New Canaan Library’s three-part series, “Exploring Connecticut Archaeology” continues with a look at neighboring Ridgefield, as former State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni and Friends of the Office of State Archaeologist President Scott Brady present “The Ridgefield Skeletons.” The talk will take place via live webinar on Tuesday, June 16 at 7 p.m. Please register online at newcanaanlibrary.org; Zoom sign in information will be provided upon registration.

Nick Bellantoni and Scott Brady will discuss the 2019 discovery and excavation of human skeletal remains from the basement of a historic home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Among other discussion points they will explore the current working hypothesis that the remains may belong to combatants from the Revolutionary War’s April 25, 1777 Battle of Ridgefield.
The third and final lecture in the series, “The Contact Period in Connecticut: Looking at Indigenous Sites from the 1630s and 1670s,” will be presented via webinar on Tuesday, June 23 at 7 p.m.

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. He also serves as an Adjunct Associate Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UConn and is Interim-President of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut and a former president of the National Association of State Archaeologists. His research background includes the analysis of skeletal remains from eastern North America. He has been excavating in Connecticut for almost 40 years.

Scott M. Brady currently serves as President of the Friends of the Office of Sate Archaeology, Inc (FOSA). He was been a FOSA member and an avocational archaeologist since 2012 when he retired after a career with the City of Hartford. He also serves as a board member of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut.