Other Past Digs / Trips

The summer field school in archaeology began in 1993 when Dr. Weinstein’s class joined Dr. Ken Feder’s CSU class to survey and test for potential sites at McLean’s Game Refuge in Simsbury, CT. Dr. Feder was kind enough to allow us to join forces. From our “humble” beginnings (5 students, an old beat-up van that frequently broke down, and driving to and from Simsbury at the crack of dawn/dusk), the field school has grown in students and reputation. Over 100 students have participated in the field school since 1993; many of the students who now join us come from universities throughout the country. We’ve even gone camping in Mesa Verde country, Colorado!

We work closely with the Office of State Archaeology and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, along with a plethora of local towns and organizations to survey, test, excavate (where necessary) and record archaeological sites, nominate sites to the State Register and plan preservation programs. One such preservation program is here in Danbury. The City of Danbury has become a Certified Local Government, under the auspices of the National Park Service. Dr. Weinstein and students, along with the hard work of city officials and members of the Historic Properties Commission, saw the CLG process through to create historic preservation as a cornerstone of city planning.

In 2007, Dr. Bethany Morrison joined our team to co-lead the summer field school in Redding, Ct. She will be working with us again this summer (’09) as the co-leader of our field work.

More information about the 2009 summer field school can be found here.