TA News

There’s an old homestead in the forests of Fairlee, VT unearthing clues to the town’s early history. Archeologist and Fairlee resident Dr. William Fitzhugh recently embarked on a mission to protect the area from logging and begin a careful excavation of its long-buried artifacts. Dr. Fitzhugh, senior scientist and curator of the Smithsonian’s North American Archeology and Director of its Arctic Studies Center, invited local high school students to join him at the site.

Kai Harris, a TA junior, is one of those students. In a Valley News article about the dig, Kai says that he heard about the project from one of his teachers at TA: “He thought of me because he knows I like to dig in the dirt.” Kai has been a fixture at the site ever since, learning new things while digging up the old. So far, Kai and the team have uncovered bricks, tools, utensils, gun flint, pottery, and coins dating from the early 1800s.

When the dig is complete, the artifacts will become part of the Fairlee Historical Society’s collection, helping to shed light on life in the days of the town’s early colonization. The students will share their findings and what they’ve learned from the dig in presentations to schools and towns. “The students have been useful, productive, and have learned a lot,” Fitzhugh says in the Journal Opinion. TA looks forward to hearing all about it.