Dig It: History Emerges At Putnam Park

By Jan Howard

Some area residents have been reaching back in time with trowels and small brushes and touching history in Putnam Park in Redding.

Every weekend since the end of September, Town Historian Dan Cruson has led some of his Joel Barlow students and local residents in an archaeological dig at a mound site a short distance from the park entrance that was believed to have been a burial ground.

There was some oral tradition stating that the mound had been a burial ground, he said. The first mention of it was in 1889, and around 1902 a stone monument was placed there with the inscription, “In Memory of the Unknown Heroes Buried Here.”

“We’d had a feeling it wasn’t a burial ground,” Mr Cruson said. “We didn’t bury in mounds. The purpose of this dig was to test that theory, to check out if we would find an officer’s hut or human remains.”

To find the answer, Mr Cruson and his team of volunteers have been sifting through six and a half inches of soil for artifacts from what is now believed to have been the floor of a Revolutionary War field officer’s temporary quarters during the winter of 1778/79.

“We’re digging where people lived 221 years ago,” he said. “It’s very personal. We’re looking through their garbage. There is no evidence anyone was buried here.”

The hut was erected during General Israel Putnam’s encampment on what had been the property of John Read, a large property owner of the time. It consisted of two rooms, one for the officer and the other for his orderly, then called a waiter. Mr Cruson said the hut measured about 22 feet long by 12 feet wide, with a chimney at each end. It is believed the partition between the two rooms was located under where the monument is located.

The team has discovered a number of Revolutionary War era objects. The most exciting finds were two 221-year-old musket balls, which showed the effects of being in the ground for a long time. Because they were small, only .56 of an inch, they were probably used for pistols carried by officers.

They had not been fired, but were obviously dropped at the site, Mr Cruson said, probably when they were made. Lead casting flakes have been found, and an area near the hut shows evidence of a fire of extreme heat, about 800 degrees, which is needed to melt lead for making musket balls.

Hand-forged nails have been found, some looking so new they might have just come from the blacksmith, he said. “These were not used in the hut construction. They were used for internal construction, such as for a cot or for window framing.”

Remains of meals cooked at the site have been found, such as bones from butchered animals. Mr Cruson said the bones show that the officer ate better food than the enlisted men camped at another site he excavated last year.

The fireplace hearthstones, which were raised, are charcoal blackened and some bones from leftover meals have been found in them. Pieces of earthenware have also been found.

About 800 men were quartered in this encampment, including a New Hampshire brigade and a Canadian brigade. It was a bad winter, with a lot of snow, Mr Cruson said. There was difficulty in obtaining provisions from Danbury.

 Evidence shows the hut was burned when the camp was abandoned, Mr Cruson explained. The chimneys probably stood for a short time after the fire but eventually fell, he noted. Stones from the chimneys were found in the firebox and scattered across the original floor areas of the hut.

Kendall Zimmerman, 16, of Newtown worked at the dig every Saturday, Mr Cruson said. He had been e-mailed by Carol Zimmerman, who expressed her daughter’s interest in archaeology.

“He said I could help out with the dig,” Kendall said. “At first I didn’t know what I was doing, but he helped me, and I got better as I went along.

“I found it interesting that no one’s touched these things for over 200 years,” she added.

Kendall said she found chicken bones, lead from musket balls, and buttons. “I got to log in the items we found. It was really interesting, a good experience. I’m really interested in history.”

Mr Cruson said several groups have visited the site, including 400 Boy Scouts who were camping in the park and students and chaperones from a gifted and talented program in Stamford.

On Sunday, November 14 Mr Cruson, Jim Freebairn, Joel Barlow students David Keating and Austin Moran, and Kathleen Von Jena, Mr Cruson’s assistant, an archaeology student at Norwalk Community Technical College, were hard at work. While sitting or kneeling on the cold ground, they dug slowly and patiently, using mason’s trowels, scraping the surface of the hut floor for artifacts. Periodically pails of soil were put through screens to locate very small artifacts.

“This has been a lot of fun for us. We’ve been anxious to see what’s under the surface,” Mr Cruson said.  “You’re in contact with stuff the guys left behind.

 “Archaeologists love slobs,” he said, laughing. “They leave garbage.” He explained the officer’s side of the hut has supplied very few artifacts because his orderly would have cleaned it up, but they have removed about 600 items from the orderly’s area alone.

He said their secret wish is to find something that would identify Col Hazen as the officer who lived in the hut, such as buttons bearing his initials.

Mr Cruson plans to work at the site through this weekend, November 20 and 21, at which time the work area will be restored, according to an agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which granted him permission for the archaeological dig.

Every artifact found at the site has been documented as to where it was found and put in a bag, Mr Cruson explained. The state archaeologist is to complete an analysis of the artifacts, after which the majority of the items would be on permanent loan to the Putnam Park museum.

 Mr Cruson hopes to return to Putnam Park either in the spring or next fall for further excavations to find the walls of the hut. He said interest in Putnam Park has been reawakened since it was reopened in 1997/98 after being closed by the state for seven years.

Mr Cruson teaches anthropology at Joel Barlow High School in Redding. The archaeological dig is designed as a field school for his students, which was one of the selling points for the dig, he noted. It would raise the visibility of archaeology in Connecticut and for the artifacts remaining in the park.

“I have no illusions about archaeology. You either love it or not. I asked the kids to come out at least once, and I’ve had a good response,” he said. “I usually get five to ten who enjoy the process and will come back.”

One of those interested in being included in a future dig will be Kendall Zimmerman, who said she may consider pursuing archaeological studies in the future.