The Archaeology of Lenapehoking

Present day Philadelphia and the entire Delaware Valley are part of Lenapehoking, the traditional and spiritual homeland of the Lenape. The ancestors of the Lenape first settled in Lenapehoking over 12,000 years ago, just as the last glaciers were retreating from the area. Over the next 2,000 years, the Lenape continued to live and flourish in the region, until their forced removal by the sons of William Penn. In this talk we will cover the 12,000-year history of the Lenape in Lenapehoking as we know it from the archaeological record of the Delaware Valley. From their original settlements to the agricultural villages they lived in at the time of European contact, this talk will focus on what archaeologists know about the first people of the Delaware Valley.

Justin Reamer is a PhD candidate in the Anthropology Department at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on the archaeology of Eastern North America during the Archaic and Woodland periods and the archaeology of the Eastern Agricultural Complex.