The 2012 Meeting, held on January 28 at the Smith Middle School in Glastonbury CT, was highlighted by the presence of Zach Zorich, Senior Editor of Archaeology magazine, who has written about the prehistoric cave paintings of Chauvet Cave, and interviewed Werner Herzog on the filming of Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Mr. Zorich's talk explored what archaeology tells us about the human race when the Chauvet Cave paintings were created, who and what lived in Chauvet Cave, the cave painting techniques used by the ancient artists, the dangers facing cave art sites, and what the ongoing research and viewpoints from other scholars reveal about Chauvet Cave.

The Archaeology Magazine web site can be found by clicking: www.archaeology.org/

Present for book signings were author and FOSA member Roy Manstan, with copies of his book “TURTLE: David Bushnell’s Revolutionary Vessel”; and author and ASC President Dan Cruson with copies of his book, "Putnam's Revolutionary War Winter Encampment: The History and Archaeology of Putnam Memorial State Park".


Preceding this was the "business" portion of the meeting. Highlights included the following:

> Dan Cruson of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut noted that this fall the ASC would be investigating Gungywamp, an archaeological site in Groton, CT, which contains man-made stone structures and features. Archaeological work at Gungywamp have confirmed the presence of Native Americans at the site over the past 4,000 years; as well as the presence of white farmers after 1780.

Gungywamp has been investigated by the ASC in the past, and is referenced in 2 articles on their web site, which you can access by inputting   gungywamp site:www.connarchaeology.org   into Google. Check the ASC web site, at www.connarchaeology.org, for updates on this upcoming activity.

> CT State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni described the activities he participated in, which this year included 7 electronic media presentations. He also gave a eulogy of Anita Sherman of East Haddam, who passed away in November, 2011.

Anita was an active member of both FOSA and the Arthur Basto Archaeology Society, becoming an avocational archaeologist when she discovered, on her property, the site where Major General Joseph Spencer lived during the Revolutionary period. Her involvement in archaeology advanced to include presentations at the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University.

> A Certificate of Achievement award was presented to Jim Hall, who created and has maintained the FOSA web site; and has also performed a number of other activities in support of FOSA, the FOSA Board of Directors, and of Nick.

(Images in this section courtesy of Ken and Bonnie Beatrice.)