May 6, 2022

Celebrate Archaeology!

This Musing celebrates Archaeology! Come explore archaeology with Connecticut State Archaeologist, Dr. Sarah Sportman, and others from the Archaeological Society of Connecticut, this Saturday, May 7th. Special exhibits of artifacts will be on display and visitors will tour Nowashe Village in the afternoon.  More details about the day's presentations are available on our Nowashe website.

 Woodchuck Knoll Site

This archaeological site was discovered "when the late J. Watson Vibert...noticed the burrowing woodchucks on his rural property had a way of digging up stone projectile points."  He decided to do some digging of his own and showed his finds to Dr. Douglas Jordon who was an assistant professor of anthropology at UCONN at the time.  The projectile points Vibert had found turned out to be spear points produced by a small Indigenous group of people approximately 2500 years ago. An official archaeology dig began and the "site was called Woodchuck Knoll in honor of its original diggers..." (Patry, Louise, Dig's Done, Study's Just Begun, Journal Inquirer, Aug., 1, 1977)

Archaeological dig near the Connecticut River, South Windsor, CT, 1988 (this was a University of Connecticut archaeological dig led by Jeff Brindamer, Barney Daley Collection ID# D1999.02.735,

Jean Klein, Archeological training at Nicholson site, South Windsor, 1989,
Barney Daley Collection, ID # D1999.02.739,

Barney Daley (1909 — 2008)

Barney E. Daley was a South Windsor, Connecticut native who grew up in a tobacco farming family and often unearthed arrow points and other artifacts while working the land. These objects and the people who created them sparked in Daley a lifelong interest in history. As an amateur archaeologist, Daley amassed a large collection of Native American artifacts, particularly those of the Podunk People of the Connecticut River Valley. Daley wrote and self-published books, including one about Podunk Indian artifacts found in South Windsor, titled 5,000 Years at Podunk (1984).

Image left is of Daley's book "5,000 Years at Podunk".

Image right is of the cover of the North-Central Lowlands Archaeology Survey, South Windsor, Connecticut, 1979. A Report prepared for the Connecticut Historical Commission by the Public Archaeology Survey Team. Some of Daley's detailed location data is published in this report.

His wife, Gladys Abbe Daley, participated in his research and created or contributed some of the materials in the Barney E. Daley collection, housed at Wood Memorial Library & Museum. The collection consists of more than 5,000 archaeological artifacts, including Native American projectile points, pottery shards, and tools. In addition, there is location data for almost all of the artifacts about where they were found. Professional archaeologists would consult with him, and use his detailed location data and maps to aid in their research.

 Two Wrasslin Cats Site

A sharp eyed customer enjoying his coffee outside an East Haddam coffee house, noticed an odd shaped piece of stone below.  One thing lead to another, and now an archaeological dig is happening at the Two Wrasslin Cats Coffee House and Café. Over 500 artifacts have been found dating to around 11,000 to 13,000 years ago.

It seems around that time, a small group of nomadic Paleo-Indian people took a break from their travels, and camped in the area.  Apparently, they were there long enough to allow members of the group to sit down and made several spear points out of a few different types of raw materials.  Learn more about this newly discovered, Paleoindian Encampment, this Saturday with Connecticut State Archaeologist Sarah Sportman, and fellow archaeologists David Leslie, G. Logan Miller, and Mark Clymer.

Image of Paleo-Indian channel flakes found in East Haddam, Connecticut,
which are thought to be from between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago.
Photo courtesy David Leslie, archaeologist

Sources used for this Musing are listed below.

*Brunson, Chris, Then And Now On Site: Two Wrasslin’ Cats, Layers of Time East Haddam, Moo Dog Press (online) Magazine Website, April 24, 2022

*Gield, Steven, Saving Historys Artifacts, The Hartford Courant, Dec., 20, 1987

*Patry, Louise, Dig's Done, Study's Just Begun, Journal Inquirer, Aug., 1, 1977

*Scott-Smith, Brian, A rare discovery in Connecticut offers a glimpse at the first ancient people in the Americas, WSHU Public Radio website, March 7, 2022

Upcoming History & Archaeology Programming

Celebrate Archaeology!
May 7th

An Introduction to Connecticut’s Indigenous Communities with Dr. Lucianne Lavin
May 28th

3rd Annual Artifact Identification Day with Dr. Nick Bellantoni
June 11th

Please forward this email to anyone who might be interested.

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