Sunday, September 9, 2007 — Badin will be a stopping place for artifacts from a nearby archeological site that may date as far back as 13,000 years ago.
A display of Indian artifacts from the Hardaway site will be featured at the Best of Badin Festival next weekend.
The Hardaway site is the oldest excavated settlement in North Carolina and one of the oldest and most significant archaeological sites in North America.
The artifacts are commonly known as arrowheads but are actually projectile points.
They were excavated during two separate periods. The most recent was during 1975 to 1980. They are stored in the collection of The university of North Carolina - Chapel Hill’s Research Laboratories of Archeology.
Preparation of display
When finished, the complete display of projectile points will be in three sections. One of the displays is ready now. When the others are complete there will be another showing in Badin.
David Summerlin of the Best of Badin Festival, said he had hoped to have that display here for the festival but ran into problems with Indian Affairs. They have to approve anything to do with Indians.
For Saturday they have about five cases of the artifacts to display from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science at Raleigh. Archaeologist Steve Davis and three students are expected be on hand to discuss the display inside the Firehouse Museum.
The artifacts are from the Hardaway site, so named for the company that built the Narrows Dam in 1917 that created Badin Lake. The location is not publicly known to protect the area from people coming in to take artifacts from the site illegally.
Discovery of site
The site was discovered in 1937 by Alcoan H.M. Doershuk, an amateur archaeologist, and Dr. Joffre Coe, an eminent archaeologist. The site overlooks Badin Lake and has unearthed 12,000-year-old prehistoric Native American artifacts.
From the 1930s until the 1950s Coe and his students and staff conducted archaeological digs uncovering evidence that more ancient cultures than anyone had ever guessed lived in the state. At the Hardaway site they discovered not one, but two different cultures camped there during a period know as the Paleo-Indian, meaning “oldest Indian.” This period spanned time from 10,000 to 20,000 years ago and preceded the Archaic times, about 8,000 years ago.
The Hardaway site was officially designated a National Historic Landmark Nov. 5, 1990, at a ceremony at Alcoa Conference Center in Badin.
Alcoa gives generous gift
Alcoa, who owns the property, made a generous gift of over 1.5 million artifacts and a $220,000 grant to the UNC to make a moveable display from them so schools around the state could use it.
One interesting fact is the way the makers of the tools would recycle them, A tool might start out as a spear point. After resharpening several times the blade would be too narrow for a spear and would be fashioned into a drill point.
The artifacts display will be just one of many interesting features of the annual Best of Badin Festival which will run Friday and Saturday, Sept. 14 and 15.
Features
Related Photos
Discussion
Hardaway exibit comes to Badin for start of tour
Exhibition will return once all displays are complete
- Features
-
-
Mical celebrates one year of Cakes from Home
Albemarle Downtown Development provides features on participants from the Farmers Market.
-
Claytons owners of the ‘Lucky Duck’ in the GHA Autism Supports Rubber Duck Derby
Hundreds of individuals gathered at City Lake Park in Albemarle Saturday for the Fourth Annual GHA Autism Supports Rubber Duck Derby.
-
VIDEO: 'Ring of fire' solar eclipse
The solar eclipse that took place Sunday evening was an annular eclipse, one in which the moon blocks almost all of the sun. Some of the best viewing was in Asia, as with this video filmed in Japan.
-
Career Tips For New Grads
(StatePoint) If you’re a new college or high school graduate, you may have been told by older relatives that the best way to launch your career is to get a decent job and stick with it. But many experts today warn that the expectation of relying on one company to employ you until you retire is no longer realistic.
-
‘Dark Shadows’ — past and present
With respect to full disclosure, I have been a fan of “Dark Shadows” for a very long time.
-
New Changes For Social Security And Federal Benefit Recipients
(StatePoint) The U.S. Department of the Treasury is phasing out paper federal benefit checks. Everyone who receives Social Security, Supplement Security Income (SSI) or other federal benefit payments by check is required to switch to electronic payments by March 1, 2013.
-
‘The Avengers’ begins summer movie season in style
At this point there may be no need to review a film like “The Avengers.” In the first weekend, this latest film adaptation of comic book heroes grossed the highest box office receipts in history — $207,438,708.
-
Video: President Obama endorses same-sex marriage
A day after an amendment banning gay marriage passed in North Carolina, President Barack Obama tells ABC News that he believes same-sex couples should be able to get married.
-
Raw video: Camera captures dramatic hit-and-run
A surveillance video captured a driver striking a pedestrian and sending him flipping through the air. Police caught the driver within minutes. Incredibly, the victim wasn't seriously hurt.
-
Viral video: Zoo lion goes crazy over zebra-striped baby
A baby boy wearing black and white stripes -- like a zebra -- looked awfully tempting to a lioness at the zoo in Portland, Ore. this week. His parents captured video of the big cat pawing at her glass cage, trying to eat him.
- More Features Headlines
-
