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News from the

C O N N E C T I C U T S TAT E M U S E U M O F N AT U R A L H I S TO R Y & C O N N E C T I C U T A R C H A E O L O G Y C E N T E R

Univers i ty o f Connect icut • Fal l 2005

I N T H I S I S S U E

From the Director

Binding Threads of Stone

Member Profile: Dr. Robert Thorson

News from the State Archaeologist

ColleCtions

Coming&going

Our world-class anthropological

collections have been the subject

of much attention, and are a

primary focus as we work to raise

funds to create the Museum’s first

permanent collections space. In

this article we discuss how these

materials come to us and also some

of the many ways that they are

shared with people across the state.

general public will have an opportu-nity to appreciate and learn about the state’s extensive and diverse archaeo-logical resources through exhibits and programs at the Museum and Archaeology Center. For a recent example, we have been having discus-sions with the family of an important and prolific collector in Connecticut about a permanent home for his col-lection. This individual developed one of the most extensive collections of Native American artifacts from southeastern Connecticut, and worked with the Office of State Archaeology, extensively mapping and recording

Since the establishment of the Office of State Archeology within the Museum of Natural History

18 years ago, the Anthropological Col-lections at UConn have grown by more than 600%. Part of the reason for this amazing growth is that there are few museums in the state which special-ize in and provide appropriate care for archaeological artifacts and ethno-graphic materials. As the Museum and Office of State Archaeology developed, becoming well-known across the state, more and more individuals approached us with personal collections of artifacts in need of a permanent repository. Since the establishment of the Con-necticut Archaeology Center in 2003, this trend has increased.

Collectors have been very pleased to see their materials become part of the University collections, and are gratified that their materials will be used for educational and scholarly activity by students, researchers and the public. Collectors realize that the

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the archaeological sites from which he collected stone tools and pottery. This documentation has become part of our State Archaeological Site Files. Upon his passing, the family is fulfilling his wish that the collections to which he devoted his life be preserved for future education and research. We are fortunate and honored that families such as this think of our institution as a place to house such significant anthropo-logical materials, and are very pleased to be able to provide profes-sional care for these collections.

In addition to private collections, the Museum is the designated repository for all artifacts found on state lands and from state or federally-required cultural resource management projects (CT General Statues Sec. 10-383). All artifacts, maps, notes and reports of all archaeo-logical excavations completed on state or federal land in Connecticut, and all economic development projects requiring archaeological surveys by the Office of State Archaeology or the State Historic Preservation Office, by law, come to UConn. For example, we curate hundreds of boxes of artifacts from the Iroquois Gas Transmission project in western Connecticut and from Department of Transportation projects throughout the state.

Considering the number of dona-tions from private individuals as well as the artifacts produced by cultural resource management projects around the state, you can appreciate how our Anthropological Collections have grown so dramatically in such a short time. And they continue to grow!

Our collections are not only utilized by students and researchers here on campus, they are also displayed and appreciated in various locations throughout Connecticut. Through

formal loans, both anthropological and biological collection materials are frequently shared with other institu-tions across the state. Collection loans are temporary, with a few notable exceptions. If you have visited the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, you may have noticed that some of the many objects from the Anthropological Collections at UConn are featured in various exhibits through-out the facility. These 70 artifacts were selected for exhibit prior to the opening of the Pequot Museum in 1998, and many thousands of visitors have had their learning experience enhanced as a result of this loan.

Temporary loans of our Museum materials are being requested by diverse museums across Connecticut. Last fall, the Windham Textile Museum displayed select Navajo weavings from the Anthropology Collection. The Yale Peabody Museum also utilized collec-tion material in a temporary exhibit last year. Their elephant exhibit featured bones from the CSMNH’s mastodon skeleton, the most complete mastodon specimen in New England. We are cur-rently discussing a collaborative effort with the Peabody and the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington to create an exhibit documenting the history and conservation of this priceless specimen.

Most recently, the Museum col-laborated with the Mansfield Histori-cal Society in an exhibit on the Native

Since the establish-ment of the Office of State Archeology within the Museum of Natural History 18 years ago, the Anthropological Col-lections at UConn have grown by more than 600%.

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f r o m t h e

d i r e c t o r

Dear Friends,On campus last month,

CSMNH Founding Director Carl Rettenmeyer hosted two special preview screenings of his newest video productions. The videos document more than 50 years of discovery and scientific research into tropical forest army ants and their animal associations, and clearly capture Carl’s unique pas-sion, scholarly curiosity and dogged determination. This same single-minded persistence and tireless effort drove Carl’s campaign to establish a state museum of natural history in the 1980s, and it now underscores the legacy of his life’s work.

Following each screening, my eyes scanned the audience of applaud-ing people as the lights came up. Dozens of people with connections to the Museum were in attendance, with layers of history going back nearly 20 years, including Kent Holsinger, Greg Anderson and a lengthy list of others from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology who have provided critical assistance and sup-port all along the way. In addition to public education and board involve-

ment over the years, many of these individuals are also active Museum members and donors like you. And, like you, they have continually

strengthened the resources and resolve that fuel this institution.

As we begin the transformation of our building this winter, we reflect with appreciation on our past. Many committed people have helped to grow this museum and develop its intellectual landscape, turning chal-lenges into opportunities and making this first phase of expansion a true victory for us all. Our goal is not simply to improve the building, of course, it is to improve the way visitors learn about our natural and cultural history and relate it to their own lives. By exploring the relationship between people and the environment and look-ing closer at the complex connections between them over time, our new exhibits and programs will continue to expand our services and advance our mission.

Persistence and enthusiasm are still in abundant supply at the Museum, and an exciting year is about to unfold. Thank you!

Leanne Kennedy Harty

Peoples of Mansfield. In addition to providing research and content for the exhibit, the Museum and Archaeology Center selected and loaned specimens from Mansfield and nearby areas. The exhibit was featured at Mansfield Historical Society’s Opening Day event in May.

While our collections are increas-ingly found in nature centers, museums and historical societies around the state, some of their most important work is still being done right here at home. Through Museum and Archae-ology Center workshops, exhibits and outreach programming, thousands of people interact with our collec-tions every year. As we install our new permanent exhibits and expand our programming, the quality and impact of these interactions will only improve. In today’s “virtual world” of television and the internet, the ability to let people experience the wonder of real artifacts remains one of our greatest assets. As our collections continue to grow, so too will their valuable connection with the people who live in our state.

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b i n d i n g T h r e a d s o f s T o n e In2002ProfessorRobert

Thorson and Kristine

Thorson launched the Stone Wall

Initiativetofostertheappreciation,

investigation, and preservation of

oneofruralNewEngland’ssignature

landforms.Theireffortmetwithsuch

enthusiasmthatin2005theStone

WallInitiativebecameapartofthe

ConnecticutStateMuseumofNatural

Historyand

Connecticut

Archaeol-

ogy Center

in order to

strengthen itspublicoutreachand

archival services. The following is

theepiloquefromRobertThorson’s

newestbookExploring Stone Walls:

A Field Guide to New England’s

Stone Walls, which serves as a

wonderful introduction into how

this cultural icon has seamlessly

becomeapartofournaturalheritage.

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b i n d i n g T h r e a d s o f s T o n e

CopyrightRobertThorson2005,reprintedbyarrange-ment with Walker & Co. To learn more about theStoneWallInitiativevisitwww.stonewall.uconn.edu.

Try to imagine the old-growth forest that once covered New England’s hills and valleys before the Europeans arrived in the seventeenth century - enormous cathedral pines, stately chestnuts, hemlock groves. At the time there were no stone walls in the deep woods. Since then, the original vegetation has been cleared, up to 250,000 miles of stone wall have been built, much of the farmland has been abandoned, and the woods have regrown. Over time, and for better or worse, stone walls and local ecosystems have become part of a unified system. They influence each other.

If all of these stone walls - probably more than 100,000 miles of them - vanished today, a surge of physical and biological changes would ripple through

the landscape. Patches of woodland formerly kept apart by the stone would blend together. Without the walls, billions of creatures - those that require its

stony habitat - would die. Others would move to remaining ledges where they would compete for territory. Chain die-offs between predator, prey, and scavenger would occur. For example, when millions of chipmunks and field mice are gone for good, which predators will be affected? Without the walls, what are now shaded cold spots and sunny warm spots would disappear. Without walls the woods would remain a mosaic of microhabitats governed by slope, shade, and moisture, but to a lesser extent than before. No longer would the tops of walls resemble the habitat of rocky deserts, their bases the moist caves of humid regions.

The physical landscape would adjust as well. Billions of truckloads of sediment,

formerly trapped on the uphill sides of stone walls on gentle slopes, would wash downward to streams. Trout would take notice. Thousands of wetlands would drain away, the source of their impound-ment removed. Turtles would lose their homes. Small streams held in check by stone walls would revert back to their old channels, now that the confinement was gone. The pools and riffles of countless small brooks created by the abutments for old stone bridges would disappear, the streams becoming straighter, simpler, and less interesting. Floodplains would be more heavily scoured during peak flow, as the walls built across them would no longer calm the waters and hold back the sediment. No longer would walls act like cracks to let water leak into the soil during

rains, then wick it out during dry spells. No longer would they pump heat into and out of the ground to make hot and cold spots in the soil.

Walls also influence the

local wind, especially along the coast or on ridges, where there is a prevailing windward and leeward side of each wall. The windward side is colder for a north wind, and warmer for a south wind, vice versa for the leeward side, amplifying the effect of shade and sun. Sometimes the combined effects of sun and wind are indirect, operating through the presence or absence of snow accumulation and melting. Snow lingers longer on the north side of the wall, increasing moisture and delaying spring, sometimes for weeks. More rain is caught on the side from which rainstorms blow.

Beyond the influence of walls on snow, rain, wind, and shade is the influence of walls on soil erosion. On all

forested and grassy slopes, there is a slow, but imperceptible movement of the soil in a downhill direction. This process, called soil creep, is especially important in the top foot of the soil, declining in importance with depth. A wall always catches the creeping soil on the uphill side, causing a buildup of soil there and a net loss of soil on the downhill side. In some circumstances, the weight and lateral pressure of the soil trapped on the uphill side combines with the loss of soil support on the downhill side to push the wall over. Walls strong enough to survive develop a wedge of creeping sediment on the uphill side, one that feathers into the slope about ten to twenty feet higher. The wedge is invariably drier than the surrounding soils, because it

is raised above the water table and because the fines have been selectively washed downward. Flowers grow there that cannot grow elsewhere.

New England is a place where human activities are so thoroughly blended into the otherwise natural landscape that the

distinction between them is moot and meaningless. Stone walls are the most important, most visible part of this impact. They link historic sites into a heritage landscape. They link habitats into an ecological mosaic. They allow the history to be linked to the ecology, creating a landscape in which history and natural history are one in the same. To thoughtlessly strip-mine stone walls from such a landscape, to sell them as if they were so much blast rubble, is to unravel the binding threads that hold our patchwork landscape of culture and nature together.

ByRober t Thorson

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m e m b e r P r o f i l e

r o b e r t t h o r s o n

farmington One type of stone wall,characteristicofthetraprockridgeareasinConnecticut,isconstructedfromthebasaltformingtheseridges.AfineexampleofthiscanbeseenattheHill-SteadMuseuminFarmington,southoftheintersectionofStateRoutes10and4.TheMuseumisknownforitscollectionofAmericanImpressionistpaintings,andisalsothesiteoftheSunkenGardenpoetryfestival.Thereisnoadmissionchargetoviewthewallswhichareconstructedfromblackbasaltboulderstakenfromtheproperty.Someoftheseboulderswereimportedfromrailroadblastinginotherlocations.

TownINYour

Dr. Robert M. Thorson is Profes-sor of Geology at the University of Connecticut, with a joint appointment in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Anthropology, with respon-sibilities to the Integrated Geosciences Program. He writes a column for The Hartford Courant, and coordinates the Stone Wall Initiative in the Museum of Natural History and Archaeol-ogy Center. Dr. Thorson estab-lished the Stone Wall Initiative to provide opportunities for the public to learn more about the inves-tigation and preservation of historic stone walls in Connecticut.

A native of Minnesota, Dr. Thorson earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1979, and moved to Alaska to study earth-quakes and geophysics. He came to the University of Connecticut in 1984

and became interested in stone walls. His research focuses on the origin and nature of land forms. He recently received a grant to have a stone wall

curriculum added to elementary schools’ science classes as another approach to teaching environ-mental science.

In 2005, Walker & Com-pany published his third book: Exploring Stone Walls: A Field Guide to New England’s Stone Walls. His second book: Stone by Stone: The Mag-nificent History in New England Stone Walls, won the 2003 Con-necticut Book Award in nonfic-tion. He and his wife, Kristine, have also written a children’s book: Stone Wall Secrets.

Dr. Thorson is a member of the American Association for the Advance-ment of Science, the American Geo-physical Union, The Geological Society of America, and the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science.

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West hartford Dr.Thorson’sfieldguidetoNewEngland’sstonewallsincludesasectionaboutnoteworthywallstovisit.OnebeautifulexampleofanornateestatewallcanbefoundinWestHartford.It islocatedonprivatepropertyonthenorthsideofAlbanyAvenueattheintersectionwithProspectStreet,andcanbeviewedfromthesidewalkatthecrosswalk.ThewallisbuiltofredJurassicsandstonewithamortaredtop.The craftsmanship of this elegant construction is asnotableas thesedimentarystones themselves,whichexhibit raindrop impressions, ripple marks and otherindicatorsofitsbeginningaslakeshoresiltandsand.

TownINYour

mansfield center TheDewingWallinMansfieldCenterisawell-knownandnoteworthywallwithacolorfulhistory,whichcanbeseenattheintersectionofStateRoute195andBrown’sRoad.Constructedoflocalgneiss,itwascompletedin1884underthedirectionofaneccentricandwealthydescendantofoneof thetown’s founding families, Leonard H. Dewing. At thetimeitwasbuilt,thismassivewallenclosed15acresofunusedland.Itissowideandsmooththatvillagersuseditasawalkwaytochurchduringinclementweatherwhen the roadways were muddy. Children delightedin riding theirbicycleson it foradownhill thrill. It issaid thatDewingcommissioned thewallshortlyaftertheCivilwarasapublicworksprojecttoemployCivilWar veteranswithout the“taintofwelfareorcharity.”

n e W s f r o m t h e

s tat e a r c h a e o l o g i s t

When state legislation was pro-posed to create the Office of State Archaeology in 1987, discussion began as to which state agency would house the OSA. Early options were proposed for us to be a part of the Department of Environmental Protection, or the State Historic Preservation Office in Hartford. However, lobbying by Dr. Carl Rettenmeyer and the Anthropol-ogy Department at UConn proposed that the State Archaeologist should be a part of the State University System. Final legislation passed by the General Assembly (CT General Statutes Section 10-a-112) established the Office of State Archaeology within the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and at UConn with the State Archaeologist as an Associate Research Professor in Anthropology.

As a result of this joint appoint-ment, my roles and responsibilities have included the mandated functions of the State Archaeologist for the identification and preservation of the state archaeo-logical resources and also those of a non-tenured teaching faculty member. It can be said that the State Archaeolo-gist teaches in construction site trailers, town halls and in formal academic classroom settings. The OSA assumes the role of general public education and awareness through the Museum and new Archaeology Center, and the role of higher education through the Anthro-pology Department at UConn.

My teaching responsibilities have included Introductory Anthropol-ogy, which usually has 250 students or more, as well as Independent Stud-ies programs for upper classmen and graduate students. I serve on Graduate Committees as an assistant academic advisor for archaeology students fulfill-ing the requirements of Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy degrees at the University. In addition, I serve as an advisor and councilor to students volunteering their time and energy to the UConn PIRG Program, a student activism group that works on a number of issues related to the environment,

poverty relief and consumer rights.My teaching activities extend

beyond the UConn campuses. As the State Archaeologist, I guest lec-ture at many colleges and universities throughout Connecticut, including Yale University, Trinity College, Con-necticut College, all of the regional state universities (Central, Southern, Eastern and Western), and most of the local community colleges. Our academic outreach role in the science of archaeol-ogy and anthropology has brought us to every corner of the state, and brought lectures to tens of thousands of our state’s students.

Last year, when my mother was ill and we found ourselves at the emer-gency room of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, the doctor on duty came in to attend to my mother’s health problems. In doing so he looked me and asked, “Are you Dr. Bellantoni?” When I acknowledged that I was, he said that he had taken an anthropology course with me at UConn back in the late 1980s. Since he was attending my mother, the first thing I asked was, “Did I pass you?”

Nick Bellantoni, State Archaeologist

TheConnecticutStateMuseumofNaturalHistoryandConnecticutArchaeologyCenterarepartoftheCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Building renovation

update

InearlyNovember,StateArchaeologistNickBellantoniandCSMNHDirector

LeanneKennedyHartyreviewedthefinalprojectplansproducedbythe

architecturefirmArbonies,KingandVlock.TheMuseum’s2ndfloor

renovationisscheduledtobeginthiswinter.

m e m b e r s h i PStandard membership benefits: •Free admission to special events •Reduced rates for workshops •15% discount at the UConn Co-op •Early notification of programs •Museum Newsletter

Standard Memberships ___ Family ($35) ___ Individual ($25) ___ Student Individual ($15) ___ Senior Individual ($15) ___ Senior Couple ($25)

Consider upgrading to an Owl Membership. These memberships provide special support for Museum programs. In addition to standard membership benefits, Owl Members receive guest passes, gifts, and more.

Owl Memberships ___ Saw-whet Owl ($65) ___ Snowy Owl ($125) ___ Screech Owl ($250) ___ Barn Owl ($500)

Donation $____ Museum Program Fund $____ Office of State Archaeology $____ Building Fund

Name ______________________________ Address _____________________________City/ST/Zip _________________________Telephone ___________________________

___Check to: UConn Foundation (CSMNH)___Visa ___MC ___AmEx ___DiscoverCard number _________________________Expiration Date _______________________Signature ____________________________

Mail to: CSMNH, UConn, 2019 Hillside Rd., Unit 1023, Storrs CT 06269-1023

b o a r d o f d i r e c t o r sWilliam Morlock, ChairmanMelanie Attwater, CT Department of AgricultureDavid Bingham, M.D.Liz Buttner, CT Department of EducationCarmen Cid, Biology, ECSUJean Crespi, Geosciences and Biology, UConnSteve Fish, CT Department of Environmental ProtectionCarl Lindquist, M.D.Natalie Munro, Anthropology, UConnDennison Nash, Anthropology, UConn, EmeritusKarin Peterson, CT Comm. on Culture & TourismDavid Schroeder, Natural Resources, UConnDavid Wagner, Biology, UConnWalter Woodward, State Historian, UConn

s ta f fNick Bellantoni, State ArchaeologistSusan Broneill, Museum ReceptionistCheri Collins, Program Coordinator & Collection ManagerCarol Davidge, Public Information CoordinatorCollin Harty, Exhibit and Communication DesignLeanne Kennedy Harty, DirectorAnn Merritt, Membership CoordinatorRobert Thorson, Stone Wall InitiativeKatharine Hawkins, Graduate StudentMegan Burns, Undergraduate StudentLauren Griffin, Undergraduate StudentSheryl Scruggs, Undergraduate StudentAmanda Sullivan, Undergraduate StudentMichael Teed, Undergraduate Student

V o l u n t e e r sVolunteers serve as exhibit attendants on Sunday afternoons. We wish to thank the following individuals for their service:

Dolle Fischer, Elmer Fischer, Bettejane Karnes, John Karnes, Ruth Ladd, Louise Lent, Lois Maloney, Polly Palmquist, Marian Rettenmeyer, Betty Savage, Virginia Stallman, Roxane Steinman, Anna Storrs, Peggy Taylor.

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University of ConnecticutConnecticut State Museum of Natural HistoryConnecticut Archaeology Center 2019 Hillside Rd., Unit 1023Storrs, CT 06269-1023