Student Archaeologists, Anthropologists Dig Henry Whitfield House

GUILFORD, CT — What a cool gig, or in this case, dig.

For the last three years, anthropologists and archaeologists from Southern Connecticut State University have been digging at the Henry Whitfield House in Guilford. The work followed more than 50 years of similar research done by Yale University and Connnecticut College, archaeologist Bill Farley, an assistant professor at SCSU explained to Patch.

This past week, part of the university's archaeological field school, a "big crew" of 12 undergraduate students, most of whom are anthropology majors or minors, and a few volunteers were in the field at the Whitfield House. As Farley noted, the Henry Whitfield House is "most famous for being the oldest standing Euroamerican structure in Connecticut and one of oldest houses in the country, built in 1639, with an "incredibly rich history over the span of the last 400 years."

And, the site also "very likely contains pre-colonial Native American components as well, although these are quite a bit harder to find archaeologically at a site like this."

Farley said most of the artifacts found in the North yard of the house date from the early 1700s to the late 1800s.

"The site is incredibly artifact-rich, with a huge diversity of objects like ceramics, glass, metal objects, and clothing parts," he said. "It certainly appears that the North yard was used for many purposes over the last several hundred years including as an area for butchering animals, cooking food, dining, disposal of trash, and possibly making or repairing clothing."

Wednesday, Farley said the team found an 1883 nickel and a ballast flint, which may have been used in a flintlock rifle, as well as accouterments of a Victorian-era wardrobe: buttons, straight pins, and a hook and eye latch.

The SCSU field team works with Henry Whitfield House curator Michelle Parrish, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer archaeologist Catherine Labadia and State Archaeologist Dr. Sarah P. Sportman.

Farley recently co-authored with a museum curator and three students a paper on Whitfiled House published in a scientific journal called An Archaeological Perspective on Neocolonialism, Heritage-Making, and Historical Preservation at the Henry Whitfield House in Guilford, Connecticut.