What you can do to help save Connecticut’s Archaeology Sites

Anyone noticing artifact removal, digging, or ground surface disturbance such as ATV or other vehicle damage should notify the staff archaeologist at the State Historic Preservation Office at (860) 566-3005.  Archaeological sites are finite resources; their numbers dwindle every day in Connecticut, and once gone or severely disturbed they are lost forever.  Every time a site is lost, we all lose an irreplaceable part of our history, for reconstructing the past is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle.  The more pieces we have, the more we see the picture; too many gaps and we will never fully know how people live in the past.

Some towns have regulations requiring archaeological survey and protection of archaeological sites before private development.  If you see “empty space” being developed, ask your town if an archaeological survey has been done.  Ask your town to make regulations requiring archaeological surveys before private development” (excerpted from a draft version of Quinebaug River Prehistoric Archaeological Preserve Sites No. 22-29, 22-31, 22-32, 22-33  by Mary Harper, Brian Jones, Bruce Clouette, Daniel Forrest, and Lisa Centola, Public Archaeology Survey Team, Inc. 2007.)