Virginia Archaeology Month: Arc-tober Fest
On Saturday, October 12, ASOR was pleased to participate in the inaugural Arc-tober Fest organized by Fairfax County Park Authority’s County Archaeological Research Team in celebration of Virginia Archaeology Month. With more than a dozen organizations, the event gathered archaeological organizations & departments around the DMV area at Sully Historic Site in Chantilly, VA for a day of public outreach and learning of the profession and the archaeological resources found in Fairfax County. Visitors were able to learn about a wide variety of archaeological organizations, career opportunities in the field, the history of Sully Historic Site, and engage in interactive, hands-on activities led by real archaeologists. Tours of the Sully House were offered as well as a presentation about the archaeology of the reconstructed Quarter Cabin, believed to be the quarters of enslaved people of the Lee family.
ASOR’s table included informative posters about our organization and Cultural Heritage Initiatives, plus a few activities for children and adults. For children, we provided coloring sheets of mosaics from the El Jem Archaeological Museum in Tunisia as well as ASOR stickers. Additionally, we had trivia sheets geared towards adults with questions that covered the basics of archaeology (“What archaeological dating method uses tree rings to determine the age of wooden artifacts?”) as well as specialized questions about the Near East (“In the 9th century BCE, the Phoenicians founded what ancient city in what is now modern-day Tunisia?”). We also had a selection of our publications, including several Near Eastern Archaeology journals that we gave away for free to visitors.
ASOR is proud to have supported Arc-tober Fest as part of Virginia Archaeology Month. Thank you to Fairfax County Park Authority for hosting this event and we look forward to participating in future Arc-tober Fests!