Assessing Intra-Watershed Paleoenvironment and Landform Development: A Case Study from South-Central Pennsylvania

Abstract

Through the detailed multidisciplinary investigation of a single drainage basin, the Aughwick Creek watershed study has produced new insights into the paleoenvironment of the Appalachian Mountain region of south-central Pennsylvania. This study characterized seven alluvial landforms (T-00 to T-5), produced paleobotanical data extending back to the Plum Point interstadial nearly 30,000 BP, and identified evidence suggesting that a former lake existed within the valley sometime between 22,000 and 15,000 BP. In addition to generating information critical to interpreting local prehistoric sites, this study also produced data needed to identify archaeologically sensitive areas within the region and to estimate the appropriate level of effort that would be required to identify buried sites on a wide variety of landforms. Although the specific results of this study apply only to this watershed and similar regions of the Ridge and Valley's Appalachian Mountain section, the general approach could be utilized in a wide variety of settings, including those with aeolian and colluvial deposition.