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
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 12 or 19 (TBD) –– Microscopic Evidence for the Manufacture and Use of Stone Artifacts, presented by G. Logan Miller, Assoc. Prof. Anthropology, Illinois State University.
October 10 or 17 (TBD) – Update on the Brian D. Jones site in Avon, CT since discovery in 2019 presented by the team at Archaeological and Historical Services, Storrs, CT. October is Archaeology Month in Connecticut, so this presentation will be 90 minutes with time after for Q&A. (NOTE: This may be a hybrid event if the CT DOT and Archaeological and Historical Services wish to use this month as a formal public final presentation on the site.)
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
Questions? Email Terri Wilson, President Avon Historical Society, president@avonhistoricalsociety.org