, especially if a federal project is planned on a particular patch of land where artifacts had been previously discovered. Before a specific project breaks ground, the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), in compliance with a provision in the National Historic Preservation Act called Section 106, reviews submitted applications to determine if an archaeological investigation is necessary. For example, if SHPO records indicate that a targeted property is surrounded by multiple Native American sites, the discovery could trigger an investigation or survey of the land in question before any work occurs. “It’s a tool for guiding us on how to preserve those sites,” Johnson said. “SHPO could investigate and then recommend whether the project be redesigned or relocated.” (See Joe Baker, “Digging Deep: 50 Years of Preservation Archaeology,” Fall 2016).

Bob Oshnock, a tooling system engineer by trade, spent his professional career creating and maintaining engineering drawings, skills that would serve him well while documenting his archaeological discoveries. Oshnock filled notebooks with information not only about specific artifacts, but also notes on site data, map coordinates and landowner details. Many of Oshnock’s binders include topographical survey maps illustrating the size of sites and their proximity to water.

And for archaeologists, especially those studying the migration movements of Paleoindians across Pennsylvania, having comparative collections may prove to be the most significant advantage for preserving the Oshnock collection. State archaeologists have found that Native Americans living in western Pennsylvania during the Early Archaic Period of 9,000 to 10,000 years ago traveled across a broad area, some into Ohio, picking up materials in which to fashion tools and other implements. Native Americans living in eastern Pennsylvania during the same period also traversed great distances, but in different directions compared to their western counterparts. The Oshnock collection will be a significant resource for researchers examining these settlement patterns as well as other aspects of Pennsylvania’s rich archeological past.

Jim Oshnock, his grandson Tony Tavares, Bob Oshnock and State Museum preservation specialist James Herbstritt review a map detailing an archeological site. The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Sean Adkins is social media manager for PHMC. Look for his updates at Pennsylvania Trails of History on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.