This research employs machine learning (Mask Region-Based Convolutional Neural Networks [Mask R-CNN]) and cluster analysis (Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise [DBSCAN]) to identify more than 20,000 relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) organized in large “fields” within and around State Game Lands (SGLs) in Pennsylvania. This research has two important threads that we hope will advance the archaeological study of landscapes. The first is the significant historical impact of charcoal production, a poorly understood industry of the late eighteenth to early twentieth century, on the historic and present landscape of the United States. Although this research focuses on charcoal production in Pennsylvania, it has broad application for both identifying and contextualizing historical charcoal production throughout the world and for better understanding modern charcoal production. The second thread is the use of open data, open source, and open access tools to conduct this analysis, as well as the open publication of the resultant data. Not only does this research demonstrate the significance of open access tools and data but the open publication of our code as well as our data allow others to replicate our work, to tweak our code and protocols for their own work, and reuse our results.

The residents of Otstonwakin, an eighteenth-century multinational Native American village in Pennsylvania, were involved in extensive trade networks that resulted in the incorporation, modification, and selective adoption of a variety of European-manufactured goods and technologies. Although Native Americans in the fur trade era like those at Otstonwakin negotiated the exchange of a wide array of commodities including alcohol, firearms, iron tools, and brass kettles, the most commonly traded commodity was cloth. Despite its role as a cornerstone commodity, colonial trade cloth has received considerably less scholarly attention than more durable objects largely because very few textiles have survived into the twenty-first century. This article reports on a rare find, a preserved European textile from Otstonwakin's burial ground recovered in the 1930s and hitherto unanalyzed. By analyzing the fabric fragments, sewing thread, and lace with metallic thread, I explore the material and social negotiation of colonial identity on the Pennsylvania frontier.

Matulaite was first described by Moore and Ito (1980) from the Bachman mine, Hellertown, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, USA. Its ideal formula was reported as CaAl18(PO4)12(OH)20·28H2O, based on wet-chemical analysis. Re-examination of both existing cotype specimens of matulaite revealed no material matching the powder or single-crystal X-ray diffraction data reported for the species. Other samples examined from the type locality, as well as from the LCA pegmatite in North Carolina, USA, and Fumade, Tarn, France, provided material crystallographically consistent with matulaite: P21/n, a = 10.604(2), b = 16.608(4), c = 20.647(5) Å , b = 98.848(7)° and Z = 4. Electron microprobe and crystal structure analysis of newly studied material from the type locality showed the ideal formula of matulaite to be Fe3+ Al7(PO4)4(PO3OH)2(OH)8(H2O)8˙8H2O. The chemical composition reported by Moore and Ito (1980) was most probably determined on a mixture of mostly kobokoboite and afmite, with lesser amounts of crandallite. As there is no matulaite on any of the existing cotype specimens of the species, the two specimens used to obtain the new chemical analyses, powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and the structure determination are designated as neotypes. The neotypes have also been used to obtain crystal morphology and new measurements of the physical and optical properties of the species. The neotypes and new data have been approved by the CNMNC, proposal 11-F. The crystal structure of matulaite contains seven-member chain segments of AlO6 octahedra decorated by PO4 tetrahedra. The PO4 tetrahedra also link to isolated FeO6 octahedra, resulting in a 'pinwheel' Fe(PO4)6 group. The linkage of octahedra and tetrahedra defines a thick layer parallel to {001}. The only linkage between layers is via hydrogen bonding to interlayer water molecules.

Loess is common in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States south of the Late Wisconsinan glacial border particularly along rivers draining the glaciated areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The broadest deposits occur on the flat landscapes of the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland where two episodes of deposition have been identified. The earlier Miles Point Loess has a limited distribution and is buried by the more widespread Paw Paw Loess. OSL and 14C dates place deposition of the Miles Point Loess during MIS 3. The well developed paleosol formed in the Miles Point Loess acts as a stratigraphic marker. The Paw Paw Loess buries Clovis age cultural materials which date deposition to the end of the Pleistocene. Loess deposits and paleosols are critical in understanding regional landscape evolution, Late Pleistocene environments, and early North American cultural history. Mapping the extent of loess in the Mid-Atlantic using the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s gSSURGO database overrepresents loess in some areas and underrepresents in others.

We tested the effects of seeding date and weed control during switchgrass establishment in a field experiment that was conducted in central Pennsylvania in 2007 and repeated in 2008. Switchgrass was no-till seeded in early May, late May, and mid-June, and three postemergence weed management treatments were evaluated, including Mow (only a single mowing), Broadleaf (2,4-D + dicamba), and Broad Spectrum (2,4-D + dicamba + atrazine + quinclorac). Switchgrass density increased at later seeding dates, except in 2008, when the middle seeding date had the lowest density. In both years, weed biomass in late summer was lowest in the last seeding date of the Broad Spectrum treatment. In contrast, switchgrass biomass in late summer was greatest in the first seeding date of the Broad Spectrum treatment in both years. In the year after establishment (production year), plots were split to test the effects of supplemental weed control, composed of metsulfuron + 2,4-D applied in May, on total aboveground yield. Supplemental control in the production year increased total aboveground yield in the Mow treatment only, indicating that effective weed control during the establishment year might reduce the need for weed control in the following year. Although maximum aboveground yield was achieved when switchgrass was seeded in May and herbicides were used, results from our experiment suggest that seeding switchgrass at a relatively high seeding rate in June in our study region and mowing annual weeds to reduce competition and prevent seed production could be an effective strategy if minimizing herbicide use is a priority.

Periglacial conditions beyond the Wisconsin glacial limit produced wind-transverse corrugations in east-central Pennsylvania. The corrugations are low, linear ridges typically several hundred meters long, 10–30 m wide, and 3–8 m above the local slope. They are composed of matrix-supported diamictons. Depending upon landscape position, the corrugations form welts, step and risers, or ground-ice-scar ramparts. The average direction normal to the corrugations is clustered at 118°/298°, similar to the late Wisconsin or early Holocene wind direction of 284° measured from a nearby fossil dune field. But the corrugations were neither eroded nor deposited by wind. Rather, they record nivation beside snow that accumulated in wind-transverse patterns. Their wide distribution implies that the region was treeless during the late Wisconsin maximum. Present discontinuities in these and other periglacial features suggest wasting of ice-rich fill in upland valleys, with consequent widening of stream channels and fan growth, at the end of periglacial time.

Recently, there has been much interest among horticultural producers concerning the marketing of organic and locally produced food. A consumer survey was administered that asked respondents to choose an applesauce product from a list of products differentiated by price, and by labels that described fat content, nutrition content, and whether the product was grown organically and/or locally. Our analysis indicates that consumers were willing to pay more for locally grown applesauce compared to applesauce that was labeled USDA Organic, Low Fat, or No Sugar Added. Furthermore, we find evidence that increased knowledge of agriculture decreases the willingness to pay for organic and locally grown applesauce.

Parasites are often aggregated on a minority of the individuals in their host populations. Although host characteristics are commonly presumed to explain parasite aggregation on hosts, spatio-temporal aggregation of parasites during their host-seeking stages may have a dominant effect on the aggregation on hosts. We aimed to quantify, using mixed models, repeatability and autocorrelation analyses, the degree to which the aggregation of blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) on white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) is influenced by spatio-temporal distributions of the host-seeking ticks and by heterogeneity among mice. Host-seeking ticks were spatially aggregated at both the larval and nymphal life-stages. However, this spatial aggregation accounted for little of the variation in larval and nymphal burdens observed on mice (3% and 0%, respectively). Conversely, mouse identity accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in tick burdens. Mouse identity was a significant explanatory factor as the majority of ticks parasitized a consistent set of mice throughout the activity seasons. Of the characteristics associated with mouse identity investigated, only gender affected larval burdens, and body mass and home range sizes in males were correlated with nymphal burdens. These analyses suggest that aggregation of ticks on a minority of mice does not result from the distribution of host-seeking ticks but from characteristics of the hosts.