AUGUSTA — The fourth of a series of lectures sponsored by Old Fort Western and the Maine Bicentennial Commission presents Leon “Lee” Cranmer, a retired historic archaeologist from the staff of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Cranmer is to present “The 17th Century Trading Posts along the Kennebec,” which will focus on Neumkeag (Pittston), Cushnoc (Augusta), Taconnet (Winslow), and Arrowsic (Southern Maine).

A meet and greet is to be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 24, at Fort Western; Cranmer will entertain questions on early 17th and 18th century truckhouses. During the hours of the meet and greet, normal admission rate will be reduced to $6.

The lecture can be viewed for free on CTV-7 and from augustamaine.gov, oldfortwestern.org and Fort Western’s Facebook page.

Cranmer has a bachelor of science degree from Stockton University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and Master of Arts degree in history/historical archaeology from the University of Maine. He has conducted archaeology for the state for more than 20 years, excavating hundreds of Maine sites for which has written or co-authored site reports.

Prior to that he spent two seasons in England doing archaeology. He has written two books and numerous articles on Maine historical archaeology, including “Cushnoc: The History and Archaeology of Plymouth Colony Traders on the Kennebec” and “The History and Archaeology of Fort Halifax, Winslow, Maine” (co-authored with Perleston Pert), and both occasional “Publications in Maine Archaeology” (Nos. 7 and 17).

Prior to his archaeology career, he spent seven years in the Navy and is a Vietnam veteran. He lives in Somerville with his wife Liz.

Old Fort Western is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and interpret the National Historical landmark, fort, store and house located on the Kennebec River in Augusta. For more information, call 207-626-2385, email oldfort@oldfortwestern.org, visit oldfortwestern.org or Facebook at Old Fort Western – Augusta, Maine.

The fort is open daily in July and August from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last tour of the day starts at 3:30 p.m.

Admission rates for non-Augusta residents are $10 for adults, $6 for children 6-14, $8 for seniors and veterans, $25 for family of five, and $1 for AAA discounts. Augusta residents, children younger than 6, and active military are free.

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