Not to pick on Phlosphr or anything, but I did want to mention that digging a site on public lands is illegal.
For what it’s worth, Phlosphr, I’m currently working on a sewer project in Niantic, Connecticut, that involved some pretty deep digging. Due to various archaeological areas of interest in the vicinity, we were required by the State Historic Preservation Office to have a subconsultant conduct a “Phase 1A Cultural Resources Assessment Survey and Phase 1B Cultural Resources Reconnaissance Survey.”
As part of the whole thing, we had to have our construction reps trained to recognize artifacts. The trainer emphasized all of the bad things that would happen if we allowed the contractor to blindly excavate through something of significance. He added that if any human remains were disturbed (from an old burial mound, for example) and we did not stop the work and report it, we and the contractor could be found criminally responsible and prosecuted. :eek:
Thankfully, we didn’t find anything of historical significance…except I did find a near-perfectly preserved page of the New York Sun in a trench dating from September 1941!
So anyway, if you have questions, contact the State Historic Preservation Office. They’re part of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
Native American aritifacts are routinly bought and sold at auction. I’ve gone to many old farm type auctions and purchased entire collections that the surviving family members thought of as just old rocks. Old pots from the southwest are worth quite a lot, I’ve seen small ones go for over a grand. They sell a lot on eBay as well, but from what I’ve seen at least 90 percent of them are fakes or reworked pieces.
A friend of mine found a site that was used by the Mohegans to make shoes. At first he thought it was an arrowhead making site, but he found “the last of the Mohegans”.
Dan, consider yourself dragged out and shot.
Now you have to stay out of the thread until one of your own team members tags you back in. 
I talked to a friend of mine who is an archaeologist. He did most of his post-grad work at the Jamestown VA site, and now works in the private sector.
In Virginia (and I know that the OP is in Connecticut) he says, if you own the land and you dig it up, it’s yours. There are very few laws here that govern this sort of thing down this way (which surprised me, considering the rich history of this area.)
Dan, you’re tagged back in.
In the case of valuable items such as hoards of old coins, Treasure Trove laws may apply. In the USA, that means you have to treat it as income and pay tax. In the UK, the Queen bags it.
“When you buy a house, whatever’s in the ground belongs to you. Whether it’s gold, oil…or Claude Musselman!”
-Sheriff, Funny Farm
Seriously though, IMO, if it’s your private property, it’s yours. But it can get cloudy. Remember the case of Sue the T-Rex?