Virginia celebrates archaeology and Indigenous Peoples Day in October. To go along with discovering the past for the future is a display of Native American artifacts in the Botetourt Museum of History & Culture in Fincastle. This clay “effigy” is among them. It is thought to be over 300 years old.
The earliest archaeological study in Botetourt was performed by Gerald Fowke with the Smithsonian Institution from 1891 to 1892. Workers with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad disturbed Native American burials at the time in Gala north of Eagle Rock.
More studies were done in the area by members of the Archaeological Society of Virginia in the 1940s. Artifact analysis showed that the area’s greatest use was during the late Archaic and late Woodland periods. Now, that area in Gala is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
Archaeological research was also done in the Greenfield Plantation and Education Center by Botetourt County. Those artifacts date back to historic and prehistoric times. More information on the findings at Greenfield can be found in the 2023 booklet published by Historic Greenfield Advisory Council and available in the BCHS Museum bookstore.To learn more about Botetourt archaeology go to: virginiaarchaeology.org. “Archaeology-You’ll Dig It.”
~ Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture
