Construction two years ago on a new middle school in Keene, NH, led to the discovery of one of the oldest and most significant archaeological sites in New Hampshire. The discovery is the subject of a program sponsored by the Old Berwick Historical Society on Thursday, April 21 at 7:30 pm at Berwick Academy's Jeppesen Science Center on Academy Street.  (Continued below)

The event is open to the public and refreshments will be served by volunteers.

Led by Robert Goodby, associate professor of anthropology at Franklin Pierce University, archeologists worked seven days a week to excavate the site during the spring and summer of 2010. Their work revealed the traces of four structures, each with a diverse array of tools and evidence for specific activities related to hunting. Tools within each structure show where particular activities took place in the household.

The native Abenaki people of New Hampshire and Vermont played a central role in the history of New Hampshire's Monadnock region.  In spite of this, little is known about these original inhabitants.

Discovered as part of the permitting process for school construction in 2009, the 12,000-year-old site had lain undisturbed since early Native Americans, known as the Paleoindians, occupied this spot at the end of the ice age. It is located on a high sandy terrace overlooking the Tenant Swamp in Keene.

Goodby holds a doctorate in anthropology from Brown University, and has devoted his career to the study of Native American archaeological sites in New England. He is an executive board member of the Monadnock Institute of Nature, Place and Culture at Franklin Pierce, where he founded and directs the Monadnock Archaeological Project, is a past president of the NH Archeological Society, and was recently appointed by Gov. John Lynch to the newly-created NH Commission on Native American Affairs.

More information on the Counting House Museum and all the Old Berwick Historical Society's programs is available by calling (207) 384-0000.