Spring Meeting Features

Saturday, April 6, 9:00 am -2:30 pm - hybrid 

Print 2024 Spring Meeting Flyer, Parking and Lunch.

New Hampshire Archeological Society Spring Meeting

Co-hosted by the Dartmouth College Department of Anthropology, the Dartmouth Archaeology Working Group (DAWG) and the New Hampshire Archaeological Society.

Speakers include:

Alex Garcia-Putnam, PhD, Co-Director of the Forensic Anthropology Identification and Recovery (F.A.I.R.) Lab, UNH

The Brentwood Poor Farm: Bioarchaeological Insights on Poverty and Marginalization in Historic New Hampshire.

This work explores the lives and deaths of inmates of the Brentwood Poor Farm, Brentwood, NH (1841-1868). The  hardships these individuals faced—poverty, otherness, forced labor— were embodied in their skeletal remains, manifesting as osteoarthritis, tooth loss due to dental disease, and other signs of physiological stress. The present study finds that this sample, while small, is illustrative of the marginalization faced by impoverished individuals who died at poor farms across the United States during this time period.

Karlee Feinen- Senior Cultural and Historic Preservation Major, Salve Regina University

The Stratigraphy of Weirs Beach

Located on Lake Winnipesaukee in the town of Laconia, Weirs Beach is among the most important archaeological sites in New Hampshire. However, instances of stratigraphic disturbances have moved the cultural deposits at the site. My research analyzes recent excavations by Dr. Nathaniel Kitchel and what can be learned from the stratigraphic disturbances at the site.

Jon Apperstein Phd candidate Dartmouth College 

A Kernel of Truth: On the Possibilities of Extensive Maize Agriculture in the Archaeological Northeast

Our understanding of the regional archaeological landscape has been relatively stable for the past few decades.  The main archaeological questions continue to be centered on the great maize debate and its intersection with Woodland settlements—specifically, the absence of large sedentary Woodland villages and minimal evidence of widespread agriculture. Due to a combination of poor preservation, long histories of colonization and methodological failures the archaeobotanical remains of maize are relatively thin especially compared to other maize cultivating communities elsewhere in North America. This talk aims to review the evidence of maize agriculture prior to extensive European colonization, the impact of maize agriculture on settlement, and finally, explain novel ways to locate new evidence that challenges and expands our understanding of the Archaeological Northeast. 

Jesse Cassana Phd, Dartmouth College,Professor

Digging Dartmouth: Archaeological Investigations in Hanover and the Upper Valley

All times below are approximate. 

9:00 am - Registration opens.  Morning refreshments

9:50 am - Welcome and opening remarks

10:00 am -  Two Speakers and break

11:45 am  - Lunch on your own (Class of 1953 Commons, Cafeteria)

1:00 pm - Two Speakers

Registration opens at 9 am with sessions starting at 10 am.  Registration:  $10 at the door, Complimentary with Student ID.  No pre registration required. 

Virtual Zoom registration bit.ly/NHASregister 

Registration opens at 9 am with sessions starting at 10 am. Registration: $10 at the door, Complimentary with Student ID. No pre registration required. Virtual Zoom registration bit.ly/NHASregister

LOCATION: Steele Hall, Room 006, Dartmouth College.

PARKING: Steele Hall, 39 College St, Hanover, NH - closest are the Maynard and the Dana Lots. Permits are not needed.