THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505240188
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
IT WAS FOUND in a gently sloping hillside, less than a mile from the Nottoway River and five miles northwest of Courtland.
It is low-grade iron ore, 10 inches from the bottom of its chin to the top of its forehead, 7 1/2 inches from cheekbone to cheekbone, and weighs about 20 pounds.
No one knows how long it had been in the field before Lloyd Bryant, then a boy, pulled it from the soil in the 1950s. For the past year, the rusty brown, chiseled human face has been displayed at the Isle of Wight Museum in Smithfield.
Housed in a glass case, it is called the Nottoway Stone Image.
The boy's parents sold the discovery to the late Floyd Eugene Painter, an archaeologist, of Norfolk. His daughter, Pam, turned it over to the museum in 1994.
``The stone is unworked (except for the face) and irregular in outline, flat on the back and somewhat larger than the face,'' Painter wrote in a 1958 bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia.
``The texture of the stone is somewhat granular.''
Painter, a self-taught archaeologist, lived in Norfolk but worked around the world, digging and researching in China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, India, the Pacific islands, Arabia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Great Britain, Egypt and Central and North America.
Closer to home, he was involved in the excavation of several Civil War sites at Fort Boykin.
That fort, in Isle of Wight County, was built in 1623. It was used during the War of 1812, the Revolutionary and Civil wars.
Painter conjectured that the Courtland find was ``quite ancient, dating even to Archaic times.'' While projectile points of that period are common in nearby fields, he said, ``To my knowledge, no such stone head has ever been found north of Mexico.
``There are accounts and drawings of such faces carved on wooden posts in the ceremonial plazas of Tidewater Algonkian Towns. Here, too, there may be no connection.''
Another theory was it could be from the early 19th century.
``The immediate area is the seat of the Nottoway Indians and well within the limits of their reservation that was still in existence in 1825,'' he said. ``The area is called Indian Town.''
Yet another Painter idea is that the stone may have been found elsewhere and brought to the field.
There is some thought about the face being created by slaves. That idea comes from a study of the January/February edition of Archaeology magazine about findings in Wesleyan United Methodist Church in downtown Syracuse, N.Y.
``The images discovered there (in Syracuse),'' wrote Kimberly A. Kindya, ``may depict fugitive slaves who once hid in the church basement before continuing their flight. Most of the images have deteriorated, but two retain much of their original form.''
Nelle Pittman, former Isle of Wight Museum curator, explains the parallel: ``Southampton County was the site of Nat Turner's Rebellion.''
He led a slave insurrection in Southampton County in 1831, that began with the murder of his master, Joseph Travis, and ended with the murder of 55 men, women and children. Turner was captured and killed.
``Many runaway slaves passed through Southampton County,'' Pittman said. ``There exists the possibility that this stone could be a slave piece.''
It does resemble the pieces found in Syracuse, although the New York stones have far more detail.
``The stone face and its origin may forever remain an enigma, but will always be an object of wonder,'' Painter said, ``something to stir the imaginations of men.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Nottoway Stone Image is on display at the Isle of Wight Museum.
AT A GLANCE
The Isle of Wight Museum is at 103 Main St., Smithfield.
Hours are 1-5 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through
Thursday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
In addition to the Nottoway Stone Image, highlights include a
decoy display titled ``Waterfowl of the Pagan, an exhibit on the
local meat industry, archaeology and a country store.
Call 357-7459.
by CNB