July 26, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
A Native American artifacts show will be held Saturday, July 27 at the county complex auditorium from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the DeKalb Animal Coalition. Admission to the event is free.
The artifacts show will feature displays ranging from arrow heads to pottery and some items will be available for sale or trade. “I think we have about 65 tables. We sell the table (space). It cost $15 for the table per person and that money goes to pay for all the expenses of the show and any money left is donated to the DeKalb Animal Coalition,” said Mike Foster.
“Tennessee has probably three or four major shows of this kind and this is one of them so we want to invite everybody to come to see the artifacts. I think you will be pleased with what you see”.
“We will have people who will be buying and selling as well as displaying their artifacts but a lot of trading also goes on between the collectors. We also try to make up some gift baskets of artifacts for those really interested including kids to encourage them to learn more about the early history of DeKalb County and Tennessee,” Foster said.
“I like shell beads so I will have a lot of them there along with bone work and tools they (Native Americans) used but I guess the main attraction is flint including arrow heads, spear points, and things like that but there will be some pottery too. I even have a wooden bow from the 1600’s time frame. We’ll have collectors here from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama among others”.
“You can probably go to any museum in the state of Tennessee and you won’t see the amount of quality and the number of artifacts you will see there. It’s really enjoyable for people who like history or artifacts and it’s free so come on out Saturday because you’ll see some really good collections,” Foster concluded.
The show is sponsored locally and by the Volunteer State Archaeological Society, a non-profit educational organization devoted to the study of prehistoric America. This society is one of the largest of the independent state societies affiliated with Central States Archaeological Societies.