State Archaeologist to Discuss Recent Work and Discoveries at Annual Lecture

Mansfield Center, CT — Join the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and State Archaeologist Dr. Sarah Sportman for a public lecture about the Office of State Archaeology’s past year of work and what the next year will bring. Dr. Sportman will highlight the fieldwork, research, and other activities undertaken by the Office of State Archaeology (OSA) in 2025.

The lecture will cover work at the long-running Hollister site, a 17th-century colonial site in South Glastonbury where the Office of State Archaeology has been conducting research and field schools since 2015. To-date a range of archaeological features have been uncovered, including filled cellars, storage pits, and evidence of earth-fast construction. Dr. Sportman will discuss the research she presented at this year’s Connecticut Archaeology Fair, and at the Wesleyan University Center for the Humanities symposium “Emerging from Erasure: Indigenous and Settler Colonial Histories of the Wangunk People,” about the Wangunk connection to the Hollister site.

Dr. Sportman will also describe work organizing and processing existing OSA collections, give updates on the Ridgefield burials, and offer an overview of plans to focus on Revolutionary War collections and battlefield sites in recognition of America 250.

Research and outreach activities that will be covered include collaborations with other archaeological societies and organizations. This will include a summary of a trip to Washington DC with the Museum of Connecticut History to celebrate the 300th birthday of Comte de Rochambeau, where they showcased their 2023 work at the 1781 Rochambeau Camp #5 in Bolton, CT through the Digging into History project. Dr. Sportman will present updates on a site discovered in Avon in 2024, where an OSA-led research team found evidence of an incredibly well-preserved cultural sequence spanning approximately 9,000 years of Indigenous occupation along the Farmington River.

Dr. Sportman will also provide details about the activities of the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology (FOSA) over the last year, and pay tribute to long-time FOSA members Scott Brady and Jim Trocchi who passed this year. FOSA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support the Connecticut Office of State Archaeology through education, public outreach, partnerships with local communities, financial support, and public assistance.

The talk begins at 2:30 and will be followed by a Q&A and informal reception. Artifacts and recent finds by Dr. Sportman’s team will be on display before and after her talk, starting at 2pm. This program will be held at the Mansfield Public Library, 54 Warrenville Rd in Mansfield Center, CT on Saturday January 25, 2025, from 2–4pm. Talk, display, and reception will be held in the Buchanan Auditorium.

The event is free and open to the public! If you plan on attending, please RSVP to assist in reception planning. Visit https://csmnh.uconn.edu/programs/ to RSVP and for more information.

If you require accommodations to participate, please contact the CSMNH at 860-486-4460 or CSMNHinfo@uconn.edu by Monday January 26.

The Office of State Archaeology is housed within the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History at the University of Connecticut.