Kimberlee Sue Moran is Unearthing the History of New Jersey’s Indigenous People
October 9, 2023
Long before anyone from Europe landed on the shores of North America, the Indigenous Lenni Lenape people established a vibrant, stable, and complex society in the Northeastern Woodlands, primarily in what is now New Jersey, Delaware, and Eastern Pennsylvania. At a site known as Whispering Woods in the small town of Pilesgrove, New Jersey, the story of the Lenni Lenape has been partially pieced together, one discovery at a time.
“The items and artifacts found during our archeological work at this site inform our understanding of the greater arc of the human experience," said Kimberlee Sue Moran, an associate teaching professor in the Chemistry department at Rutgers University in Camden specializing in forensic archaeology.
Moran was invited to conduct archeological research at the site by the property owner after an initial survey revealed a high likelihood of previous human activity from the time of the Lenape. Moran dug in with archeologists from a local foundation and students from Rutgers University–Camden.