Revolutionary artifacts found

Revolutionary artifacts found

A musketball found in Fort Salonga. Photo from Lamar Institute

Archaeologists from the Lamar Institute began a month-long search April 15 for local artifacts from the Revolutionary War. Their investigation covers three known battlefields in Fort Salonga, Setauket and Lloyd’s Neck and has so far turned up a musket ball.

Daniel Elliott, an archeologist from the Lamar Institute, uses ground-penetrating radar to see under the earth at Fort Slongo. Photo Lamar Institute

“All three battlefields are poorly understood in history,” said Daniel Elliott, president of the Lamar Institute. “This project seeks to locate and delineate the three battlefields and to interpret their findings, advancing our understanding of Long Island’s important role in the American Revolution.”

Their “dig” includes extensive research with ground-penetrating radar, systematic controlled metal detection survey, small excavations of key targets, laser transit mapping, drone-assisted aerial videography, laboratory analysis and public presentations.

The work is funded by a $60,000 grant from the National Park Services’ American Battlefield Protection Program and a $5,200 contribution from the Lamar Institute.

Local historian David M. Griffin, author of “Lost British Forts of Long Island,” is a major project collaborator.

The Lamar Institute is a nonprofit organization established in 1982 with the mission to conduct archaeological research and advance public archaeological education.

Barbara Russell, Town of Brookhaven historian, was involved in coordinating access to the Setauket site.

“This is quite exciting to have respected and qualified researchers from the Lamar Institute in and around our [Setauket] Green.”

The research team will be exploring the Lloyd Neck’s Fort Franklin April 29.

The public can see the resulting interpretations when completed by September 2020 on the Lamar Institute’s website at www.thelamarinstitute.org.