WRITE ON WEDNESDAY
ON HISTORY AND VANDALS
A few weeks back, vandals with nothing better to do destroyed a historical dig near Duryea and the Coxton areas of our area. This Times/Shamrock Editorial outlined what the damage was and how to punish the vandals or make them aware of history. Please!! These thugs only know brute force. It's a good thought but the punishment is tame compared to my plan for vandals. It's today's "Write On Wednesday".Northeastern Pennsylvania has a serious problem in that many people, especially the young, have no connection to, nor respect for, our history. This point was driven home with the recent senseless destruction of a Native American dig site in Duryea Borough.
We do not know yet if the vandalism was the work of younger people, but the depth of the destruction appears to point to a group bent on destroying the work of archaeologists, professional and amateur, just for the sake of whatever thrill the vandals got out of the malicious act.
We are losing enough history through the passing of people with tremendous knowledge of Luzerne County's past.
Artifacts are being sold because area historical societies do not have archive space. It is terrible, then, to suffer an arrogant attack on a truly historical site.
The Frances Dorrance Chapter of the Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology is perplexed by the destruction. All fair-minded and law-abiding citizens share this attitude.
Hundreds of hours of patient digging have yielded Native American artifacts that date back 10,000 years. One point found at the site was carbon-dated to about 8,000 B.C. It takes little imagination to picture Native Americans in canoes or dugouts on the Susquehanna River, setting up camp or a village where the Lackawanna River flows into the larger channel.
We hope Duryea police and other investigating agencies find the culprits. Then, following conviction, we would encourage the courts to be imaginative in sentencing. Perhaps the vandals could be made to rebuild all destroyed benches, replace tarps and do the heavy lifting necessary to get the site into some semblance of order. Finally, the court could order those responsible to stand on street corners in the Pittston area wearing signboards proclaiming their senseless behavior. It is nearly impossible to place guards at such digs, so a strong deterrence is needed. Meanwhile, we encourage historical societies and teachers of history in our schools to redouble their efforts to build a sense of history in our children.