Martz Rock Shelter 1
Overview
The Martz Rock Shelter (36 So 14) was located on the farm of Harry Martz, approximately two miles north-west of Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. The site was on a wooded hill above the north bank of the Casselman River. The rock shelter faces south under a projecting overhang of 7.5 feet. The Martz Rock Shelter site consists not only of the shallow overhang, but also a relatively deep but narrow crevice and a fairly spacious and level area (or bench) in front of the overhang. Along with the Martz Rock Shelter 2, this site was excavated in 1938 by a WPA field crew and again in the 1990s, this time by a private archaeology firm in advance of the site's destruction for a new highway. The 1994-1995 archaeological investigations found intact deposits containing American Indian artifacts both outside the areas excavated by the WPA crew and below the deepest layers studied by the WPA archaeologists. Artifacts associated with the WPA crew were also uncovered. Archival research was critical to interpreting the 1938 WPA findings and guiding the 1990s investigations of the site. Construction of the Meyersdale Bypass has since destroyed this site.
Men digging with shovels and hand tools
under a rockshelter overhang.
Site Maps
Click image for larger version.
Estimated limits of 1938 WPA excavations at the Martz site.
Location of Phase II test units excavated
at the Martz Rock Shelter in 1994 and 1995.
Artifact Images
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American Indian
ceramic sherd with
interior and exterior
cordmarking
recovered in 1990s.
Tracings of artifacts
recovered in 1938.
The whereabouts of
the artifacts
are not known.
Shovel blade found
wedged in the
Martz Rock Shelter's
crevice, possibly left
by a WPA crew member.
Liquor bottle base
found below 1938
backfill, definitely
left by a WPA
crew member.
American Indian bifacial
stone tool recovered
in 1990s.
American Indian
groundstone hematite
phallic pendant
recovered in 1990s.
1938 photograph of
groundstone tools
recovered from the
Martz Rock Shelter.
Historic ceramics
probably from
nearby farmstead
recovered in 1990s.
Glass bead
recovered in 1990s.
Site Scenes
Images indicated by a (*) date to 1938. Click image for larger version.
The Martz Rock Shelter
in 1938 (*).
The Martz Rock Shelter
in 1938 (*).
The Martz Rock Shelter
in 1994.
Excavating
at the
Martz Rock
Shelter
in 1994.
1938 WPA
excavations (*)
on top and
1994 recreation
on bottom.
1938 WPA
excavations (*)
on top and
1994 recreation
on bottom.
1938 WPA excavations (*)
on left and 1994
recreation on right.
1938 WPA excavations (*)
on left and 1994
recreation on right.
1938 WPA excavations (*)
on left and 1994
recreation on right.
Looking out from the
crevice at the
Martz Rock Shelter
in 1994.
References
Augustine, Edgar
1938 Important Research on Peck and Martz Rock Shelter Site in Somerset County. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 8 (4):83-88.
Means, Bernard K.
1998 Archaeological Past and Present: Field Methodology from 1930s Relief Excavations in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and its Relevance to Modern Archaeological Interpretations. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 14:39-63. Available online.
1999 Monongahela Mortuary Practices in Somerset County, Pennsylvania: Observations and Implications. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 69 (2):15-44.
2002 Revisiting Mary Butler's "Three Archaeological Sites in Somerset County, Pennsylvania" for Continuing Insights into Depression-era Archaeology in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Late Prehistoric Monongahela Social Organization. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 72 (2): 8-46.
2003 Deliver Me From Mononga-Hell: Thinking Beyond the Culture History Paradigm to Examine the Temporal and Spatial Parameters of Somerset Monongahela Village Settlements. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 19:37-58.
2006 Circular Reasoning: Drawing on Models of Ring-shaped Village Spatial Layouts To Examine Villages in Late Prehistoric Pennsylvania. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.
2007 Circular Villages of the Monongahela Tradition. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.