Archaeological Updates: Archaeology in our own backyard

Excavations at the Burt-Wilder site in Bristol, NY provide insights into local history

Photo courtesy of Christian Chaffee

Dr. Marie-Loraine Pipes, a zooarchaeologist and adjunct professor of anthropology at SUNY Geneseo, recently sat down with The Lamron to discuss an archaeological site less than 40 miles from Geneseo which the college has been excavating since 2022. What follows is the insights of Dr. Pipes.

The Burt-Wilder site is located in the town of Bristol, New York, and is home to a late 18th century farmstead occupied by two of the founding families of the town across a 30-year period.

Bristol was founded in 1789, according to the Bristol Town Historian. As Dr. Pipes explained, a group of 30 families from the town of Brighton, Massachusetts pooled their money to form a land company, intent on purchasing a piece of land in Western New York to establish a town, which was, at that time, divided into a series of six-mile squares. Eventually, their bid was successful, and these families drew straws as to what pieces of land they got. Daniel Burt won the piece of land on which the Burt-Wilder site is today.

The Burt and Wilder families occupied the land during this early period in Bristol history, though farming at the location still continues today. The farmstead was occupied only from 1796 to 1830, which Dr. Pipes noted was a “very, very limited amount of time.”

Archaeological excavations began on the site in 2013, spearheaded by the Lewis Henry Morgan Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association (NYSAA), an organization composed of “professional and advocational archaeologists,” according to NYSAA. Dr. Pipes added the first three years of excavation uncovered the remains of two stone archaeological features and a fire stain, yet, following this, archaeological investigations stopped.

In 2022, SUNY Geneseo’s Anthropology Department began their excavations of the site via their archaeology field school, led by Dr. Pipes and Dr. Paul Pacheco, professor of anthropology at the college and Chair of the Anthropology Department. Earlier features found on the site were determined to be a barn cellar and a springhouse drain.

A small 2024 reconnaissance survey of the site by Dr. Pipes, Dr. Pacheco, and a team of four Geneseo anthropology students confirmed that the barn had burned down, which was a longstanding mystery and a growing pain among investigators. The reddened soils found around the barn, combined with the fire stain, point to both the collapse of the springhouse superstructure and barn. As Dr. Pipes explained, it “had to have been quite a fire.”

The 2025 archaeology field school at the Burt-Wilder site uncovered the south and east walls of the barn, and evidence of the Burt family’s log cabin. It was surprising how close the cabin was to the barn. This was not commonly seen on farmsteads due to the fire hazard it posed, which, Dr. Pipes suggests the cabin was occupied before the barn was built; one of many important findings that came about from these excavations. A wide range of additional archaeological material was uncovered from the site, including metallic artifacts such as nails and buttons.

Along with the other discoveries, a high volume of pottery was found on the site. A “tremendous variation” in the types of pottery was observed, as noted by Dr. Pipes. This evidence, combined with census data, revealed that the Burts and Wilders were among the wealthiest people in Bristol during the time. This represents a significant shift in the archaeological understanding of the site, as initial assumptions by the Morgan Chapter characterized both families as poor farmers.

Storage vessel pottery found on the site was dominated by a type called “redware” and no salt-glazed stoneware was also uncovered. This type was only seen in the Bristol area after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. This provides a “hard temporal marker” as to when the Wilders stopped living on the site, explained Dr. Pipes.

On a broader level, Dr. Pipes acknowledged that these excavations can contribute to a better understanding of what late 18th century barns and springhouses looked like for future reference by archaeologists, and to a better understanding of historic ceramic typologies. 

She further explained why the site remains historically significant, commenting that she doesn’t “know of any other 19th century founding family site in Western New York… this site is truly unique because it is from the beginning of the historic occupation of Western New York.” It is this significance that makes the Burt-Wilder site more likely to be listed on the State Register of Historic Places, which would protect it from development.

On a more local level, Dr. Pipes spoke on how the Burt-Wilder site is the “only archaeologically documented site that dates to the founding of the town.” The farmstead is a visible reminder of Bristol’s early history, showing how people lived during the time, and it remains very important to many of Bristol’s residents today, many of whom are descendants of the Burt and Wilder families.

This discussion with Dr. Pipes ended with an explanation on how these excavations have added to her own archaeological experience. She explained that much of her experience in archaeology comes from urban archaeological sites on the eastern seaboard, the earliest of which date to the beginning of the 17th century. When she came to Western New York, she arrived with the expectation, largely informed by what archaeologists have already written about this region, that “there was no evidence of early occupation here for these settlers.” This site has proved to her that such a belief is not true. 

To Dr. Pipes, “[t]his site really showed me that the problem has been with the way the archaeologists have been doing their work, and [that] their lack of experience with material culture… has really hidden the early occupation of Western New York State.”

To gain a better sense of SUNY Geneseo’s Anthropology Department’s work at the Burt-Wilder site, the college has produced a short YouTube video showing some aspects of the excavation during the department’s 2022 Archaeology Field School.