Archaeology Fest Saturday

    An archaeology festival sponsored by the Montauk Historical Society will be held on the grounds of the Second House Museum on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    The festival, now in its second year, is held to raise awareness of a proposed Montauk Indian Museum to be established in a cottage owned by the Town of East Hampton on the north side of the Second House property. A future addition to the building is planned.

    The daylong event will feature interactive exhibits that will make up the core of the museum if at least $500,000 can be raised to complete it. Demonstrations include friction fire, flintknapping, bow and arrow making, and early cooking techniques using local produce and shellfish. Talks by archaeologists and historians will round out the day.

    Auntie Dorine’s Clam Bar, a food vending truck, will be on hand selling all types of modern-day goodies.

    The festival is being funded with a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities. “What a day it will be when the museum is a reality. This is just a great project, long overdue,” Dick Cavett, a museum supporter, said.

    Maria-Louise Sideroff, an archaeological consultant for the museum, stressed how important it is for schoolchildren to learn about the days of yore, and has visited local students in their classrooms for that purpose.

    The festival will allow experts in the field to demonstrate the skills of prehistoric life that enabled early cultures to survive, she said. “Every schoolchild knows that native people were hunter-gatherers, but as our technology world has advanced it becomes more and more difficult for people to imagine what life was like in a pre-tech world.”

    At the festival, which drew more than 700 visitors last year, experts and aficionados will bring items from their own collections, some of which will then be prizes in a raffle. More information is on Montauk Indian Museum’s Facebook page.