Archaelogists uncover Colchester site

Alden Oliver of Underhill excavates a Severance Corners archaeological site in Colchester with the Vermont Archaeological Society on Sunday.

By Sara Buscher, Free Press Staff Writer • September 1, 2008

COLCHESTER — Real estate prices might rise and fall with economic trends — but when it comes to desirable land, some things never change.

That’s why archaeologist Charles Knight isn’t surprised one of Colchester’s newest housing developments is slated to be built on land known to contain American Indian artifacts.

“All of these drainages are loaded with Native American sites,” Knight said Sunday, gesturing across the rolling, grass-covered hills that spill downward toward Indian Brook, a tributary of Malletts Bay.

“They chose this nice, elevated knoll overlooking the tributaries to camp. Exactly the same places we want to put our houses on.

“Location, location, location — they had it down,” he said with a laugh. “We’re finding Native Americans found the real estate hot spots.”

Knight, a professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont, serves on the board of the Vermont Archaeological Society, and spearheaded a project to excavate the site of the proposed Colchester housing development with Vermont Archaeological Society volunteers this summer.

The Severance Corners site — where fragments of stone tools from as long as 2,000 to 6,000 years ago have been found — is located in the midst of the sprawling green fields off Severance Road, about 500 feet from the intersection of U.S. 7.

The site was identified by the University of Maine at Farmington’s Archaeological Research Center, which tested areas thought to be archaeologically sensitive as part of the Act 250 permit process, Knight said. Vermont’s land-use law requires that an archaeological review be conducted before a site can be developed.

“The general idea is that developments don’t destroy cultural resources,” said Knight, who is also involved with the UVM consulting archaeology program.

When the regulatory process had been completed, Knight obtained a grant that allowed Vermont Archaeological Society volunteers to conduct additional recovery work on the property.

Vermont Archaeological Society volunteers facilitate the study of American Indian and post-contact European American sites, and promote public education about Vermont’s cultural history. The society works in partnership with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and is supported by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

The density of artifacts discovered at the Severance Corners site is low, Knight said. The items found – mostly fragments of tools and the stone flakes resulting from their production – suggest volumes to an experienced anthropologist.

The site has not been formally dated, but Knight suggests the findings, which include types of stone known to come from St. Albans, and possibly from Berlin, N.H., represent a temporary hunting camp dating to the Early Woodland period, 2,000 years ago.

“They were making tools, and likely using tools for hunting. They were trading stone, and moving over the landscape,” Knight said. “We start to see that the people who lived here, who left this material, were dynamic, like us.”

Some evidence suggests the items could be as much as 6,000 years old, Knight said.

“It’s a bit of a mystery, going back in time, and trying to figure out ‘What did they do here?’” volunteer Carl Roberts said as he crumbled clumps of dirt between his fingers, then pushed the pieces against a ‰-inch mesh screen Sunday afternoon. New volunteers are welcome to join the dig, and training and supervision are provided at the site.

“The most difficult thing is learning the difference between a pebble and an artifact,” Knight said as he watched Roberts at work.

“That’s what us newbies are finding,” Roberts echoed, running the tips of his fingers over the leftover lumps of dirt. “We find everything.”

“You observe; you don’t really anticipate or try to infer,” said Alden Oliver as he cut into the earth with his trowel. Oliver said he’d uncovered post molds — features indicating the location of a drying rack or shelter — while excavating.

Items unearthed at the site will be cleaned, cataloged and stored in the state’s repository in South Burlington for further study.

That way, long after the wildflower fields have sprouted a new crop of homes, “someone interested in the site can visit the curation facility to study the artifacts,” Knight said.

The archaeologist said he finds it amusing when anyone attempts to lay claim to a piece of land.

“You’re just one, in a line of many,” he said.

Work at the site, which started in June, is expected to continue through the end of September.

To learn more about volunteering with the Vermont Archaeological Society, visit www.vtarchae-
ology.org/cms/.

Contact Sara Buscher at 651-4811 or sbuscher @bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.