[Archived] Alexandria Archaeology Announces Events for Virginia Archaeology Month 2011

Throughout October, the Alexandria Archaeology Museum will be offering several programs in conjunction with Virginia Archaeology Month. This year’s statewide theme is “Between the Battles: The Life of a Civil War Soldier,” and many of Alexandria’s activities will explore the Civil War. Event details follow, and for more information, visit www.alexandriaarchaeology.org or call 703.746.4399. 

“Bipoints Before Clovis” Lecture
Saturday, October 1, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 North Union Street, #327

Kick off Virginia Archaeology Month with this free illustrated lecture on the history of bipoint technology! Author and archaeologist William Jack Hranicky will discuss the bipoint knife, which has sharp points at both ends, and why it is one of the oldest technologies among Homo sapiens. According to Hranicky, bipoints date back about 25,000 years, predating the Clovis culture. He will also discuss the Cinmar bipoint and the Virginia Norfolk bipoint. Sponsored by the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA).

“A Visual Tour of Civil War Alexandria” Lecture
Wednesday, October 5, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The Lyceum, 201 South Washington Street

See what Alexandria looked like during the Civil War through the eyes of photographers who documented it! Wally Owen, Assistant Director of Fort Ward Museum and co-author of Mr. Lincoln’s Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington, will present an illustrated lecture featuring 3-D images and rare photographs, including many that have never been published. Tickets are $10 per person and advance reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations, call 703.746.4994.

Arts Safari & Museum Open House
Saturday, October 8, noon to 4 p.m.
Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 North Union Street, #327

The Torpedo Factory Art Center hosts its annual Alexandria Arts Safari, a festival of hands-on arts and crafts activities for kids and their families. The Potter’s Art activity presented in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum is designed for kids of all ages! Learn to identify 19th-century Alexandria potters from the designs applied to salt-glazed stoneware pottery, and create your own take-home drawing at this free family event.

Archaeology Day at Shuter’s Hill Site
Saturday, October 22, 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Grounds of the George Washington Masonic Memorial, 101 Callahan Drive

Archaeologists from Alexandria, Mount Vernon, and Fairfax County will offer site tours and hands-on archaeology fun at Shuter’s Hill, once home to an 18th-century plantation and a later estate occupied by Union troops. Find out what discoveries archaeologists have made this year before the site is closed for the season. This event is free but reservations are required, so call 703.746.4399 to save your spot.

Auction and Reception to Benefit Freedmen’s Record Book
Thursday, October 27, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Principle Gallery, 208 King Street

Please join Alexandria Archaeology at this benefit event to support the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial and the historic book of records linked to the cemetery. Proceeds from this reception and silent auction will support the restoration of the original book listing marriages and deaths of hundreds of African Americans who came to Alexandria seeking refuge during and after the Civil War. The extremely fragile book is at the Library of Virginia and must be completely unbound, cleaned, stabilized, and rebound, a process that is estimated to cost more than $1500. This volume is the only source of the names of the people buried at Freedmen’s Cemetery, names that will appear on the Memorial. Minimum suggested donation to attend the reception is $10.

“Historic Alexandria” Lecture and Book Signing
Saturday, October 29, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 North Union Street, #327

Author, historian, and member of the Alexandria Archaeological Commission Ted Pulliam will explore key events and people that make up the Alexandria story, with a special focus on the Civil War. Ted’s lecture will be based on his new book, Historic Alexandria: An Illustrated History, which will be available for purchase and signing following the free lecture. Sponsored by the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA).

Civil War Sundays
Each Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m
Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 North Union Street, #327

In addition to the above events, at the Archaeology Museum each Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., explore the Civil War in Alexandria with “Civil War Sundays”: a free showcase of an original, May 26, 1861, edition of the New-York Tribune detailing Colonel Elmer Ellsworth’s death in Alexandria, a Peeps diorama illustrating Ellsworth’s death, a TimeTravelers Passport exhibit featuring the Civil War drummer boy, diorama of a heating system constructed in Alexandria to warm Civil War hospital tents during the winter of 1861, a cocked and loaded Wickham musket discarded in a privy during the 1860s, and an exhibit on the Lee Street Site during the Civil War.

For more information, visit www.alexandriaarchaeology.org.