{"id":1040,"date":"2020-03-03T22:54:56","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T22:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2020\/03\/03\/202033state-archaeologist-presents-possible-revolutionary-war-remains-at-qu\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:19:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:19:00","slug":"202033state-archaeologist-presents-possible-revolutionary-war-remains-at-qu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2020\/03\/03\/202033state-archaeologist-presents-possible-revolutionary-war-remains-at-qu\/","title":{"rendered":"State archaeologist presents possible Revolutionary War remains at QU"},"content":{"rendered":"<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:2500.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:93.0%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_181540.jpg\" alt=\"Audience members watch on as archaeologist Nick Bellatoni presents his findings. Courtesy: Garrett Amill\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_181540.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_181540.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2500x2325\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Audience members watch on as archaeologist Nick Bellatoni presents his findings. Courtesy: Garrett Amill\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5e5ede2b3e6900506a94a4db\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p class=\"\">Audience members watch on as archaeologist Nick Bellatoni presents his findings. Courtesy: Garrett Amill<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Connecticut state archaeologist Nick Bellantoni believes the human remains found in Ridgefield, Connecticut last fall are likely the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers. At a presentation given in Quinnipiac University\u2019s Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences on Monday, Bellantoni discussed the remains, which were discovered in a cellar.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cThe thing I should preface right off the bat is I don\u2019t have a lot of conclusions to give you,\u201d Bellantoni said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably going to take a good year to get a handle on what we have.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">However, if the remains are from soldiers, this is considered a major find. The remains were found <em>in situ<\/em>, or in place, meaning they hadn\u2019t been disturbed prior to the archaeological research. According to Bellatoni, this is very rare. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cIt will put revolutionary Connecticut on the map,\u201d he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">The discovery began as a police case. On Nov. 25, 2019, construction workers were renovating a basement in Ridgefield, Connecticut when they found some bones underground. The workers called the police, who then called the medical examiner\u2019s forensic anthropologist.&nbsp; Once the anthropologist discovered just how old the bones were, the state archaeologist was brought in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cThe law in the state of Connecticut is that whenever bones are 50 years old or more, the state archaeologist is notified,\u201d Bellantoni said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Bellantoni knew there had been a Revolutionary War battle in Ridgefield with some dead from both sides of the conflict buried in the town. He\u2019d looked for remains in the past, but never found anything.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Bellatoni hoped the finding was Revolutionary War soldiers, but he didn\u2019t have the highest hopes at first. Farming families often buried their dead near their homes, so the bones could be linked back to that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">However, when he got to the site, Bellantoni found soldiers were most likely buried there. He said the remains were from strong men between the ages of 25 and 35.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Then came the most important piece of evidence.<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:2119.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:123.40727233886719%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_173853.jpg\" alt=\"Nick Bellantoni and Eddy Rosenblatt conversing before the presentation. The two studied the same remains, and came to similar conclusions. Courtesy: Garret Amill\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_173853.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_20200302_173853.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2119x2615\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Nick Bellantoni and Eddy Rosenblatt conversing before the presentation. The two studied the same remains, and came to similar conclusions. Courtesy: Garret Amill\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5e5ede8b5876f4700097cc28\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p class=\"\">Nick Bellantoni and Eddy Rosenblatt conversing before the presentation. The two studied the same remains, and came to similar conclusions. Courtesy: Garret Amill<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cWe started to find buttons,\u201d Bellantoni said. \u201cThese buttons were a strong indication that the remains weren\u2019t from farmers..In the colonial period, clothing was expensive. You didn\u2019t bury someone with something so valuable that could be passed down to brothers and sisters.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">However, Bellatoni still had his doubts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cOne of the things we have not found yet in the field is trauma,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the remains are from soldiers, they would have been killed by some sort of trauma.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Dr. Eddy Rosenblatt, a radiology consultant for Quinnipiac University, validated that nothing found on the bones can be considered trauma.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cWe can come up with all kinds of exciting speculation that this guy took a headshot and that\u2019s why he\u2019s buried,\u201d Rosenblatt said. \u201cHowever, more likely it has to do with the burial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Still, Bellantoni believes the remains are from Revolutionary War soldiers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cI\u2019m still calling it a hypothesis, but really I\u2019m struggling to come up with another explanation for three healthy guys together on a battlefield,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Bellantoni also mentioned Quinnipiac\u2019s effort in this investigation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u201cQuinnipiac has been so helpful with the diagnostic imaging of those remains,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is only the latest of a number of collaborations we\u2019ve had. The collaboration has been so marvelous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Bellantoni and his team will continue to analyze the remains. The bones were not allowed to be photographed at the presentation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Connecticut archaeologist Nick Bellatoni believes human remains were found in Ridgefield last fall. He visited Quinnipiac University on Monday to present his findings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":1041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-quinnipiac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1285,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}