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| Archaeological Society of Connecticut | |
|---|---|
| Name | Archaeological Society of Connecticut |
| Formation | 1934 |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Headquarters | Connecticut |
| Region served | Connecticut, New England |
Archaeological Society of Connecticut is a state-based nonprofit antiquarian and archaeological organization focused on the study, preservation, and dissemination of archaeological knowledge in Connecticut and adjacent regions. The Society collaborates with museums, universities, preservation agencies, and indigenous communities, and participates in fieldwork, curation, and public programming. It maintains partnerships with major institutions and cultural bodies across the United States and Canada.
Founded during the interwar years, the Society emerged amid a surge of regional antiquarianism associated with figures and institutions such as William C. Hastings, Harriet B. Little, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Yale University, and Wesleyan University. Early members corresponded with curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of the American Indian, Field Museum of Natural History, Buffalo Museum of Science, and the Pequot Museum while consulting federal programs like the Works Progress Administration and state bodies including the Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. Influences and collaborations extended to scholars associated with Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Brown University, Rutgers University, and Dartmouth College. Mid-century initiatives connected the Society to archaeological debates shaped at venues such as the Society for American Archaeology conferences and through exchanges with the New England Antiquities Research Association and Boston Athenaeum. The Society’s history intersects with preservation efforts led by the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office (Connecticut), and with legal frameworks exemplified by interactions with the National Historic Preservation Act and consultative practices inspired by cases before the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
The Society’s mission emphasizes stewardship, research, and public access, aligning its activities with partner institutions including Mystic Seaport Museum, Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mohegan Tribe, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and regional repositories such as the Connecticut State Library. Regular activities feature site survey coordination with agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, collaborative grants with organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, and fieldwork training in cooperation with university programs at University of Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State University, Central Connecticut State University, and Eastern Connecticut State University. The Society liaises with national networks like the Archaeological Institute of America and regional consortia including the New England Museum Association and the Association for Gravestone Studies to promote standards consonant with professional bodies such as the Register of Professional Archaeologists.
The Society produces bulletins, monographs, and conference proceedings that echo scholarly output from entities like American Antiquity, Journal of Field Archaeology, Northeast Anthropology, and edited volumes from Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. Research spans topics comparable to studies by scholars affiliated with James Deetz, Kathleen Deagan, Gordon M. Willey, Lewis Binford, and Julian Steward, and engages comparative frameworks involving sites documented by John L. Cotter, Warren K. Moorehead, Frederick W. Putnam, and regional surveyors linked to Samuel A. Eliot. The Society’s bibliographies cite excavations at locales analogous to Fort Trumbull, Fort Griswold, Hubbard Farm (Stamford), and interpretive models referencing work from Poverty Point, Jomon culture, Adena culture, and Hopewell tradition for comparative purposes. Collaborative research projects have been presented at meetings of the American Anthropological Association and disseminated through partnerships with the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Society curates assemblages and archival records comparable to holdings at the Connecticut State Archaeology Collection, Pequot Museum, Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Norwalk Historical Society, New Haven Museum, Norwich Historical Society, and the Litchfield Historical Society. Field excavations have been coordinated at inland and coastal sites analogous to stratified deposits found at Roger’s Island, Cedar Island, Indian Neck, and shell-bearing contexts similar to those at Bamforth Site and Indian Rock Shelter (Connecticut). Collections management follows protocols practiced at repositories such as the National Anthropological Archives and the Yale Peabody Museum, including cataloguing systems used by the Smithsonian Institution Archives and conservation approaches informed by the American Institute for Conservation. The Society also manages loan agreements and exhibits in collaboration with museums like the Mattatuck Museum and the New Britain Museum of American Art.
Educational outreach includes lecture series, site tours, workshops, and school collaborations paralleling initiatives by Mystic Aquarium, Pequot Library, Mark Twain House, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and programs modeled after outreach at Plymouth Plantation and Plimoth Patuxet Museums. The Society works with local school districts and higher education outreach offices at University of New Haven and Southern Connecticut State University to create curricula that reference methodologies used by Lewis H. Morgan and interpretive frameworks practiced at Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg. Public archaeology days and volunteer programs mirror community archaeology efforts promoted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and regional initiatives of the New England Aquarium.
Governance is administered by an elected board reflecting practices found at state societies like the Vermont Archaeological Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society, and includes committees for fieldwork, publications, conservation, and outreach. Membership categories and dues track models used by organizations such as the Archaeological Society of New Jersey, Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, New York State Archaeological Association and allow institutional affiliations for museums, universities, tribes, and municipal historical commissions. Professional liaisons maintain ethical guidelines consonant with the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Register of Professional Archaeologists, while volunteer training echoes standards from the Boy Scouts of America merit badge programs and community stewardship efforts associated with the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Category:Organizations based in Connecticut