THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510200249
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Chesapeake Indians, who lived in the Great Neck area right here in Virginia Beach, are more remote to most of us than American Indians in the western part of the United States.
A new exhibit at historic Francis Land House may help you feel more of a connection with our first residents. You'll learn that the Chesapeakes probably were trading for stone to make their own stone spear points as well as trading for the projectile points themselves. You'll see rare fragments of pots with handmade designs on them, among other artifacts that give clues to the way the Chesapeakes lived.
Titled ``Layers of Time: Native Americans in Virginia Beach,'' the exhibit features some of the artifacts excavated by James Madison University before the new Great Neck Road bridge was constructed. Other artifacts in the exhibits were uncovered by a private collector during numerous visits to that site.
One large cooking vessel that has been partially reconstructed clearly shows the pot's conical-shaped bottom. Pots such as these are seen in the drawings of John White, artist and governor of North Carolina's Lost Colony in the late 1500s.
``We get a good view of the bottom on this one,'' said Mark Reed, Land house administrator. ``It can sit right down in the fire.
``With a flat bottomed-pot , your fire would have to be flat,'' he went on. ``With these, you can build the fire around them.''
A miniature pot, with the same conical bottom, looks like an individual soup or sauce cup. Dated to around 1500, the pot is unusual because American Indians in this area weren't known to have had individual bowls for eating.
These pots are imprinted with a netting design which comes from the fabric or net that typically was wrapped around the pots when they were being made. Wooden paddles were used to shape the pots and the net fabric kept the paddles from sticking to the clay.
Reed was excited by pot fragments that showed in some cases the Chesapeakes also went on to decorate their pots. The pots had been etched with vertical designs that were three-lined diamond shapes. Archaeologists say that pottery such as this is ``incised.''
In another case a pot had two holes on either side of the rim. It was obvious that a cord or reed could have been inserted to make the pot easier to carry.
Nearby by are some pipe stems and one almost whole pipe. One was decorated with triangular shapes not unlike the shapes on the pots. The term for this type of design is ``rouletting.''
The pointed tips of two whelk shells look as if they had been broken off and smoothed, so worn were they from hoeing in the ground Both shells also had holes in the top in the same place and appeared to be the spot where a hoe handle or stick had been inserted.
A cache of stones that looked like spear points also was excavated and is in the exhibit. Archaeologists call them ``preforms.'' Preforms tell us is that the Chesapeakes probably were trading with Indians further inland not only for the stone weapons themselves but also for stones from which they could make their own spear points.
The exhibit is on loan to the Francis Land House from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. As part of the exhibit, the department also lent a display that shows how archaeologists look for layers of soils as they uncover and date artifacts.
``The context of where it was found is just as important as the artifact itself,'' Reed said.
The exhibit helps put the Chesapeake Indians into context too.
P.S. THE FRIENDS OF THE FRANCIS LAND HOUSE invite the public to their annual meeting at 3 p.m. today to hear a talk on ``Princess Anne - Queen Anne, The Woman, Her Style.''
YOU ALSO CAN LEARN how the Chesapeake Indians made food, tools and clothing and see reproduction artifacts at 2 p.m. Saturday. The program is free with admission but reservations are necessary. Call 431-4000.
CELEBRATE Virginia Resources Conservation Week Oct. 23-29. The theme is ``Watershed Connections.'' To find out what your watershed is and how you can keep it clean, contact the Virginia Dare Soil and Water Conservation District for materials. Call 427-4775.
THE SUGAR PLUM BAKERY AND CAFE on Laskin Road invites the public to sample free baked goods at the grand opening of its new Norfolk store at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Main Street Cafe at 536 E. Main St. MEMO: Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter category 2290. Or, send a
computer message to my Internet address: mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by\ MARY REID BARROW
Mark Reed, Land house administrator, shows off a large cooking
vessel that has been partially reconstructed. It clearly shows the
pot's conical-shaped bottom, like those depicted in drawings from
the late 1500s.
by CNB