Name: Food in Connecticut History: An Archaeological Perspective (In-Person Event)
Start: 2025-09-18T14:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-09-18T15:00:00-04:00
Location: Avon Free Public Library

Food in Connecticut History: An Archaeological Perspective (In-Person Event)

This lecture focuses solely on the food products that were found in Connecticut archaeological sites. Specifically, it includes discoveries that have been made regarding seasonally exploited natural resources from the pre-contact period to the historical period, allowing archaeologists to determine the time of year sites were occupied. The effects of health, domestication of animals, and interaction with the natural environment all can be analyzed based on the archaeology of food.
Presenter: Dr. Nicholas F. Bellantoni serves as the emeritus state archaeologist with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History at the University of Connecticut. He received his doctorate in anthropology from UConn in 1987 and was shortly thereafter appointed state archaeologist. His duties primarily included the preservation of archaeological sites in the state. He serves as an Adjunct Associate Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UConn and resided as former presidents of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut and President of the National Association of State Archeologists.
His research background includes the forensic archaeology and faunal analysis from eastern North America. Nick is the author a number of books written for the general public: The Long
Journeys Home: The Repatriation of Henry Opukaha’ia and Albert Afraid of Hawk and “And So The Tomb Remained”: Exploring Archaeology and forensic Science Within Connecticut’s
Historical Family Mausolea, Archaeology Without Digging: Connecticut History Uncovered By Ground-Penetrating Radar, and Hiking Ruins of Southern New England: A Guide to 40 Sites in
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.