Archeological dig in Ridgebury looks for Revolutionary encampment artifacts
Artifacts from Revolutionary War encampments are the stuff Connecticut historians dream about.
Perhaps a button from a uniform coat or a bit of flint from an infantryman's musket can be found during an archeological dig to confirm the presence of past military action at a local farm.
On Monday, a group of eight volunteers were on Ridgebury Road hoping to find just such treasures. They were part of an archeological dig on the old farm property there along Stagecoach Road.
"French Comte de Rochambeau's camp site was in the area," said Dan Cruson, a local archeologist. "If there's something here connected with his troops' presence, we want to know it."
Cruson had been contacted by Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut's state archeologist, from the Office of State Archeology at the University of Connecticut's Archeology Center.
The two men contacted students and amateur archeologists in the area and from UConn to take part in the dig. Work was ongoing at the dig site Monday.
As of noon Monday, only some broken shards of pottery and small pieces of metal had been found. Bellantoni said it was difficult to say how old the fragments were or if they were from farming operations that occurred on the property over the years.
Read entire article at New Times (CT)
Perhaps a button from a uniform coat or a bit of flint from an infantryman's musket can be found during an archeological dig to confirm the presence of past military action at a local farm.
On Monday, a group of eight volunteers were on Ridgebury Road hoping to find just such treasures. They were part of an archeological dig on the old farm property there along Stagecoach Road.
"French Comte de Rochambeau's camp site was in the area," said Dan Cruson, a local archeologist. "If there's something here connected with his troops' presence, we want to know it."
Cruson had been contacted by Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut's state archeologist, from the Office of State Archeology at the University of Connecticut's Archeology Center.
The two men contacted students and amateur archeologists in the area and from UConn to take part in the dig. Work was ongoing at the dig site Monday.
As of noon Monday, only some broken shards of pottery and small pieces of metal had been found. Bellantoni said it was difficult to say how old the fragments were or if they were from farming operations that occurred on the property over the years.