Selected Reprints


The Andrew Kowalsky Collection
by Mandy Ranslow


The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and the Connecticut Archaeology Center received a donation from the family of the late Andrew Kowalsky, who collected Native American artifacts predominantly from the Connecticut River valley in Glastonbury, Haddam, Marlborough, and South Windsor, Connecticut.

Andrew Kowalsky reactivated the Albert Morgan Chapter after returning from World War II. Kowalsky was a plumber who worked 3rd shift at Pratt & Whitney and used his day time hours to dig.

Andrew Kowalsky's collection includes thousands of artifacts. He kept an artifact catalog and labeled the diagnostic artifacts. FOSA plans to use these catalogs to organize the collection. Points from seemingly every time period are present as well as many groundstone tools such as hammerstones and pestles. There is also a plethora of lithic debitage.

Currently FOSA laboratory volunteers have been organizing artifacts according to their labels and re-bagging them. These artifacts would be a great addition to a comparative collection, and they could be used to teach students or beginners about Native American cultural remains.