For the second year in a row, the Archaeological Society of Virginia’s (ASV) Professional Archaeologist of the Year Award went to a Fairfield Foundation co-director.

At the organization’s annual conference in October, Thane Harpole was given the highest award the ASV bestows upon professional archaeologists. Harpole’s co-director David Brown won the award last year.

Middle Peninsula chapter members Forrest Morgan and Thomas Karow also presented papers at the conference highlighting the group’s research on the 17th-century Bailey site and at Fort Nonsense, both in Mathews County.

Harpole’s nomination highlighted his extensive work at Fairfield and numerous sites in Gloucester County and across the region, as well as serving on the board of the ASV as president of its Middle Peninsula chapter. A dedicated advocate for archaeology and preservation throughout Virginia, his work focuses on the Middle Peninsula, as a member of the Gloucester Historical Committee, as a frequent presenter to numerous civic groups about Fairfield and other archaeological sites and issues in the region. Harpole is an educator through Rappahannock Community College’s Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning. Harpole directs research at Fairfield and coordinates field programs for student interns, independent scholars, certified archaeological technician program participants, and tour groups anxious to participate in the hands-on and classroom aspects of archaeology.

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