Native American archaeological site VT-CH-611, Colchester, Vermont

Click on photos for larger image.

Excavation in Progress

Archaeologists at Work

Depth of Block Excavation

Most Artifacts Found Close to Surface

Site VT-CH-611, a precontact Native American campsite in Colchester, Vermont, was first discovered in 1991 during an archaeological survey conducted for the CCCH.

The site is situated on a slightly elevated knoll on the eastern side of an intermittent stream that ultimately feeds into a drainage that flows into Mallet’s Bay.

A fragment of burned food bone recovered from a fire hearth during the earlier work at the site yielded a radiocarbon date of 4670 +/- 40 B.P, or between 3620-3590 B.C. The date places the occupation of the site during the poorly known early portion of the Late Archaic period.

The site has produced a significant quantity of exotic stone material brought to the site by the Native Americans, including a gray translucent chert that may have originated in what is now New York.

The University of Vermont Consulting Archaeology Program recently conducted Phase III data recovery at the site to excavate a substantial portion of the site prior to highway construction.

Site VT-CH-611 is significant because it has the potential to contribute to our understanding of Native American adaptation, stone tool use and manufacture and, if additional fire hearths are identified, we will be able to learn more about the way people lived in what is now Chittenden County during the early portion of the late Archaic period some 6,000 years ago.

Article by:
John Crock, Director, UVM Consulting Archaeology Program

Cover image of the CCCH Handbook for young people Don't Miss This Chance To Order Your
Free Copy of Our New Handbook on
Vermont Archaeology!

A handbook for young people on the archaeology of the Circumferential Highway Studies has been published by the UVM Consulting Archaeology Program.

Young people will enjoy this introduction to the archaeology of northern Vermont. It will make a great tool for teachers as well!

To obtain your copy, please contact either John Crock at UVM CAP or
Jeannine Russell at the Vermont Agency of Transportation

Return to Archaeology and Historic Resources Home Page