A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System , abbreviated SITS ) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States . Trinomials are composed of a one or two digit coding for the state, typically two letters coding for the county or county-equivalent within the state, and one or more sequential digits representing the order in which the site was listed in that county. The Smithsonian Institution developed the site number system in the 1930s and 1940s, but it no longer maintains the system. Trinomials are now assigned by the individual states. The 48 states then in the union were assigned numbers in alphabetical order. Alaska was assigned number 49 and Hawaii was assigned number 50, after those states were admitted to the union. There is no Smithsonian trinomial number assigned for the District of Columbia or any United States territory.
7-577: The Memorial Park Site (designated 36CN164 ) is an archaeological site located near the confluence of Bald Eagle Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lock Haven in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania . Research projects conducted at the site since 1979 have found prehistoric cultural deposits that collectively span 8,000 years. Stratified in age-related sequence, the deposits represent every major prehistoric period from
14-686: The Middle Archaic to the Late Woodland . The site's dominant component holds the remains of an early Late Woodland (500–1000 CE ) village inhabited by people of the Clemson Island culture . The convergent streams and their two valleys made the site readily accessible to pre-Columbian people living in both drainage basins. Among the components of the site are two strata, dating from 5000-6000 and c. 2600 BP respectively. Both components were radiocarbon dated from fragments of Cucurbita pepo ,
21-646: The United States Army Corps of Engineers . Subsequent research sponsored by the Office of State Archeology and the Office of Historic Preservation of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1980 helped determine the site boundaries. Smithsonian trinomial Most states use trinomials of the form "nnAAnnnn", but some specify a space or dash between parts of the identifier, i.e., "nn AA nnnn" or "nn-AA-nnnn". Some states use variations of
28-457: The rectangle, and a code identifying the agency issuing the sequential number. California uses a three-letter abbreviation for counties. Connecticut and Rhode Island do not use any sub-state codes, with site identifiers consisting of the state abbreviation and a sequential number series for the whole state. Delaware uses a single letter code for counties and adds a block code (A-K) within each county, with sequential numbers for each block. Hawaii uses
35-399: The site and have protected it from recent activity on the surface. The Veterans of Foreign Wars acquired the property in the 1920s and used it for a park. Piper Aircraft bought the fields adjacent to the park in the 1960s to use for airport runways and airplane storage. In the 1970s, Conran A. Hay, a consultant, discovered the prehistoric site during an archeological survey conducted for
42-493: The squash plant; the absence of wild squash plants near the site and its distance from well-documented wild populations is evidence that the gourds were intentionally brought to the location by humans. Memorial Park contains the only area on the West Branch side of the point of land between the river and the creek that has not been disturbed by subsequent development. Alluvial deposits 20 to 28 inches (51 to 71 cm) deep cover
49-463: The trinomial system. Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont use two-letter abbreviations of the state name instead of the Smithsonian number. Alaska uses three-letter abbreviations for USGS map quadrangles in place of the county code. Arizona uses a five-part identifier based on USGS maps, specifying quadrangles, then rectangles within a quadrangle, a sequential number within
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