ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeologists identified this prehistoric object found at Fort Barfoot (previously Fort Pickett) in Blackstone, Virginia as a rhylolite Kirk Stemmed projectile point (6,800–6,100 BCE).  Although often called an “arrowhead,” it was likely a type of spearpoint that is commonly found throughout the Eastern United States.

Evidence of indigenous Peoples’ activities includes a highly diverse range of materials found on present-day Fort Barfoot. Most appear to date from about 600 BCE to 900 CE (the Middle Woodland Period).  However, two Paleoindian sites (10,000 – 8,000 BCE) have been found along the Nottoway River nearby.

Archaeological studies at Fort Barfoot are conducted according to the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act by the Cultural Resources Program.

Also collected from Fort Barfoot, these two stone projectile points (lower left / 2,500–1,200 BCE and center / 4,800–4,200 BCE) were for hunting.  The flaked stone axe (right) and grinding stone (top) were farming tools Indigenous Peoples in Virginia used to clear land and process food when Europeans arrived in the early 17th century.

During the 1600s and 1700s, indigenous groups in Virginia’s Piedmont region likely included Iroquoian and Siouan speaking populations.  Algonquian speakers, including the Powhatan Chiefdom, lived to the east in an area extending across the Tidewater region.

Today in Virginia, there are eleven tribes with federal or state recognition, and numerous tribes outside the state with ancestral ties to the area, including the land where Fort Barfoot stands.