Upcoming Events
Of Interest to FOSA Members and the General Public.
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FOSA members who have indicated interest in participating in field work, laboratory work, or outreach activities in the Interest Inventory of the "Membership Application" form will be notified of particulars as the date of an event approaches.
> If you would like to help out at an outreach event contact the FOSA Outreach Coordinator by sending an email to fosaoutreach@gmail.com.
> If you are a FOSA member and might like to contribute in field work, please email fosa.ct@gmail.com.
> If you cannot excavate, we have a need for individuals who can assist with screening, unit paperwork, photography, drawing, etc. Let us know what you would be interested in.
> On excavations where we are requesting [mentors], volunteers will be assigned to supervise and assist participants of the public program.
> If you are not a FOSA member, to participate in field work you must first join FOSA. To do so, please access the 'Join Us' page by clicking
> For those new to field work, please be aware that there may be limited time available for instructional purposes. We also urge you to review the Field Health and Safety, Frequently Asked Questions, and the Field Paperwork Review chapters of the FIELDWORK ACTIVITIES section of this website.
Activities Key
Field Work 
Laboratory Work 
Outreach Event 
The current projected Field, Lab and Outreach schedules are...
Note: Times and days may vary from those posted here due to projected weather conditions (e.g. rain and heat). Volunteers should check their email for changes.
No activities are currently scheduled. Check back for upcoming activities.
NOTE: If a Town is mentioned in any of the activities on this page and you're not sure where it's located, please click
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UPCOMING iCRV "ARCHAEOLOGY OF CONNECTICUT" RADIO SHOW
When: TBD in September
Topic: TBA
To access recordings of past shows, and to see the content of the upcoming one, please click CT Arch Shows.
• Hiking the Ruins of Southern Connecticut
When: Saturday, September 13, 10:30 AM
Where: Prospect Public Library, 17 Center Street, Prospect, CT
What: The Naugatuck Valley Genealogy Club will meet at the Prospect Public Library, 17 Center St. in Prospect,
and on Zoom, on Saturday, September 13, at 10:30 a.m. Following a brief business meeting, Nicholas Bellantoni will give a presentation titled "
Hiking the Ruins of Southern New England". All archaeological ruins in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have a cultural/historical
tale to tell, though most sites are on private lands and not available to the public. However, the ruins in this presentation are associated
with well-known hiking trails - and their origin or purpose is explained in the new book "Hiking Ruins of Southern New England" (Falcon Guides, 2024)
written by Nick Bellantoni and Barbara Ann Kipfer, copies of which Dr. Bellantoni will sign and have available at the meeting.
The public is invited and there is no charge for the meeting. Members and guests may attend in-person at the Prospect Library. Also, members will receive
Zoom invitations and non-members can request an invitation by emailing their full name, address, telephone number and email address to
• Food in Connecticut History: An Archaeological Perspective
When: Thursday, September 18, 2:00 PM
Where: Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, CT
What: This lecture focuses solely on the food products that were found in Connecticut archaeological sites. Specifically, it includes discoveries that have been made regarding seasonally exploited natural resources from the pre-contact period to the historical period, allowing archaeologists to determine the time of year sites were occupied. The effects of health, domestication of animals, and interaction with the natural environment all can be analyzed based on the archaeology of food.
Free, but registration is required. For more information or to register for the lecture, visit the Avon Free Public Library website.
• 2025 CT ARCHAEOLOGY FAIR
Where: Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop, 915 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT
When: Saturday, October 4, 2024, 11am - 3pm.
What: Tables, displays, games, and talks to celebrate Archaeology Awareness Month and Connecticut archaeology.
• New England Vampire Folk Belief: The Archaeological Evidence
When: Saturday, October 4, 2:00 PM
Where: East Lyme Library, 39 Society Road, Niantic, CT
What: 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, and others were called in to investigate what turned out to be a forgotten colonial family cemetery. One grave 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 this period in New England history. As it turns out, a real public health issue was to blame.
• Looking Back: The Greatest Hits of the State Archaeologist
When: Saturday, November 8, 3:00 PM
Where: Scraton Public Library, 801 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT
What: The former Connecticut State Archaeologist looks back on a thirty-year career and tells some if his favorite adventures that demonstrate the state's cultural diversity and various types of archaeological sites in the Connecticut.
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• SAA UPCOMING SEMINARS
• TRINITY COLLEGE / ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE of AMERICA LECTURES
What: Four times per year, Trinity's Classical Studies Department hosts events of the Archaeological
Institute of America Hartford Society.
When: Click
Trinity AIA Lectures for the current AIA events scheduled, registration information and videos of past AIA lectures.
Venue: These are virtual (ZOOM) sessions, which are free and open to the public.
And: Clicking
All Lectures
will give access to all public lectures held at Trinity including, those of the AIA.
For Questons: Please email Wendi Delaney at: wendi.delaney@trincoll.edu.
- - - WEBINARS - - -
From time to time we receive notification of virtual archaeology-oriented lectures being offered by various groups, in addition to those mentioned elsewhere for iCRV lectures. As we receive these we'll post them in Selected YouTube Videos (Webinars) section.
AVON FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY VIDEOS: "UNEARTHING HISTORY"
These lectures will feature speakers from a variety of organizations, including FOSA, on subjects as varied as the role of LIDAR in examinging sites thru recent sites such as a 12,500 year-old Paleo-Indian site, genomes of contemporary humans and their ancestors. Specifics on each of these FREE videos can be found by clicking the year icon.
> Click 2024 for a list of "Unearthing History" videos scheduled for or presented in 2024.
> Click 2023 for a list of "Unearthing History" videos scheduled for or presented in 2023.
> Click 2022 for a list of "Unearthing History" videos presented in 2022.
> Click 2021 for a list of "Unearthing History" videos presented in 2021.
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• Smithsonian Channel: "'America's Hidden Stories' Explores Vampire Exhumations of the Past with Dr. Nick Bellantoni"
When: repeated at various times. Check your local listings!
Where: Smithsonian Channel
What: From the American Revolution to the end of the 1800s, a mysterious ritual spread across New England...and beyond. Graves were broken into, the organs of the dead were burned and turned into horrifying forms of medicine. The reason why: to ward off vampires. Over time, stories of these exhumations vanished into rumor and legend, but new evidence has brought these ghoulish practices back to into focus. So, were 19th century farmers really fighting vampire? Or were they facing off against a predatory phantom that was even deadlier?
• History Channel: "MysteryQuest: Hitler's Escape with Dr. Nick Bellantoni"
When: repeated at various times. Check your local listings!
Where: History Channel
What: Former CT State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni was requested by the History Channel to travel to both Germany and Moscow to study the remains which are said to be those of Adolph Hitler. It was a tremendous adventure for Dr. Bellantoni; and good reviews for UConn as well. Watch the History Channel to hear the whole story!
• Travel Channel: "Mysteries At the Museum on Griswold Vampire Case"
When: repeated at various times. Check your local listings!
Where: Travel Channel
What: The "Griswold Vampire Case" began with the uncovering of 29 graves in an abandoned cemetery set in a now-eroding rock pit. In one of the graves the bones had been rearranged, following an exhumation of the deceased. Looking into this more deeply, Nick became involved in vampire legends which existed in eastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island, especially in the late-18th to late 19th centuries. It turned out that these kinds of exhumations and bone-rearrangings were an attempt by people whose families were being devastated by tuberculosis, who trying to save their families using beliefs and methods originating from eastern Europe.
For additional information: Do a Google search on "vampires" to find items on this within this web site, including a video of a talk given by Nick at Quinnipiac University in 2013 and a book, Food For the Dead, in which additional background information is provided.
• Science Channel: Secrets of the Underground: "Secret History of the New World"
When: available after original airing on Science Channel, at https://www.sciencechannel.com/?utm_source=scigo&utm_medium=redirect/
Where: Science Channel
What: Dr. Jones will be appearing in the Science channel show "Secrets of the Underground" premiering March 28 at 10:00 PM. The episode is entitled "Secret History of the New World." Dr. Jones will be providing context on the Gungywamp ruins in Groton.
• various (PBS, Science Channel): "Secrets of the Dead: Jamestown's Dark Winter"
What: A program discussing the 1609 winter at Jamestown, and the suffering and cannibalism that occurred there; Dr. Robert Owsley (ref. 2015 Annual Meeting) is featured in the episode. The episode is also available on Amazon as a video; click on Amazon and input Jamestown's Dark Winter in the search criteria.
OTHER GROUPS' UPCOMING EVENTS
• Archaeological Society of Connecticut
• Conference on New England Archaeology
• CT Archaeology Center / Office of State Archaeology
• Connecticut Gravestone Network
• Connecticut State Museum of Natural History
• Historical Society of Glastonbury