Unearthing History: The discovery of a 12,500 year old Paleo-Indian site along the Farmington River in Avon. Join us for a virtual series of lectures, sponsored by a grant from the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Committee that will cover the many aspects of archaeology, with a focus on the Brian D. Jones Paleo-Indian discovery in Avon, Connecticut. All events begin at 7:00pm EST on Zoom.
This 2024 VIRTUAL HISTORY SERIES is sponsored by Avon Historical Society, Avon Free Public Library and Avon Senior Center, in partnership with the Avon Land Trust, Farmington River Watershed Association, and the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington, CT.
Times are EST: Eastern Standard Time. Events are free to attend. Webinars will be recorded; links appear at the end of this post and are available on the Avon Library’s YouTube Channel.
View the full 2024 series flyer here
Completed programs:
March 7 – The History of Archaeology in CT with Emphasis on Native Americans, presented by Nicholas Bellantoni, serves as the emeritus state archaeologist with the UCONN State Museum of Natural History and is adjunct associate research professor in the Department of Anthropology. He will take the audience through the history of archaeology in CT bringing it up to present day with new discoveries and the process during the work at the BDJ Site. Watch the recording here
April 11 – Bioarchaeology in North America: Ethics, Issues and Where the Field Stands in 2024, presented by Alex Garcia-Putnam, PhD, University of New Hampshire. He will talk about the field, basics of bioarchaeology, the lack of skeletal remains found in the United States and some of the reasons for, and implications of, that lack of data. Watch the recording here
May 9 – Foraging in the Paleoindian Period: A Macrobotanical Analysis (tentative title), presented Katharine Reinhart, Project Archaeologist/Botanical Analyst, Archaeological and Historical Services, Inc, Storrs, CT. She will focus on the analysis of plant evidence from different sites to learn what they ate and where they found it. Register here
September 19 –– Use and Sources Of Ohio Hopewell Fossil Shark Teeth, presented by Katherine Sterner, Ph.D., RPA; Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Criminal Justice; Director, Baltimore Community Archaeology Lab. Learn more about Katherine here.
Fossil shark teeth recovered from Ohio Hopewell sites represent a quintessential example of an exotic good representative of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. As with most artifacts, the primary questions asked of fossil shark teeth in archaeological contexts are (1) what were they used for and (2) where did they come from? View the recording here.
October 10 – Paleoindian Discoveries in America
Presented by Brad Lepper, Senior Archaeologist, World Heritage Program, Ohio History Connection. The Paleoindian discovery America was the last great human migration into an unpeopled world. It is the foundation of all that came after it across the Indigenous Americas. Archaeologists are still seeking the answers to many of the most important questions about this first chapter in American history. When did people first arrive in this hemisphere? How did these people so quickly occupy and adapt to the many varied environments of North and South America? What effect did the arrival of humans have on the many large species of mammals living across these two continents? The answers to these and other questions will be explored in this presentation. View the recording here. View the handout Lepper handout from lecture
Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org