In 1987 the Office of State Archaeology (OSA) was established as a part of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History to provide local municipalities the technical assistance they needed to help preserve archaeological resources within their communities. In 2004, the Connecticut Archaeology Center was born out of this 17-year relationship between the OSA and the Museum. This expanded partnership is intended to bring the OSA's expertise in technical assistance together with the Museum's strengths in collections conservation and educational programming to create a comprehensive source for archaeology resources in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Archaeology Center, located at University of Connecticut in Storrs, is evolving to serve a variety of audiences -- federal, state and town officials, professional and amateur archaeologists, academics, graduate and undergraduate students, K-12 educators, community groups, and the general public -- with a variety of tools and services including professional training, research resources, university teaching, professional publications, public and school programming, exhibits, educational kits and internet resources. Although our scope and reach have greatly expanded since the early days, our basic mission has remained constant: to encourage the preservation of Connecticut's archaeological resources through a combination of research, collections conservation, technical assistance and education.
