MISSION STATEMENT

The Gungywamp Society, founded in 1979, is a nonprofit educational research organization which conducts excavations and tours in the Gungywamp complex, located in Groton, Connecticut. We also include information about other archaeological and historical sites in Connecticut and elsewhere. The Gungywamp Society is dedicated to the preservation of archaeologically and historically significant sites.  The Gungywamp Society holds to professional and scholarly research standards and maintains association with Connecticut's state archaeologist and with other professional archaeological organizations.

We are pleased that as of June, 2009, the Gungywamp Society's artifacts and document materials were removed from a former researcher's home and are now located at the Connecticut State Archaeologist's Office at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.  This has been our longstanding goal and part of our mission to preserve the many artifacts and document material in a centralized, professional setting.  Our many thanks to our state archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni for his diligent work in having the Gungywamp Society's artifacts and document materials placed under his care.

Take a Virtual Tour of the Gungywamp!

 

Please Do NOT Call the Gungywamp Board Members & Researchers for Tour Information! Please Contact the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center for Their Schedule of Tours.  Thank You!

Board Members
& Researchers
  • P. Buchanan
    Educator, Historian,
    Researcher
  • B. Dopirak
    College Professor in    Natural Sciences,
    Researcher

  • M. Whatley
    Researcher
  • J. Rajotte
    Contributing Researcher

  • Consultant
    Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni, Connecticut State Archaeologist
     
 
 

 The Gungywamp Society's  researchers and tour guides are very appreciative of the warm welcome given to them by all of the private owners of the Gungywamp properties for conducting tours and digs of the sites found in the Gungywamp complex.  The  YMCA letter grants permission to The Gungywamp researchers and tour guides to work and give tours of the Gungywamp sites. 

Gungywamp in the News:

Gungywamp Society researcher B. Dopirak gives a Gungywamp tour for Connecticut Public Broadcasting: http://www.cpbn.org/gungy-what 

Carol Kimball, historical researcher and writer for the Day newspaper in New London, Connecticut, writes of Gungywamp memories: Stonewatch 2008 article by Carol Kimball

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In 2009 Gungywamp Society researchers S. and P. Buchanan gave a tour of the Gungywamp sites to historian Susan Sutherland, member of the Groton Open Space Association.  Much of the colonial and Early American structures in the Gungywamp indicate that the area was used for sheep farming.  Ms. Sutherland wrote an article about another sheep farm about five miles away from the Gungywamp complex which has similar stone structures as are found in the Gungywamp.  Ms. Sutherland's article is entitled  Colonial History: The Sheep Farm, Early Edgecomb Family and Fort Hill Brook Industrial Sites

In 2010 and 2011, the Buchanans and B. Dopirak gave tours to  Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum, Kevin McBride, Connecticut State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni, and other professionals seeking additional information on the Gungywamp's Native American, colonial and early American sites for potential future excavations. 

 

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TOUR INFORMATION

Due to the many requests for tours that the Gungywamp Society researchers have received, we are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center in Mystic, Connecticut, to conduct tours of the Gungywamp sites!  Please see our link below for the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center contact information.

We give a hearty "thank you!" to the private landowners of the Gungywamp area for their continued generosity and hospitality (since 1979!) in allowing the Gungywamp Society and the Denison Pequotesepos Nature Center to conduct research and give tours of the Gungywamp sites!

 

Things To Know Before Making Tour Arrangements (Please Read Completely!)

We offer this web site and tour information for the Gungywamp area so as to provide historical and archaeological information to those interested in the preservation of Native American, colonial and Early American sites. 

Because there is WAY too much misinformation about the Gungywamp sites on the Internet, it is important for historical accuracy and preservation purposes that the facts be presented clearly.  First of all, Gungywamp is a Native American (Algonquin) name and is similar to other well-known Native American words and names throughout the region.  Gungywamp is NOT a Celtic word and does NOT mean "church of the people."  There is no authentic linguistic connection of the name "Gungywamp" to any other language group other than Native American Algonquin. 

Also, there is NO evidence within any part of the Gungywamp area that there was ever any pre-Columbian Celtic or Norse (Viking) occupation.  No Ogham or Celtic inscriptions in stone nor any European Bronze Age artifacts have ever been found in the Gungywamp area.  There are no "ancient Indian stone temples" in the Gungywamp area since it is a well known fact that nomadic and semi-nomadic Native Americans in the region did not construct temples of hewn or field stone (the colonial and Early American stone foundations, mill site, stone chambers, etc., in the Gungywamp area are not "ancient Indian stone temples").  All artifact and document research gives evidence of only paleo and woodland Native American, European colonial and European post-colonial/Early American occupation.  With this in mind, please do not request a tour asking volunteer tour guides to show you the "ancient Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, Phoenician, UFO," etc. sites or "ancient Native American stone temple sites" because these do not exist in the Gungywamp area.

Lastly, the Gungywamp Society is in no way linked or associated with pagan, Wiccan or any other ritual or religious groups or beliefs.  Contrary to what certain kinds of web sites and individuals depict about the Gungywamp area, there are no ancient Druid, pagan or Wiccan ritual sites in the Gungywamp complex.  Nor are there any "mystical powers" or paranormal "energies" emanating from any of the Gungywamp sites or the area.  Slight electromagnetic fields exist in the Gungywamp as in many other parts of the world and they are due to natural occurrences in the Earth (such as iron deposits found in the Gungywamp area).  In short, we do not represent or encourage any kind of religious/spiritual or paranormal interpretation of the Gungywamp area, so please do not request a tour of the Gungywamp sites expecting these interpretations to be presented by volunteer tour guides.

The Gungywamp Society is strictly a volunteer archaeological organization which promotes historically authenticated archaeological research and which seeks to preserve the land and sites of the Gungywamp area because of their proven historical value.  We support and work in conjunction with other professional organizations which likewise practice objective archaeological and historical research.

Take a Virtual Tour of the Gungywamp!
 

Gungywamp Stonewatch Newsletters

 
Links