New Battle of Ridgefield battlefield study: Archaeologist to explain plans

A new phase of Battle of Ridgefield study begins this spring, supported by the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program and spearheaded by the Ridgefield Historical Society, which has engaged Heritage Consultants to conduct archaeological field work, building on their previous work under a 2021 grant.

 On Thursday, April 24, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm Dr. David Naumec, an archaeologist and historian with Heritage Consultants, will give an illustrated presentation, Unearthing Answers to the Battle of Ridgefield Mysteries: Using Hi-Tech Archaeology to Reveal our History. His explanation of the Ridgefield Historical Society’s Battle of Ridgefield Archaeology Project will take place at St. Stephen’s Church North Hall, at 353 Main Street in Ridgefield. Admission is free, thanks to an American Battlefield Protection Program Grant, but seating is limited, and registration is required. The presentation will also be livestreamed, with the link provided upon registration. Please register online here.

In 2021, Heritage Consultants researched the boundaries of the Battle of Ridgefield and recommended goals for future archaeological work. Building on that survey, another NPS grant has been secured by the Ridgefield Historical Society to solve the mysteries highlighted by the first investigation. Over the next two years, hi-tech archaeological methods will be applied throughout Ridgefield to unearth answers to the questions that still puzzle local historians. 

Dr. Naumec will describe key findings from the earlier work and unveil the goals of the upcoming second survey. He will also explain the technology that Heritage Consultants will be using – and how townspeople can participate. Ridgefield property owners interested in participating in this archaeological study are encouraged to attend this presentation to meet Dr. Naumec, learn more about the process, and sign up to participate.

Dr. Naumec is a historian, archaeologist, and museum consultant. He is an Archaeology Field Director for Heritage Consultants and is Historic New England’s Revolution 250 Research Scholar, studying New England’s indigenous and African American Revolutionary War veterans. Dr. Naumec is a graduate of UConn, holds a master’s degree in history and museum Studies from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in race and ethnicity in Early America through the Civil War from Clark University. His interests include Native American history, colonial North America, the history of Connecticut, and battlefield archaeology. Dr. Naumec was a member of the Heritage Consultants team that studied the Battle of Ridgefield in 2021-2022, and was a consultant for historian Keith Marshall Jones’s latest book “The Battle of Ridgefield: Benedict Arnold, the Patriot Militia and the Surprising 1777 Battle that Galvanized Revolutionary Connecticut.”

For more information, contact info@ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org or 203-438-5821 or visit ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org.