Archaeologists Dr. Dave Brown and Thane Harpole of the Fairfield Foundation and DATA Investigations recently met with the Mathews County Historical Society to share the results of a grant-funded assessment of county archaeological sites they conducted this past year.

Forrest Morgan, chair of the archaeology committee, introduced the speakers, pointing out that, since Mathews County’s records were burned in the Richmond fire during the Civil War, archaeology is an important way to uncover the county’s history. He said that archaeological work conducted with the help of Brown and Harpole had turned up evidence of North End Plantation, a property “as large and elegant as Carter’s Grove,” as well as Bailey’s Farm, a circa 1650 tobacco farm in the county.

Both men have been named Professional Archaeologist of the Year by colleagues in their field—Brown in 2011 and Harpole in 2012.

With a new federal grant for $181,000, the work can continue, said...