Published: November 17, 2006 11:55 am         

Artifacts from the Ancients

Thursday, November 16, 2006 — Local residents should be proud of a new exhibit gracing the halls of a prestigious museum in Raleigh.

After all, their ancient neighbors’ artifacts are the featured attraction.

This weekend, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences presents Archaeology Days, a brand new special event examining North Carolina's human history dating back 10,000 years.

The event features the “Hardaway Artifacts” unearthed from the Hardaway site near Badin.

The site is North Carolina's oldest excavated settlement and one of the most significant archaeological finds in North America.

The event is free and takes place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

A special reception and preview featuring Alcoa benefactors and others is set for tonight at the Raleigh museum.

Tommy Gibson, Alcoa Badin Works’ spokesman, said he, Gene Ellis, Mark Gross and others will make the journey to check out some of the 1.3 million artifacts collected from property along the Yadkin-Pee Dee River.

“I’m excited to be finally be able to kick off this exhibit,” Gibson said.

“A good number to be displayed are arrowheads, although some are fragments and pieces of bowls and other artifacts,” he said.

Gibson said the exhibit will eventually include a traveling display of the Hardaway Artifacts that will be shown at museum and other locales across North Carolina.

He’s requested that such a tour begin in Badin.

“I’ve asked that they start in Stanly County,” he said.

Gibson said he’s distributed colorful fliers to schools and other locations throughout Stanly County to spread the word of the unveiling of the local artifacts and prompt residents to explore the local history this weekend in Raleigh.

Visitors will learn how archaeologists uncover artifacts and see archaeological wonders found in and around our state. There will also be several interpretive educational stations manned by staff from several agencies and organizations around our state including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Morehead Planetarium, the N.C. Office of State Archaeology and the Schiele Museum in Gastonia.

Stations will focus on an array of subjects such as pottery and tool-making, chronology and typography of artifacts, demonstrations of primitive skills, bone and seed identification and more. The museum's educational staff will offer additional interactive stations on cordage making, fiber identification, ancient foods and more.

"We are very excited to be hosting the first Archaeology Days, where the people of North Carolina can see artifacts from early Americans at our Museum," said Museum Director Betsy Bennett. "What makes this event particularly special is that it will be the first time many of these artifacts, including the Hardaway Artifacts, will be available for the public to see."

Several presentations will be held in the Museum's auditorium throughout the weekend, including one by George Stuart Saturday at 2.p.m.

Stuart is the founder and president of the Center for Maya Research and former vice president for Research Exploration for the National Geographic Society. He's also a renowned expert on Mesoamerican, Mayan and North American archaeology, as well as hieroglyphic writing and art history.

Stuart's talk is the second part of the Joffre Lanning Coe Lecture Series. Other Saturday presenters include Steve Watts, who will discuss primitive technology for all ages, Doug Elliott on ancient foods, and the Museum's own Bob Alderink on primitive skills.

On Sunday, presenters include David Meltzer, human migration to this continent, and I. Randolph Daniel, author of "Hardaway Revisited: Early Archaic Settlement in the Southeast.”

For more information about Archaeology Days, contact Erin MacEntee at 919-733-7450, ext. 502.



Hardaway

happening

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh presents Archaeology Days, a brand-new special event examining North Carolina's human history dating back 10,000 years. The event Saturday and Sunday is free to the public and includes some of the 1.3 million artifacts donated to the museum by Alcoa.