Three Village Community Trust’s Join the Conversation to discuss local archaeological digs

Starting in mid-April, archaeologists with the Lamar Institute began a month-long search at three significant American Revolutionary War battlefields on Long Island. These included Fort Slongo in Fort Salonga, the fort and headquarters known as Fort Franklin on Lloyd’s Neck, and the two churches on the Setauket Village Green and Patriots Rock in Setauket. 

Participants in the survey include Daniel Elliott, president of the Lamar Institute and his wife, Rita; local historian David M. Griffin, author of “Lost British Forts of Long Island”; and Sheldon Skaggs, assistant professor at City University of New York (CUNY) Bronx and his students.

In conjunction with the recent archaeological surveys, the Three Village Community Trust will host a special Join the Conversation event at the Setauket Neighborhood House, 95 Main St., Setauket on Wednesday, May 8 at 8 p.m. 

Elliott and his team will share their field methodology and discuss their very preliminary findings. This is archeology close at hand. Learn about how the team uses ground-penetrating radar (GPR), systematic and controlled metal detection, to locate and excavate key targets, and plot where each are found using total station laser transit mapping technology for later analysis. 

The project will continue with laboratory analysis and research to enable the identification of the battlefields across the modern landscape while providing data regarding military strategies. Resulting interpretation will be documented in a report available to the public on the Lamar Institute’s website (www.thelamarinstitute.org) by September 2020.

All are welcome to attend this free event. Refreshments will be served and there will be time for Q&A. For more information, please call 631-689-0225.