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Event
Fall for Opacum Dinner
Join us Wednesday, September 18th for Opacum Land Trust's 6th annual "Fall for Opacum" Dinner.
Please join us for a fun and informative evening at the beautiful Barn at Wight Farm in Sturbridge. Enjoy a delicious dinner and cocktail hour by the Table 3 Restaurant Group (owners of the Duck, Avellino, and Cedar Street Grille), a silent auction featuring local treats, treasures and activities, and our fascinating guest speaker, Dr. Curtiss Hoffman.
Learn about Opacum's most recent work in our community. Social/Cocktail Hours begins at 5:30 pm, followed by dinner and program. Proceeds from this event support the conservation work of Opacum Land Trust.
We are pleased to present Dr. Curtiss Hoffman as our guest speaker to discuss his fascinating and extensive research on the mysterious stone piles found across our region, documented in his newest book Stone Prayers: Native American Constructions of the Eastern Seaboard.
"Scattered throughout the woodlands and fields of the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada are tens of thousands of stone monuments. These stone constructions have been the subject of debate among archaeologists and antiquarians for the past 75 years."
Dr. Hoffman will discuss the 4 competing hypothesis about the creation of these structures: that they were built by colonial farmers removing rocks from their fields; by pre-Columbian transatlantic voyagers; that they are the result of natural deposition by glaciers or downslope erosion; and lastly, that they were constructed as sacred places by the indigenous peoples of the region. The purpose of Dr. Hoffman's latest book "Stone Prayers" is to provide quantitative support for the indigenous construction hypothesis.
Dr. Hoffman holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and since 1973 has directed field operations at archeological sites in southern New England. He is an emeritus professor in the Dept. of Anthropology at Bridgewater State University where he has taught since 1978. He is the past president of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society and past editor of its Bulletin. He has an abiding interest in cognitive anthropology: the study of the ways in which the members of cultures represent their world-view in the form of material culture.
Join us to hear Dr. Hoffman discuss this highly debated topic and to share the methods and findings of his recent research.
Opacum Land Trust is a non-profit land conservation organization working with landowners and municipalities in south-central Massachusetts to conserve undeveloped land and open space for the benefit of the public. Opacum supports a healthy balance of economic growth and development along with the permanent conservation of important open space, natural ecosystems, wildlife habitat, working farms, and forests.
For more information about who we are and what we do, visit us at www.OpacumLT.org.
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LocationThe Barn at Wight Farm (View)
420 Main Street
Sturbridge, MA 01566
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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