The Archaeology of Virginia’s First Peoples (2020) [link]

The Historical Archaeology of Virginia from Initial Settlement to Present: Overview and New Directions (2017) 

In conjunction with the Archeological Society of Virginia (ASV) and the Council of Virginia Archaeologists (CoVA), DHR has posted to its website the PDFs of two volumes that examine archaeology in the state from its millennia of occupation by Native peoples through the recent past.

Both volumes consist of essays authored by archaeologists with long careers in Virginia archaeology. Collectively, the two publications represent the culmination of a years-long effort between the ASV, CoVA, and DHR to chronical recent research from archaeological investigations conducted in Virginia during three decades or more.

Although the PDFs are now available at no cost to make the research widely available, both volumes, which are richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and drawings, are still available for purchase as print-on-demand bound books through Amazon.

“DHR is proud to have been a part of the team that produced these two volumes” said Elizabeth Moore, Virginia State Archaeologist and contributor to the project. “These books provide an important update to the initial synthesis in volumes produced 30 years ago that became essential reading for anyone working in Virginia archaeology. Research conducted since then has drastically changed and enhanced our understanding of the past.”

“These two volumes emerged from the shared mission of COVA, ASV, and DHR to present current research about thousands of years of Virginia’s buried past, and also to encourage new scholarship and insights on Virginia’s archaeological sites and collections,” said Eleanor Breen, City Archaeologist for Alexandria and the current president of COVA.

“The ASV is proud to join with DHR and COVA in such impressive publications about Virginia’s First Peoples and later historic settlement,” said Mike Barber, ASV’s current president. “Although a long time in arriving, the volumes do much to enhance our understanding of the long and proud history of friends and neighbors, both past and present.”

Read the December 2020 announcement from DHR about the publication of The Archaeology of Virginia’s First Peoples.