THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060390
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER MCMENAMIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRISCO LENGTH: 108 lines
Nearly three years ago, Fred Willard was walking along near his Hatteras Island home when he spotted dozens of shells, bones and bits of broken pottery.
The 56-year-old Buxton resident called anthropology professor David Phelps, who has headed digs in the area, to tell him what he had discovered.
Next fall, however, Willard and other local residents might be able to seek archaeological remains with more than luck to guide them.
A workshop on locating and labeling archaeological sites and specimens will be held next fall, Phelps announced Tuesday night at a discussion in Frisco about his probe of a Croatan village site in Buxton.
``It doesn't take much,'' said Phelps, the director of East Carolina University's Institute for Historic Resources. ``If an old, bald-headed man can do it, so can you.
``Are you game?''
A cheer rang out from the more than 60 residents gathered in the Frisco Native American Museum.
Phelps said the neighbors' presence on or near the archaeological sites will allow constant observation of the areas, where the sands and the soil shift and change frequently during storms and strong winds.
Wind and water can erode topsoil, particularly along shorelines,exposing layers of earth and artifacts. Freshly plowed fields and areas that were previously underwater - dried creek beds as well as marshes and streams - provide the most fertile hunting grounds.
For example, Willard noticed the ``midden'' after Hurricane Emily swept through the island in August of 1993.
A midden is an archaeologist's term for a garbage dump that contains discared food and broken tools.
Willard, a retired marina worker from Annapolis, Md., who moved to Buxton in 1987, said that hundreds of people had walked the area before he made his discovery.
``Without the storm, it might not have been found for another 200 years,'' Willard said.
Phelps and several students from ECU had explored the site in 1983. Maps of their study indicate the group came within 40 or 50 feet of the midden exposed by Hurricane Emily.
``It felt like a mythical, well-worn path when I walked down it,'' said Willard, a longtime buff of Egyptian history. ``I was so excited that I knew I had to go back to school to take archaeology.''
Returning to the midden last March, Phelps found what he called ``the shock of our life.''
Beneath the midden was a ring of scallop shells, cutting across the bottom of the square the students were excavating. When they looked closer and expanded the site, the diggers found two copper beads, a copper ornament and a large dark area, which has not been explored enough to identify.
About 50 feet from the scallop-shell ring, the excavation team found a semicircle of post molds, the remains of rotten wooden pilings still upright. The findings indicate evidence of ``actual structures of the house,'' Phelps said. ``Garbage is one thing, but in-place behavior is another.''
The professor said the history of the Croatan Indians, who later were termed the Hatteras Indians by English colonists, rules out all other explanations of the site.
``So why is this Croatan? Can it be some other site?'' Phelps asked. ``No. The reason is in the history.''
A map drawn in 1585 by John White marks the Buxton site as the capital of the Croatans. Some say the ``Lost Colonists'' left their Roanoke Island fort and fled to Hatteras Island to live in the Croatan village, where they eventually disappeared into the Native American culture.
Phelps hopes further exploration of the area will help archaeologists understand the lifestyle of the original occupants of North Carolina's barrier islands.
The workshop planned for this fall is one of the tools he plans to use to expedite the process.
He will describe the kinds of material to look for and how to mark the specimens. ``That will help establish the base of history for this island. It is the best way for you to get involved in your own local ruins.''
In addition to the workshop, ECU's dean of the college of arts and sciences has granted permission to develop a coastal archaeological office to manage projects from Currituck County through Ocracoke Island.
To involve the younger members of the community, Cape Hatteras School Principal Bruce Shepard approached Phelps about joint projects between the professor and the local students.
``He has a strong affinity for this site, and he's been wanting to develop a relationship with the school,'' Shepard said Wednesday.
Shepard proposed three possibilities:
A section in the library to cover history of the areas Phelps has been exploring.
A program for advanced students to work with Phelps and his graduate students during excavations.
An advanced placement college-level course for Hatteras seniors through ECU.
Phelps agreed on the importance of school involvement. ``One of the best ways to disseminate information is through the educational system,'' he said.
From his own return to college, Willard can confirm the benefits of education.
``It's a brilliant idea. Just brilliant,'' he said. ``The opportunity to realize somebody that gifted is this close is why I went back. What I think we're going to see is a bunch of young archaeologists come out of this.''
Or perhaps not so young. The 56-year-old will be attending ECU as a full-time archaeology major this fall. ILLUSTRATION: Finding lost history
DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
East Carolina University students broadened the find of a few bones,
shells and broken pottery into a significant archaeological find.
They are working, above, on the Buxton site of a possible Croatan
dwelling. A 1585 map shows the Croatan Indian capital was in the
area. David Phelps, right, is overseeing the dig as well as a
project to teach area residents how to recognize significant sites
and findings. by CNB