by Elijah Phelps
During the second week of April, the Saint Michael’s College Archive took in two mysterious, ancient stones that were dug up on the campus’s Natural Area. The stones were discovered in the summer of 2021 during a trail sign installation, and have made their way from the biology department to the archive this month.
Five years ago, Declan McCabe, a professor of biology, contacted the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to get approval for trail signs to be installed just south of the Military Reservation. The NRCS proceeded to send out archaeologists to dig up four test pits and to take out and review the soil before installing the signs in case important artifacts lie beneath.
Three out of the four test pits did not contain anything out of the ordinary. When the archaeologists dug up test pit “C1,” they discovered two small stones that could fit in the palm of one’s hand – one sandstone and one quartzite fire-cracked rock.
The two stones offered a few clues. “This one, for example, based on the color of the outside excluding the natural color of the stone, suggests that it has been in a fire,” McCabe said when analyzing the quartzite stone. “Both stones show signs of fire-cracking based on the splits and reddening that you can see here”. The stones are very ancient, and are estimated to be from “before Native Americans had contact with Europeans.”
There is no current data showing what the stones were specifically used for, or who was using them. It is also unclear if the artifacts are from the Woodland Native American period or the Paleo Native American period.
It is also highly unusual to find stones of any kind in the area in which they were found. “The ground level down there is mostly sand,” said McCabe.“So finding a rock is definitely out of place”. McCabe then met up with one of the archaeologists in a nearby parking lot at the beginning of April, who explained to him that cobbles and rocks were most likely dragged up from the river to prevent a fire from spreading. “He definitely thinks that it was part of a fire circle.”
In the depths of the library, an Archive of Saint Michael’s related relics, artifacts and other items, along with artifacts found in the great Vt. areas are stored. Elizabeth Scott, the longtime college archivist, is in charge of making sure that these two stones are kept safe.
“While the items could have been stored at the Vermont Archaeology Heritage Center, it is nice to be able to house them on campus, in close proximity to where they were uncovered, and where they are available to students, the entire Saint Michael’s Community, and the general public.” said Scott.
Appointments with Scott can be made on the Durick Library website, where visits of the archive are available. The stones will reside in the archive surrounded by hundreds of other artifacts related to the history of Saint Michael’s institution and land.
