P 860-774-3300 E thelastgreenvalley.org
203B Main Street (2nd floor), P.O. Box 29, Danielson, CT 06239-0029 P.O. Box 186, Southbridge, MA 01550
Agenda/Timetable:
6:30-6:45 p.m. Arrive & Mingle (approximately 40 attendees were present)
6:45-7:00 p.m. Brief Introductions
7:00-8:00 p.m. Presentation by THS, Joe Iamartino on lithic structures
8:00-8:15 p.m. Brief presentation by THS, Joe Lindley on recent easement & Indian cairns
8:15-8:30 p.m. Q&A, Refreshments, Tour of Tourtellotte Memorial Room Museum & Ramsdell Collection
Information from The Last Green Valley:
· Good opportunities to take advantage of…
o Write articles for local papers (ex: Killingly Historical’s Maggie Weaver in Villager each week)
o Social media – facebook - share your own events, posts and information with each other.
o Interviews on local radio (Do you know about Heritage Information Radio, am1700.org)
o Invite press to your events, press releases, use of free calendar listings for your events
· Future collaborations: late summer at Huntington Homestead, early winter at Ashbel Woodward House in Franklin possible.
· Engage youth with your organization by asking for their assistance with new technology, social media
Note: These are very basic notes taken on a very complex & unsolved subject matter,
as we hope to simply sum up the robust information in a way to provide info and to also get you thinking…
P 860-774-3300 E thelastgreenvalley.org
203B Main Street (2nd floor), P.O. Box 29, Danielson, CT 06239-0029 P.O. Box 186, Southbridge, MA 01550
P 860-774-3300 E thelastgreenvalley.org
203B Main Street (2nd floor), P.O. Box 29, Danielson, CT 06239-0029 P.O. Box 186, Southbridge, MA 01550
Welcome: Joe Lindley introduced the building itself, the 1909 Tourtellotte Building, funded by Dr. Jacob Frank & Harriet Tourtellotte and completed in 1909. It was revolutionary in that it was to provide a higher education for Thompson’s common citizens, and not just the elite. It was built on the hill to represent “higher” education. There is much, much more to the Tourtellotte story, but that is for another day.
Presentation by THS, Joe Iamartino on lithic structures (first public presentation on this subject by THS):
· J.P Whittal’s quote “There are more unexplained rude stone monuments in Thompson than anywhere in New England” fed the audience’s curiosity. That was the eye-opener, and it led Mr. Iamartino to share Thompson Historical Society’s investigational steps and processes in looking for answers regarding the multitude of lithic sites & cairns found in their region.
· Asking questions and looking for clues in documentation is clearly the best path. Basic questions such as; Are these Colonial, Native American or earlier sites? Are they memorials? Are they military features? Are they utilitarian?
· Many quotes from texts from various locations and by varied writers were shared with the audience noting “holy sites, kilns, sweat huts, potato holes”…and many more references about these mysterious lithic-type sites.
· Science and archaeology have been helpful in carbon dating these sorts of sites worldwide. Chambers dating back to 1200 AD have been discovered.
· Corbelled chambers can exist with no venting, no charcoal or soot marks, and no binding material. These were obviously not used as kilns nor contained any fires. So what were they used for?
· Archaeologists can also find clues inside chambers looking for marks made by certain tools - like an iron drill, which can then prove the chamber was built after the tool was invented.
· Effigy shaped structures also exist (turtles, snakes, whales, etc.) What do they mean?
· Some of the excerpts THS have found on the subject of lithic structures were shared with the audience:
o John Eliot’s map of “Praying Village Locations in 1675” notes “near holy sites.”
o Abner Sanger, from Maine, notes in October 1774 “He helped secure sauce in potato hole.”
o Roger Williams in 1643 noted a “p’esuponck” (a hot-house or sauna).
o Nicholas Denys mentions a “sweat wigwam” in 1672 in “Micmac in Canada.”
o General Ulysses S. Grant notes in his “Early California Experiences” that there were “ovens built on stream shores,” these being steam baths.
· Thompson Historical Society will gladly accept any excerpts you may have or come across on this curious and unsolved subject.
· More questions arise when the question of digging up the cairns is considered. Is this disrespectful of the deceased or is it archaeology? Does time allow it to be thought of differently? How long? We do not dig up the cemeteries where our great-grandparents rest.
· Other sorts of sites are fishing or deer weirs, made of stone to aid Native Americans in their search and catching of food for survival.
· Stone grinding tools are also found, looking simply like a rock with an indentation. Some are deep indentations (for acorns), and some are more rounded.
· Mr. Iamartino closed out his presentation concluding the “old thinking,” which was to keep these sites secret, does not seem to be the answer. Many sites have been ruined, in part because landowners not knowing they may be significant pieces to the puzzle of the past. Without written recorded history to rely on and refer to, it is very hard to learn about the past.
Brief Presentation by THS, Joe Lindley on the new thinking/new strategy regarding lithic sites:
· Mr. Lindley spoke of a situation where a local landowner had land cleared, including the sale of all the stone on the property. This was an area surely filled with cairns and lithic sites. The landowner had no idea. It is now lost.
· Since we certainly do not know what these lithic sites are, we should at the least be preserving and protecting them until we can learn what they are with the help of highly trained experts and more research.
· The “Werge Easement” is a case in point in Thompson. This property is rich with lithic sites, and the landowners did not want society to lose them. In their life planning they gave an easement of this property to the Thompson Historical Society. Perhaps the Werge’s well thought out planning should be held as an example to others and used to start a more meaningful conversation for these sort of historic sites.
· Historical societies, land trusts, and conservation commissions can work hand in hand to preserve the sites we have now, as we continue work to find the answers to the question of what happened here before we were here.
Reference Materials mentioned and on hand at the presentation that you may be interested in regarding this subject:
· New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA): http://www.neara.org/
· Thompson, CT Conservation Commission: http://thompsonconservation.org/
· David Wagner, artist: http://www.davidrwagner.com
· George Catlin, artist: http://www.georgecatlin.org/
· John Lawson, explorer: http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/lawson/bio.html His book “History of S. Carolina, 1714 was mentioned
· E. G. Squier, author: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucw.ark:/13960/t9c54783v;view=1up;seq=9 for his noted book “Antiquities of the State of NY”
· James W. Mavor, Jr., Byron E. Dix, authors: Manitou: The Sacred Landscape of New England's Native Civilization https://books.google.com/books/about/Manitou.html?id=wRqFQgAACAAJ
· Barry Fell, author: America B. C.: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1283350.America_BC
· Dennis Connole, author: The Indians of Nipmuck Country in Southern New England 1630-1750: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Indians_of_the_Nipmuck_Country_in_So.html?id=QB1Et3yHBxIC
· Lucianne Lavin, author: Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300186642/connecticuts-indigenous-peoples
· Ellen Larned, author: History of Woodstock: http://www.amazon.com/History-Woodstock-Ellen-D-Larned/dp/B0006RVM5Y
· Howard S. Russell, author: Indian New England before the Mayflower: https://books.google.com/books/about/Indian_New_England_Before_the_Mayflower.html?id=lwVvzFD2hhMC
· Donald Duffy, author: The Quaboag and Nipmuck Indians: http://www.amazon.com/Quaboag-Nipmuck-Indians-Nipmucks-Quinebaug/dp/1499659865
· H.M. Wormington, author: Ancient Man of North America: http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Man-North-America-Revised/dp/B000PA0UO6
· Roger Williams, author: The Key into the Language of North America: http://www.amazon.com/Key-Into-Language-America/dp/1616403047
· Francis Jennings, author: The Founders of America: http://www.amazon.com/Founders-America-Francis-Jennings/dp/0393312321
Contact information for Thompson Historical Society
Website: http://www.thompsonhistorical.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thompsonhistory
Email:
· Joseph Iamartino
· Joseph Lindley
Room for your notes, thoughts, questions:
P 860-774-3300 E thelastgreenvalley.org
203B Main Street (2nd floor), P.O. Box 29, Danielson, CT 06239-0029 P.O. Box 186, Southbridge, MA 01550