Virginia Department of Historic Resources
(dhr.virginia.gov)
For Immediate Release
August 8, 2023

Contact:
Ivy Tan
Department of Historic Resources
Marketing & Communications Manager
ivy.tan@dhr.virginia.gov
804-482-6445

—Bring local artifacts to the Isle of Wight County Museum to be identified by professional archaeologists and share stories of the community’s past with experts and other visitors—

RICHMOND – Have you recently come across an artifact that you would like to know more about? Are you wondering about an object you’ve uncovered on your property? The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) is holding an archaeological pop-up workshop at the Isle of Wight County Museum, located at 103 Main Street in Smithfield (23430), on August 23, 2023, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bring local artifacts that you’ve found in your community to the museum to be identified by professional archaeologists. The event is free and open to all members of the public.

Three experts will lead the workshop to help identify and tell the histories of objects found within the local communities of Isle of Wight County:

• Mike Clem - Eastern Regional Archaeologist, Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Mike is an expert on archaeology in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
• Laura Galke - Chief Curator, Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Laura is a specialist in the colonial period of Virginia.
• Chris Egghart - Archaeologist, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Chris is an expert in stone tool manufacturing and technology during the pre-European contact eras of Virginia.

Visitors at the workshop are encouraged to limit the number of items they bring to no more than 10. Don’t have an item to bring? No problem! DHR experts plan to show a few artifacts from the department’s collection.

Through this event, we hope to educate and inform visitors about how artifacts were used and why they were important to the people who used them. We want to provide you with information about the items you’ve found while you tell us about the county’s past. This will help us all better understand the lives of those who came before us and made Isle of Wight their home.

If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact the museum at (757) 356-1223.

*Please note: This event is for educational purposes. We do not provide estimations on the monetary value of items, and we do not wish to procure artifacts at the event.

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