With a state as rich in history as Virginia, it’s not surprising there is a state agency entirely dedicated to the preservation of the state’s history. Preservation, however, doesn’t necessarily mean protecting a site from destruction. It may mean collecting artifacts, taking photos, and writing up a report of the site data before sending it off to Richmond for storage while the site gets destroyed for development. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has four archaeologists responsible for the entire state of Virginia. The Western Preservation Office, where I intern, has a massive jurisdiction – as the map indicates. My supervisor, Tom Klatka, has to drive hours some days just to see a site or potential site.
With our backpacks packed with snacks, water, a notebook, and pencil and dressed in worn clothing that will most likely be discolored to a brownish tint by the end of the day, we climb into the office truck equipped with even more various tools of the trade. Tom’s backpack will have even more than ours, never leaving without the GPS, compass, flag markers, and a tape measure. Though we’ll most likely never touch the tape measure, as we had to learn to measure with our walking pace. Ten of my own steps, for example, is equivalent to 25 feet. So if I’m surveying a site we found and count 40 steps, I know the length of the site is 100 feet. Sometimes we’ll drive 45 minutes away, other days it’s over two hours heading deeper and deeper into rural Virginia. Moreover, many days are in the lab cleaning artifacts with a toothbrush and tray of water, sorting them into labeled bags, and packing them into acid free boxes.
Whether I’m determining soil colors, cleaning off lithic and bone artifacts, or perusing through a historical society museum in a country I’ve never even heard of, the responsibilities of the staff at the DHR Western Preservation Office are both interesting and chalk full of opportunities to learn new things. When you’re responsible for the archaeological work of a third of the state of Virginia, no two days are alike. An archaeologist’s job, I’ve experienced firsthand, involves more than just digging for arrowheads. It requires vast working knowledge of Virginia and the willingness to constantly expand your knowledge.