“South Windsor Unearthed: Rarely Seen Indigenous artifacts”
June 10th thru September 7th
Mondays and Thursdays 9 am-4 pm
South Windsor’s archaeological record provides a window into the town’s rich Indigenous past. The town has been the site of not only intensive digs but of local of numerous surface finds. Occupied for thousands of years, its Fertile meadows provided an ideal living space in close proximity to the Connecticut River.
The town’s most notable archaeological sites are Woodchuck Knoll, the Burnham-Shepard site, and the Butternut Knoll site. South Windsor Unearthed: Rarely Seen Indigenous Artifacts will feature items rarely displayed items as well as those previously unseen by the public.
Material culture remains in this curation are from a variety of sources and include a rarely seen steatite pot; (premiere, new acquisition) a steatite paint pot with ochre residue; (previously unseen) steatite sherds; a variety of (previously unseen) clay pot sherds with and without food residue; a (previously unseen, on loan) stone found near what is now Mill on the River Restaurant possibly used as a hammerstone or nutting stone; (all previously unseen) cracked rocks, charred maize, charred butternut, charred sunflower seeds, and charred Blue-Stem Grass. Phytolith/food analysis also to be featured. This will include microscopic images of phytoliths, explanation of foods eaten and possible domestication of Chenopodium.
Highlighting the importance of the CT River, a a fishing plummet, recreated fishing net and stakes to use as a fishing weir also will be displayed.