ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PARK

This paper discusses the discoveries resulting from a study of 350 years of occupation at Saybrook Point, in the town of Old Saybrook, Connecticut's earliest English coastal settlement (1635). Three sea-sons of archaeological research (1980-1982), along with documentary sources provided information for the construction of a detailed site history. Specifically, the paper focuses on the role of archaeology in understanding growth and change within the earliest area of settlement in a small Connecticut town, as well as the interpretation of these findings in the form of an archaeological and historical park, con-structed within the excavation zone. Cet article presente les resultats d'une etude portant sur les 350 ans d'occupation de Saybrook Point dans la ville de Old Saybrook, Ie plus ancien etablissement cotier anglais du Connecticut (1635). La combinaison de recherches documentaires et de trois campagnes de fouilles archeologiques (1980-1982) a fourni des informations utiles a la construction d'une histoire detail/ee du site. Nous examinerons ici, en particulier, Ie role joue par l ' archeologie dans la comprehension de la croissance et du changement dan