October, 2014 AAM Calendar of Events
Following are this year's scheduled events. This calendar is NOT intended to be a FOSA-only facility; instead, it will contain links to a wide variety of archaeological, historical, and interpretive societies' events, with links to their web sites where more detailed information can be gained. In this way, too, our hope is to spread knowledge of the groups and their activites beyond their normal audience.
• FOSA Outreach Display: Hammonasset Beach - Meigs Point Fall Festival
When: Saturday October 4 and Sunday October 5 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Where: Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, CT (behind the Nature Center)
What: Join the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology (FOSA) and the Museum and Archaeology
Center, at the Meigs Point Festival - celebrating nature, native skills, and music at Hammonasset State Park!
Explore Connecticut's vibrant natural and cultural history. Come try your hand at using the atlatl, an ancient
spear-throwing tool that predates the bow and arrow. There will be ongoing amateur atlatl contests and the New
England Atlatl Championship. Additional activities will include Native American drumming and dancing, State
Troubadours Tom Callinan and John Campbell with the Kerry Boys, nature programs, Meigs Point Nature Center
activities, archaeology and geology exhibits, antique cars, fire trucks, farming exhibits, and farm animals. The
FOSA Outreach Table will also have an exhibit there.
Cost: Admission to the park is free.
> All ages are welcome. Atlatl activity is limited to adults and children ages 8 and above. Children must
be accompanied by an adult.
> For additional information, call 203-245-9192, or visit their web site by clicking
hammonasset.org.
• Lantern Hill Hike, sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum
When: Saturday October 4 10:00AM to 12:00 noon
Where: 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, CT 06338
What: Join Senior Researcher Dr. Jason Mancini to explore the geology and cultural history of Lantern
Hill. Current research on the history and occupation of the adjacent tribal reservations is covered. Be prepared
for a strenuous yet fun climb to the top of Lantern Hill. Rain or shine.
Cost: $5 Museum members, $10 non-members. Museum admission not included.
| Register by Oct. 2 by calling 800-411-9671 or by sending an email to: rsvp@pequotmuseum.org. | For additional information, visit the Mashantucket Muserum web site's Calendar of Events by clicking pequotmuseum.org/explore/events/. | For information on the trail, please click alltrails.com. |
• A Film: Easter Island - from Paradise to Calamity
When: Thursday October 9 8:00PM
Where: GenRe Forum, East Campus, Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT 06854
What: Sponsored by the Norwalk Community College Archaeology Club
Cost: The film is free and open to the public.
> For additional information: call Professor Ernie Wiegand at 203-857-7377
• Bus Tour to Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Avella, PA; Guided Tour by Dr. James Adovasio
When: Friday October 10 thru Sunday October 12, 2014
Where: Avella, Pennsylvania; staying at Hilton Garden Inn
What: The first prehistoric artifacts were discovered in a groundhog burrow at the site in 1955 by
property owner and museum founder, Albert Miller. In 1973, the first professional excavation of the Rockshelter
was conducted by the Cultural Resource Management Program (CRMP) of the University of Pittsburgh and directed
by J. M. Adovasio, Ph.D. Subsequent University of Pittsburgh field school excavations took place from 1973-1989.
More recent research and excavation has been directed by Dr. Adovasio through the Mercyhurst Archaeological
Institute (MAI). The excavation protocols used at Meadowcroft are still considered state-of-the-art which is
widely regarded as one of the most carefully excavated sites.
Cost: $325 per person double-occupancy, or $420 for a single.
NOTE1: Advance registration with full payment required by August 1, 2014.
NOTE2: Registration is limited to 40 people, and will be on a first-come/first-served basis.
| For additional information, access the Flyer by clicking
|
For the Registration Form, please click
|
• Monhantic Fort Tour, sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum
When: Saturday October 11 10:30AM to 12:00 noon
Where: 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, CT 06338
What: Director of Research Dr. Kevin McBride leads a guided tour of a King Philip's War-era Pequot
fort, located within walking distance from the Museum. The Monhantic Fort site was discovered in 1992 by Dr.
McBride and is one of the best-studied Native forts from the period. Learn about archeological field methods,
findings, and the significance of this unique site. Moderate hike.
Cost: $5 Museum members, $10 non-members. Museum admission not included.
| Register by Oct. 4 by calling 800-411-9671 or by sending an email to: rsvp@pequotmuseum.org. | For additional information, visit the Mashantucket Museum web site's Calendar of Events by clicking
|
• 37th Annual Walking Tour of the Cheney Historic District
When: Saturday October 11 1:00PM
Where: Fuss & O'Neill building, 146 Hartford Road, Manchester, CT
What: Find out about those huge brick buildings that remain from the days of the world-famous Cheney
Bros. silk mills. Who worked there? Who owned the mills? Where did workers and owners live? This event is
co-sponsored by Manchester Community College and the Manchester Historical Society. We'll see Cheney Hall, the
former silk mills, the location of the defunct South Manchester Railroad, the Loom exhibit at the former Cheney
machine shop, neighborhoods of worker housing, and the Old Manchester Museum. The walk takes about two hours
with a distance of a mile or so.
Cost: The walk is free, but donations to the Manchester Historical Society are welcome.
> Commentary will be provided by Dr. Chris Paulin of Manchester Community College,
> No rain date, so bring umbrellas if weather is iffy. Extreme weather cancels.
> To view a map of the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District on their web site,
please click
• "Uncovering the Truth of Connecticut's Black Governors: The Archaeology of the Quash and Roswell Freeman Homestead"
When: Sunday October 12 2:00PM - 3:30PM
Where: Prudence Crandall Museum, 1 South Canterbury Road, Canterbury, CT 06331
What: Join Prof. Jerry Sawyer, Anthropology Department, Central Connecticut State University, for an
illustrated talk on the work being done at the homestead in Derby owned at one time by Quash and Roswell
Freeman, who were two of Connecticut's 18th and 19th century Black Governors.
| Cost of the program is included in regular museum admission. | For additional information on the Prudence Crandall Museum, please call |
• When Suspicion Meets Science: Examining the Belief in Vampires in Connecticut and New England
When: Thursday October 16 6:30PM
Where: 211 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109
What: Connecticut's former State Archaeologist, Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni will shed light on one of the
Nutmeg State's most intriguing historical mysteries, the Jewett City Vampires. Dr. Bellantoni will describe the
history of the Jewett City vampires, including origins of the beliefs in the undead seeking nourishment from
family members and how the living were protected. He will reflect not only on vampires but also on other
unexplained mysteries.
Cost: The lecture is free; it will be preceded by a wine reception, starting at 6:00PM for which a
donation to cover the cost of the wine is requested.
| For additional information on the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, please call 860-529-0612 or click webb-deane-stevens.org. |
• "The Artful Silk Road, Past and Present: The Silk Route from Earliest Times Through the Islamic Conquest"
When: Thursday October 16 8:00PM
Where: The Bruce Museum, One Museum Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830
What: Yale Professor Karen Polinger Foster will discuss this as part of the Archaeological Associates
of Greenwich (AAG) October meeting. Dr. Foster's illustrated lecture will offer a three-part introduction to
the art and archaeology of Central Asia's fabled Silk Road. First: the ancient art of the steppes.
Second: the art of Islam, particularly in the caravan cities of Samarkand, Bokhara and Khiva. Third: the
remarkable similarities between past and present, people and places as seen in a photo essay inspired by her
May 2014 journey with the Yale Alumni Travel team.
> Professor Foster specializes in Bronze Age art of the ancient world. She is the author of over seventy
articles and book reviews. Her most recent book is award-winning Civilizations of Ancient Iraq,
co-authored with husband Yale Professor Benjamin Foster. She has recently completed a trilogy dealing with
volcanic imagery in art and literature, from the Thera eruption to Pompeii. Her undergraduate work was at Mount
Holyoke College and her M.A. and Ph.D. was from Yale.
Cost: The program is free to AAG, Bruce Museum members and students with an ID. Non-member admission
is $15.
> For additional information on this lecture, please call 203-869-0376.
• Archaeology Fair & Archaeological Society of Connecticut Fall Meeting
When: Saturday October 18 10:00AM to 4:00PM
Where: Wesleyan University, Exley Science Tower, 256 Church Street, Middletown CT.
Cost: Free and open to the public.
| For detailed information on the Fair, please click AAM_Flyer_2014. | For the agenda of the ASC Fall Meeting, please click ASC_Fall_Meeting . | For directions to Wesleyan Univesity and a map of the campus with the Exley Science Tower highlighted, please click #Directions. |
• "Atlatl Games" at the 17th Annual Bauer Park Harvest Festival
When: Saturday October 18 1:00PM and 3:00PM
Where: Bauer Park, 257 Copse Road, Madison, CT (opposite the intersection of Copse Road and Hunter's Trail)
What: Atlatl champion Gary Nolf will demonstrate the use of this ancient weapon, which predates the
bow and arrow, which uses leverage to throw spears to hunt game with. While an ancient device, it's still used
in the Amazon today.
Cost: Free and open to the public
> For additional information, please call 203-245-5623.
• Meet the Author and Book Signing - IAIS Museum
When: Sunday October 19 2:00PM and 4:30PM
Where: Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS), 38 Custis Road, Washington, CT 06793
What: Abenaki author Jeanne Morningstar Kent presents her latest book, The Visual Language of
Abenaki Art. This book is an introduction into the creative world of both traditional and contemporary art
among the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, MicMac, Maliseet, and Abenake People of the northeastern woodland tribes.
Cost: Museum admission: $8.00 adults, $6.00 seniors, $5.00 children (3-12 years); IAIS Members: free.
> For additional information, please call 860-868-0518.
• Archaeology Field Workshop: Learning the Basics
When: Saturday October 25 9:00AM to 11:00AM
Where: UConn, Storrs Campus (directions will be sent to participants)
What: What happens at an archaeological dig? Learn about the science, field techniques, tools, and
cultural aspects of archaeology from professional archaeologist Mandy Ranslow. Participants will be part of a
real archaeological field crew, doing hands-on fieldwork at a genuine, ongoing historic house excavation at
UConn. Findings at the site add important information to our understanding of Connecticut's rich historic past.
If you like to solve historic mysteries and don't mind getting your hands dirty, then this is the activity for
you!
Cost: Advance registration required: $20 ($15 for CT State Museum of Natural History members)
> For additional information, please call 860-486-4460.
> Adults and children ages 10 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
• Cheney Railroad History Walk
When: Saturday October 25 1:00PM
Where: Meet at the North End of Main Street in Manchester, on the north (right) side of Farr's
Sporting Goods, 2 Main Street, Manchester, CT 06042. Park at the nearby shopping plaza or Eighth Utilities
District office building (please do not park in Farr's parking lot).
What:Hikers will have an easy, but bumpy, walk along the former railroad, built in 1869 to connect
the Cheney silk mills to the main rail line in the North End. At 2.5 miles, it was the shortest private
freight-and-passenger railroad in the United States. We will hike along the one-mile portion owned by the
Manchester Land Conservation Trust and, depending on the weather, on to Center Springs Park, which will take
about 1¾ hours round trip. Participants will hear about the history of the railroad and see maps and old
pictures. Phone hike leader Susan Barlow (860-643-9776) if questions.
A special favor will be given to children who attend the hike, sponsored by the Connecticut Forest & Park
Association's family hike program, but open to all, including singles. Extreme weather cancels. No dogs, please.
The circa 1900 photo shows a railroad official facing east. To the left in the photo, the Cheney railroad
spur curves away toward the South End.
Cost: Free.
| To see information about the history of the Cheney Railroad on the Manchester Historical Society's website, please click MHS#CheneyRailroad. | To enjoy the trail on your own, print a copy of the railroad map, which you can access by by clicking MHS#R.R.mapbrochure.pdf. |
• Quinebaug Shetucket Heritage Corridor's "Walktober" - Vampire Folk Belief in Historic New England
When: Saturday November 1* 10:00AM to noon, rain or shine
Where: Jewett City, CT(directions will be sent to participants)
What: Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni will lead a walk through an area of Connecticut's Quiet Corner steeped
in history and folklore. In 1990 a couple of very surprised young boys discovered two skulls at the site of a
new gravel quarry in eastern Connecticut. Dr. Nick Bellantoni, Connecticut's State Archaeologist at the time,
and others were called in to investigate what turned out to be a forgotten colonial family cemetery. One grave
in particular caught their eye. Someone had arranged the burial in an unusual way. This led to further
investigation involving archaeology, forensics, genealogy, and folklore that produced the theory that the cause
for the oddity in the burial was the belief that its occupant was a vampire. Vampire folklore was rampant in New
England from 1780 to the 1890s, and a combination of disciplines helps archaeologists today discover more about
peoples' attitudes towards health and healing during this period. As was learned, a real public health issue was
to blame. Presented by the Griswold Bicentennial Committee and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History
and Connecticut Archaeology Center.
Cost: Advance registration required; this walk is limited to no more than 70 people.
FREE for adults and children ages 12 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Please register by mail or call the Museum to reserve your space!
> For additional information, please call 860-486-4460.
> Adults and children ages 10 and above. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
>*Although officially outside of Archaeology Awareness Month, this event is being included
because it's in the final week of the Month.
• Indian Rock Shelters Guided Hike
When: Sunday November 2* 1:00PM - 2:30PM
Where: Madison, CT (see directions below)
What: This event is being led by FOSA members Dr. Don Rankin and Gary Nolf. The loop trail offers an
usual opportunity to visit rock shelters used by native Americans for perhaps as many as 10,000 years! The
landscape reveals fascinating watershed features of both the Hammonasset and Neck Rivers. We will talk about the
geology of Connecticut and how these rock shelters were formed as well as how they were used by Native Americans.
We will have artifact collections to show to the participants recovered from the area.
Cost: No cost; however, participation is limited to members
of the Madison Historical Society, the Deacon John Grave Society, the Charlotte L. Evarts Memorial Archives, and
FOSA.
Directions: From North Madison Traffic circle, go east on Rt. 80 0.7 miles to Summer Hill Rd., turn
left on Summer Hill for 0.7 miles and left on Twilight Drive Drive for 0.5 mile to Lake Drive. Follow Lake Drive
to cul-de-sac and Trailhead.
*Although officially outside of Archaeology Awareness Month, this event is being included
because it's in the final week of the Month.
• 9th Annual Native American-Archaeology Roundtable "Stone Cultural Features and Ceremonial Landscapes"
When: Saturday November 8* 9:00AM to 5:00PM
Where: Institute for American Indian Studies (IAIS), 38 Custis Road, Washington, CT 06793
What: Please join us for another rousing Native American-Archaeology Round Table with outstanding
presentations and panel discussions by New England professional archaeologists and Native American leadership.
This year's Roundtable will explore stone cultural features and ceremonial sites/landscapes. Our diverse
group of speakers will share their experiences and knowledge about this expansive category of cultural features.
Until recently, stone cultural features have gone largely undocumented by cultural resource professionals while
working in the field. The explicit goal is to introduce new information and elicit suggestions for how
professional archaeologists can consider and record this variety of cultural resource in future investigations.
Among the speakers will be CT State Archaeologist Dr. Brian Jones.
*Although officially outside of Archaeology Awareness Month, this event is being included
as a special request.
| For additional information, please call the Institute at 860-868-0518, or access the IAIS web site's home page by clicking www.iaismuseum.org. |
FALL MEETING
Wesleyan University
Exley Science Center
265 Church St.
Middletown, CT
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Held in conjunction with the Connecticut Archeology Fair, October 18, open 10 am to 4 pm
No registration required: Free with a suggested $5 donation for 18 and over.
Visit the Fair! Explore and learn about many of the archaeological investigations going on around the
state. Local archaeological societies, historical societies, and universities will have displays highlighting
past and current excavations and research. View and touch real artifacts! Have questions about archaeology?
There will be archaeologists there to provide answers. Whether you just have a passing interest in archaeology
or you want to find out how to become more involved, there will be something for everyone. Parking is to the
rear of the Exley Science Center, with access from Lawn Ave., or on Lawn Ave. and other surrounding streets.
Speakers:
11:00 A Snook Kill Phase Site in Marshfield, Massachusetts
Brian D. Jones, Connecticut State Archaeologist, and Brianna Rae
Archaeological and Historical Services Inc. recently excavated a rich Snook Kill phase site in Marshfield,
Massachusetts. Dated features and diagnostic tools from the site indicate an age of 3500 years ago. Artifacts
were recovered beneath a horizon of peat that had formed over the past 1500 years in this near-coastal setting.
The strikingly pristine site documents a complete artifact production, use and discard sequence, from the
reduction of rhyolite cobbles into carefully prepared cores, and large flake blanks into tools. Bifacial
implements include numerous Snook Kill points, asymmetrical knives, and over a dozen awls. Refitting between
tool fragments indicates two contemporaneous areas of activity. The organization of the site and spent tool kit
suggest that a very focused episode of construction occurred here, possibly related to bark canoe manufacture.
> Brian Jones became Connecticut's State Archaeologist this July. Brian has worked as an archaeologist
since 1992 for AHS/PAST Inc, The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, and Archaeological Services at
UMass Amherst. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology at UConn in 1998. Brian has a broad background in New
England archaeology that spans the Paleoindian period through the industrial era.
> Brianna Rae works as a professional archaeologist with Archaeological and Historical Services, Inc. She
served as a crew member during the 2013 excavation of the Snook Kill phase site in Marshfield, MA. Since then,
she has completed the inventory of the site and assisted with artifact refitting and mapping. Ms. Rae plans to
incorporate further analysis of the Marshfield site into future graduate studies.
12:00 Above-ground Archaeology at Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village
Ernest Wiegand, Norwalk Community College
The Shakers at Mt. Lebanon, in New Lebanon, N.Y., lived in a group of villages where they practiced the
tenets of their faith: celibacy, communal living and the confession of sins. This talk will focus on the study
of the North Family Brethrens' Workshop. Here, detailed documentation of the structure and the recovery of
artifacts within the building prior to its stabilization and repair revealed many aspects of Shaker history and
lifeways: their social and economic organization, their ingenuity in both agriculture and industry and the
growth of the Shaker movement and its gradual decline as the membership decreased in the later 19th and early
20th centuries.
> Ernie Wiegand has taught at Norwalk Community College since 1975 and has been coordinator of the
Archaeology as an Avocation certificate program since 1990. In addition to teaching, he has worked in CRM
projects for over 30 years.
1:00 The Battle of Mistick Fort: June 25-26, 1637
Kevin McBride, University of Connecticut
Director of Research, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center
Conflict archaeology can offer a unique perspective into the nature and evolution of warfare in Native
American and Euro-American societies in colonial contexts and how these societies shaped warfare and were in
turn shaped by them. The "Battlefields of the Pequot War" project, funded by the National Park Service American
Battlefield Protection Program, seeks to move beyond documentation of the battle-related objects associated with
Pequot War battlefields and place the conflict in a broader cultural and historical context. The archaeology
associated with the Battle of Mistick Fort provides a useful framework for understanding the nature and
evolution of Pequot military, political, and social institutions in the early seventeenth century. The day-long
battle between the Pequot and Connecticut colonists and their Mohegan, Wangunk, and Narragansett allies was the
most intensive battle of the Pequot War and effectively ended Pequot resistance.
> Kevin McBride is Director of Research for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and an
Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut.
> Dr. Warren R. Perry is a Professor at CCSU and the director of the University's Archaeology Laboratory for
African & African Diaspora Studies (ALAADS)
From Hartford and points north
Take I-91 south to Exit 22 for Route 9 southbound. At exit 15, turn right onto Route 66 West (Washington Street), turn left onto High Street, then see "To Exley Science Center" below.
From New Haven, New York and points south
Take I-95 North to I-91 North. At exit 18, take Route 691/66 East. Route 66 becomes Washington Street in Middletown. Take right onto High Street, then see "To Exley Science Center" below.
Or, take I-95 north to the Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway (Route 15 North) to Route 66 Eastbound. Take right onto High Street, then see "To Exley Science Center" below.
From Waterbury and points west
Take I-84 East. Take exit 27 to Route 691/66 East. Route 66 becomes Washington Street in Middletown. Take right onto High Street, then see "To Exley Science Center" below.
To Exley Science Center
Continue south on High St. for five blocks to Lawn Ave. on right. Turn right on Lawn Ave and on first block see rear of Exley Science Center and parking on your right or use street parking in this area.
