Dr. John P. Hart

Curator Emeritus
john.hart@nysed.gov
518-474-3895

My research has focused primarily on the histories of maize, bean, and squash in New York and the greater Northeast and the interactions of human populations with these crops. Through collaborations with numerous colleagues both at the Museum and other institutions, this research resulted in new understandings of these histories and interactions. A primary focus has been on charred cooking residues adhering to the interior surfaces of pottery sherds in the collections of the Museum. These residues contain microfossil evidence (phytoliths, starch, lipids) of the plants cooked in the pots. In addition the residues can be directly radiocarbon dated through accelerator mass spectrometry. These methods and techniques have provided new evidence that is radically altering our understandings of the histories of agriculture in New York State. Theory building to develop understandings of these new histories is another focus. This research has broad implications for Native American history in New York and the greater Northeast.

Most recently I have been working with colleagues on Social Network Analyses (SNA) of northern Iroquoian sites dating from A.D. 1350 to 1650. SNA is a formal graphing method, which in archaeology is used to identify relationships between sites based on similarities of artifact assemblages. This research is helping to build new understandings of interactions between village populations and how these interactions changed through time during the last centuries before and then after European involvements.

My Research Projects

Publications

1996

J. Hart, L. Sullivan 1996, Systematics and Chronology. Historic Context Development for Prehistoric Sites, U.S. Route 219, Cattaraugus and Erie Counties, New York. Presented at the ,, Albany, New York
J. Hart, L. Sullivan 1996, Historical Context Development, PIN5101.53.121, U.S. Route 219, Cattaraugus and Erie Counties, New York, , .
J. Hart, L. Sullivan 1996, Introduction to Prehistoric Contexts, , 1-4.
J. Hart, Asch Sidell 1996, Prehistoric Agricultural Systems in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River Basin, A.D. 800 to A.D. 1350, Northeast Anthropology 52, 1-30.
J. Hart 1996, Review of Native American Interactions: Multiscalar Analyses and Interpretations in the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Michael S. Nassaney and Kenneth E. Sassaman, Southeastern Archaeology 15, 261-263.

1995

Cremeens, D., Hart, J., 1995. On Chronostratigraphy, Pedostratigraphy, and Archaeological Context, in: Collins, M., Carter, B., Gladfelter, B., Southard, R. (Eds.), Pedological Perspectives in Archaeological Research. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, pp. 15-34.
J. Hart, J. Nass 1995, Modeling Monongahela Subsistence-Settlement Change: Introduction, Archaeology of Eastern North America 23, 23-26.
J. Hart, J. Nass 1995, Papers from the Monongahela Symposium, 59th ESAF Meeting, Pittsburgh, 1992, Archaeology of Eastern North America Eastern States Archaeological Federation, Augusta, Maine
J. Hart 1995, Storage and Monongahela Subsistence-Settlement Change, Archaeology of Eastern North America 23, 41-56.

1994

J. Hart 1994, Archaeological Investigations at the Mon City site (36WA737), Washington County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Archaeologist 64, 7-39.