ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF SITE 36LU321, YANAC HOUSE, PARDEESVILLE LUZERNE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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2021-01Author
Shackel, Paul A.
Jones, Sean M.
Westmont, V. Camille
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The University of Maryland Anthracite Heritage Program summer archaeological field methods
course was taught at Pardeesville, Hazle Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (previously
Lattimer Village No.2) from May through July 2014. As a result of the field school, two previously
undocumented sites were investigated: 36LU321 (Yanac House) and 36LU323 (Lower Street
Double). The following report outlines the Phase I and II archaeological investigations at the
Yanac House Site. The objective of this work was to assess the integrity of archaeological deposits
at the sites to aid in research themes related to the lives of immigrant and second-generation
laborers and their families at the Yanac House Site, and Northeast Pennsylvania as a whole. These
research themes include household demographics, health care, land usage, and transgenerational
trauma.
The field school investigations included historical research and excavation of shovel test pits and
test units varying in size (5 ft x 5 ft, 4 ft x 5 ft, 2.5 ft x 5 ft, and 7.5 ft x 7.5 ft). In total 4 shovel
test pits (STPs) and 9 test units were excavated at 36LU321. The site yielded 7,766 artifacts, 417
of which were ceramic sherds, 1,906 of which were glass, and 1282 of which were modern
materials. Over 110 complete glass bottles were recovered from the excavation, many of which
were related to medicinal care for diabetes, eczema, and congestion/coughing.
Site 36LU321 (Yanac House) consisted of a company-constructed double tenancy house. The
house was constructed by the Pardee Brothers and Company in Lattimer Village No. 2. The
household was rented until the company’s bankruptcy in 1940, and subsequently purchased by the
occupying tenants, the Berish family. The Yanac House (eastern portion of household lot #57) has
been occupied from the coal village tenancy of the 19th century to the present day. In 2000 the
Yanac family would purchase the property from the Berish descendants.
Analysis of the Yanac house artifact assemblage is guided by research themes to provide a
framework of understanding the occupation and lifestyle of the household residents. The research
themes include: (1) land and spatial usage, (2) household demographics, (3) medicinal
usage/availability, and (4) transgenerational trauma. The Yanac House structure has survived over
150 years, however it has been modified over this time-period. Large scale modifications occurred
during the Berish occupation in the mid-20th century and the house has since been modernized.
The large quantity of complete medicinal bottles recovered from the site provide significant
research potential regarding the effects of structural violence on an immigrant labor force, and how
this trauma affects future generations. Material culture related to diabetes and asthma provide data
related to transgenerational trauma in the anthracite coal region.