Hello history lovers! Sorry for the click-baitish title but my question is as ludicrous as it sounds. This is my first post to reddit, however being a serial lurker I understand that it may be my last hope in deciphering a particularly curious claim by an informational marker in the Pennsylvania wilderness.
I was recently in the small town of Confluence and, driving home, came across an archaeological site called "Fort Hill." Intrigued, I stopped to look at the hill and its accompanying plaques. The hill itself is at first glance unremarkable apart from the fact that, unlike the surrounding mountains, it has a flattened top (see link). Here's where it gets weird. The Pennsylvania Heritage marker, after providing information about the natural history of the area, claims that "Artifacts found here and at other nearby sites indicate that the site may be a 'hill fort' built by pre-Columbian Iberian Celtic immigrants from Portugal and Spain."
Am I going crazy, or is the Pennsylvanian Heritage committee challenging the current chronology of European exploration to the Americas by claiming that Iberian Celtics were flattening Pennsylvanian mountains prior to 1200 AD? Nothing that I've seen researching the site corroborates or even references this claim, but I'm curious as to how it made its way to a government placard. Could this be nothing more than the work of an intern with an incredible sense of humor?
I'm at a loss and any information would help!
Yeah this either a massive typo or a claim with absolutely no supporting evidence. Flattened fort hills were often built by Celtic people's as stronghold's around territory. However it makes no sense that Iberian Celts could cross the Atlantic (their certainly not known for sea faring). And then also travel deep inland to build a fort, they would have left some other form of material evidence somewhere if they had actually built this fort. I'd also point out that we already know that Native Americans built hill forts in a similar fashion to Celts, it's very likely the one you're seeing is native made. I don't want to accuse the Pennsylvania heritage committee of White-washing, I think this is likely an error by whoever wrote this sign. But attempting to deny any large scale achievements by Native Americans is quite common
Example of native American hill fort in Massachusetts http://www.tauntonriver.org/forthill.htm