In the spring of 1992, two young housewives, one with her two-year-old daughter on her back, papoose-style, worked their way along the corn fields between the Shetucket River and the Central Vermont railroad tracks looking for arrowheads. From these small trips of discovery, the seeds of The Arthur Basto Archaeological Society were sown. After making contact with Dr. Bellantoni and working under the direction of Anthropologist Robert Gradie III, of the UConn staff, Deb LaBrie and Kathy Boushee submitted the necessary paperwork to incorporate The Arthur Basto Archaeological Society with the State of Connecticut on February 12, 1993. The mission statement was easy to put on paper because the members are all ordinary citizens who have joined together in a common commitment to protect and preserve the irreplaceable archaeological and cultural heritage of Northeastern Connecticut. The name of the Society was chosen to honor Arthur Basto and his excellence in archaeological research and preservation. The Society is dedicated to his memory.

Arthur Basto's boyhood interest in arrowheads and other artifacts surfaced during cultivation activities on his family's farm and resulted in his lifelong passion for archaeological research and preservation. Self-educated in the field of archaeology, Arthur Basto was a locally recognized authority on natives of Northeast Connecticut, and he was a popular speaker whose audiences included professional archaeologists as well as the general public.

In 1936, he began methodical excavation and recordkeeping at a site on his family farm which was located along Little River. That site proved to be the location of a former native village. Arthur Basto supervised and taught the Yale archaeology students who assisted with excavation, recording of data and cataloging of artifacts from the site. Results were published in the Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut in 1938 and 1939. Arthur Basto donated his entire collection of artifacts (about 4,000 items) to the Peabody Museum at Yale University.

The Arthur Basto Archaeological Society holds membership meetings four (4) times a year at the Sprague Town Hall at the corner of Routes 207 & 97. A meeting agenda may include a presentation by a speaker or an artifact display and identification session.

Editor's note: Many of the Arthur Basto Archaeological Society members are also active FOSA members.