December 22, 2010
The West Virginia Archives and History Library of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History will continue its series of after hours lectures on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. The session, entitled “A Primer on West Virginia Archaeology,” will be conducted by Dr. Robert Maslowski, retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist for the upper middle Ohio River basin for more than 25 years. The program will take place in the library at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. All sessions are free and the public is invited to attend. The library will close at 5 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m., for lecture guests and participants only.
Maslowski will cover the highlights of prehistoric and historic West Virginia archaeology from the Paleo-Indian period (10,500 B.C.) to A.D. 1900 and will discuss classic artifacts, excavations, and current interpretations. Prehistoric archaeology topics will include the St. Albans site, late Archaic shell middens, the development of pottery, the mound builders, the Grave Creek stone, corn agriculture, and Native American ancestry.
Maslowski also will address several historic archaeology topics including Revolutionary War forts, Civil War sites, historic cemeteries, industrial archaeology and slavery.
In addition to his work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maslowski also worked in Trans-Pecos Texas, Israel, Cyprus, Vietnam and Laos. He was the executive producer of three archaeology films, Red Salt & Reynolds (2003), Ghosts of Green Bottom (2005) and Secrets of the Valley: Prehistory of the Kanawha (2010). He teaches Appalachian courses at Marshall University Graduate College and is the current editor of the journal West Virginia Archaeologist.
Advance registration for the workshop is not required, but is encouraged to help plan seating arrangements and ensure plenty of supplies and handouts, if provided, are available.
To register in advance, contact Robert Taylor, library manager, at (304) 558-0230, ext. 163, or by e-mail at Bobby.L.Taylor@wv.gov. Participants interested in registering by e-mail should send their name, telephone number and the name and date of the session. For additional information about the workshop, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
The next session will have Dr. Lois Lucas, associate professor of history at West Virginia State University, discussing “The African-American Experience in West Virginia,” on Feb. 1, 2011.
The Archives and History Library is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday. The library is closed on Sunday.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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