Museum presents talk about archaeological site

CUDDEBACKVILLE — The Neversink Valley Area Museum continues its “Second Tuesday Lecture Series” on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. when it presents Scott Cardinal speaking about the Rhoades site archeological dig off route 209 in Cuddebackville. The Rhoades site is a small, mid-nineteenth century domestic household site in Cuddebackville, NY. The site was found by crews from the New York State Museum in 2003. Cardinal will be discussing how and why the site was found, what has been learned about the site through historical and archaeological research, why small sites like the Rhoades site are important to the local and regional history of the state, and how public archaeology programs function in general. Scott Cardinal has been a professional cultural resource archaeologist for 11 years, the past 10 of which he worked for the Cultural Resources Survey Program of the New York State Museum. For the past six years he has been directing field research projects for the program, performing archaeological assessments for dozens of projects throughout the state. while at the same time working toward a Ph.D. in the anthropology graduate program at the University at Albany (SUNY). His particular areas of research include native and colonial historic archaeology, heritage resource management issues, and the use of computer applications in archaeological research. Artifacts found at this dig have been on display at the museum since April and will remain through the end of October. Talks are held at the D and H Canal Park Visitor’s Center, 58 Hoag Road, (just off Route 209) Cuddebackville. The Neversink Valley Area Museum is open Thursday through Sunday from noon until 4pm through October 29 and by appointment. For more information about the museum, its mission to preserve local history or any events, call 754-8870 or visit www.neversinkmuseum.org.