In 1975 when the Old Bedford Village was being planned, the remnants of an Amerindian village dating to 1250 A.D. was discovered on the property. Penn State and Juniata College sent archaeologists to study the site. Post holes indicated that the 'village' included a stockade wall roughly three hundred feet in diameter. It was estimated that a stockade of that size could conceivably contain fifty to seventy-five cabins.
The artifacts recovered in the dig included bones of mammals: deer, elk, bear, groundhog, fox, raccoon, opossum, rabbit and squirrel; reptiles and amphibians: turtle and frogs; and fish. Pieces of human bones were found. Other artifacts included arrowheads, knives, scrapers and celts (tools that the Amerindians used like our hoes, spades and axes). Shards from clay pottery and evidence of fireplace ashes provided evidence of a somewhat permanent 'village.' Corn kernels and seeds from beans, pumpkin and squash revealed the daily foodstuffs. The artifacts recovered from the dig suggested the Late Woodland period, or roughly from A.D. 1000 to 1600.
The site that bordered along the Dunnings Creek was christened a 'Monongahela' site, so-called for similar sites found in western Pennsylvania in the Monongahela River valley.
The site was discovered by David Coulter, who noticed a pottery shard in the refuse dumped by a backhoe. The backhoe was being used to dig a trench for a concrete foundation. Coulter contacted two friends who were members of the State Archaeological Society. George Von Lunen and Bruce Ribblett joined Coulter in beginning a preliminary dig. The initial dig site was along the row of structures being built closest to the river.
All of the artifacts that were uncovered in the dig were kept at the Old Bedford Village, forming an exhibit in the Shoop House.
