Capital/Saratoga Region
Event: 4th Annual Pethick Site Open House
Date, Time: Monday and Tuesday, July 2-3, 2009, 10 am – 2 pm.
Presented by: The University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Anthropology and the New York State Museum
Location: Pethick Site, Smith Road, Central Bridge, NY
Contact: Jaime Donta, jm141615@albany.edu or leave a message (518) 237-2822
Cost: Free
Details: The Pethick Site is a multi-component Native American site along the Schoharie Creek. Used as a teaching site by the University at Albany and the New York State Museum, the Pethick Site is in its fifth season of excavation. So far, the site has yielded close to 200,000 artifacts and more than 350 soil features. The majority of the artifacts point to a Late Woodland period (A.D. 1000-1500) occupation; other evidence suggests that the location has been occupied with some frequency going back at least to 2500 B.P.
Visitors to the site will be given tours by university students, but they are welcome to explore at their own pace and stay as long as they would like. Professional archaeologists, including State Archaeologist Dr. Christina Rieth and Dr. Sean Rafferty of the University at Albany, will be on hand to look at private artifact collections, which visitors are encouraged to bring. The site is fairly easily accessed (in a farm field). For safety reasons, guests will not be allowed to excavate. Visitors of all ages are welcome!