Date: Fri 01-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

archaeology-sewer-treatment

Full Text:

Treatment Plant Site Yields Evidents Of Pre-historic Life

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Archaeologists doing excavation work at the site planned for construction of

the municipal sewage treatment plant believe the area was used as a seasonal

campground by nomadic Native Americans of the Late Archaic period some 4,000

years ago.

David George, crew chief for the Public Archaeology Survey Team (PAST), said

this week intensive studies which involved almost 9,500 man-hours of

excavation during the past seven months indicate that prehistoric Native

Americans took advantage of the natural resources in the area, which holds

lush level fields and trees overlooking confluent streams. The site is near

the northern tip of the state's Fairfield Hills Hospital grounds. The area has

been designated as Archaeological Site 97-71.

Until now, the archaeologists have declined to discuss their findings.

PAST has been intermittently studying the site since 1992 in an increasingly

focused effort to retrieve valuable buried artifacts and to designate areas

where sewage plant construction will be prohibited due to the presence of

as-yet unearthed artifacts. PAST is a non-profit archaeological research

organization affiliated with the University of Connecticut at Storrs.

Early this week, five archaeological researchers worked the site as

construction equipment roared in the background.

A bright yellow bulldozer shaved the top several inches of rust-colored soil

off a field rife with deep green grass. As the bulldozer pushed its way across

a slope, an archaeologist walked alongside to identify any objects popping up

which might have archaeological significance. Making such a running inspection

while initial site development work is underway helps prevent artifacts of

potential significance from being lost for research purposes.

In the distance, researchers Daniel Forrest, Tim Binzen and Melissa Wadman

used hand tools and metric rulers as they methodically unearthed the

archaeological record, retrieving samples and documenting the exact locations

of artifacts when found.

A bright orange telescopic grader loomed behind them, poised to remove topsoil

in preparation for sewage plant construction.

Radioactive Dating

Radioactive carbon dating performed on items removed from one Native American

hearth and one pit has shown the items tested were between 3,780 and 4,050

years old, leading the archaeologists to infer the presence of Native

Americans at a series of relatively small, short-term campgrounds during that

time period, Mr George said.

Many of the items found in the pastoral area are projectile points which were

fashioned by the prehistoric hunters for use as arrowheads and spear points,

he said.

More than 20,000 artifacts were unearthed in the area, including the many

"waste flakes," or stone chip debris, which is created when prehistoric men

struck one rock with a harder rock to fashion an arrowhead or spear point.

Almost all of the projectile points found in the area are made of quartzite, a

compact granular rock composed of quartz and derived from sandstone by

metamorphism.

In seeking out archaeological artifacts before a public works project

commences, PAST researchers investigate areas where it's thought there most

likely will be evidence of previous human settlement, Mr George said. In the

case of the sewage plant site, that meant excavation work on the broad level

fertile fields overlooking area streams, he said.

The researchers' work involved digging down about two feet into the soil for

prehistoric artifacts, Mr George said. Many of artifacts found were unearthed

in the "plow zone" or area which has been cultivated for agriculture in past

years, he said.

Besides projectile points, the researchers found prehistoric storage pits

which held nut fragments, Mr George said. The researchers also seek to unearth

the contents of prehistoric dwellers' fire pits, including charred nuts, seeds

and bones to gain a sense of their diet.

"In general, this site has quite a bit of material, but not anything out of

the ordinary," Mr George observed. The record in the soil indicates there were

sequential, short-term occupations of the area by nomadic prehistoric people,

he noted.

In 1992, PAST did preliminary work to learn the scope of the archaeological

record at the treatment plant site. Such a "Phase One" study involves a basic

search of the area for artifacts. During an ensuing "Phase Two" study, the

area was researched in yet greater detail. In the "Phase Three" study which

the researchers are now finishing at the site, they work on selected areas in

fine detail to recover the artifacts which appear to be of the greatest

significance before sewage plant construction work obliterates the

archaeological record.

The archaeological studies resulted in redesigning the sewage treatment plant

to avoid disturbing areas believed to hold items of archaeological

significance.

When sewer systems are built, the sewage treatment plant typically is the

first component to be constructed, after which sewer lines are installed in

areas earmarked for sewer service. But because the site selected for the

Newtown treatment plant was considered to hold items of archaeological

significance, the order of construction was reversed with the sewage plant to

be built at the end of the project.