2019ArchMonthProclamation
State of North Carolina
ROY COOPER
GOVERNOR
ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH
2019
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, archaeology illuminates the conditions and cultures of the inhabitants of North Carolina, including people whose stories remain obscure due to their social or economic circumstances, from prehistory to the modern day; and
WHEREAS, archaeologists are recovering, or have helped recover, the stories of prehistoric and historic Cherokee villages (AD 800-1600), historic Spanish Fort San Juan and neighboring American Indian town Joara (1567), the early English colony Charles Towne (1664-1667), North Carolina's first town Bath (1705), Blackbeard's sunken pirate ship (1718), the first colonial capital Edenton (1722), and enslaved people working on plantations (1700-1865); and
WHEREAS, North Carolina's Office of State Archaeology (OSA), part of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR), in partnership with the academic community and independent consultants, serves the people of our state by discovering, recording, and preserving information on more than 50,000 sites representing all cultural groups and time periods and encompassing 14,000 years of human history; and
WHEREAS, recovered artifacts held by the OSA include stone tools, cannonballs, buckles, buttons, bowls, and thousands of other artifacts, many of them housed in the OSA's Research Center, a 20,000-square-foot laboratory and warehouse; and
WHEREAS, for more than 50 years, the OSA has operated an Underwater Archaeology Branch at Kure Beach; for more than 40 years, the OSA has operated an archaeology branch at the NCDNCR's Western Office in Asheville; and for more than 20 years, the OSA has explored, documented, and recovered archaeological remains at the Queen Anne's Revenge/La Concorde shipwreck site off the coast of Beaufort; and
WHEREAS, archaeologists with the OSA work to record and protect sensitive archaeological sites by partnering with private landowners and public agencies, including the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, and the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg; and
WHEREAS, public opportunities for experiences in archaeology include visits to State Historic Sites, the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, and six regional history museums; viewing the "NC Digs!" Archaeology Traveling Exhibit; and attending events organized by the OSA including monthly lectures, a Public Archaeology Day on October 12, and a panel discussion on October 18 in honor of the NCDNCR's She Changed the World: North Carolina Women Breaking Barriers initiative; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina encourages people to discover and appreciate the many aspects of past cultures uncovered through archaeology that are available to them in urban centers and rural communities throughout our state;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October, 2019, as "ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH" in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
[[SCAN_REGION_1_860_550_930_800|Handwritten signature of Roy Cooper]]Roy Cooper
Governor
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this fourth day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and nineteen and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.