The Volunteer State Archaeological Society hosting an artifact show in Smithville this weekend to showcase prehistoric Native American items and preserve local history.
Host Steve Dedmon said the event features 65 to 70 tables of displays for the public to view. Dedmon said he and two other hosts took over the long-running show this year to ensure the event continued after the previous organizers decided to step down. As a DeKalb County Native, Dedmon said he grew up hunting, finding and collecting these ancient artifacts.
“It’s just something local for people to go to, and collectors, and, you know, everybody likes to collect stuff and find an arrowhead or a fossil or whatever, you know,” Dedmon said. “Just something for the community to go see and participate in.”
Dedmon said prehistoric artifacts are defined as items made by Native Americans thousands of years ago before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Dedmon said authentic items are identified through a patina that develops on the material after being in the ground for centuries.
“Well, I’ve been hunting and picking up and collecting arrowheads for about 50 years,” Dedmon said. “So I don’t know that I have to have a big qualification, but I just have collected them and loved them since I was a little boy.”
Dedmon said the show provides an opportunity for residents to bring in items they have found on their own land to learn about the specific time period or function of the artifact. Dedmon said while arrowheads remain common throughout DeKalb County, they are becoming more difficult to find because modern no-till farming practices do not turn the soil over.
“There’s just a lot that you could learn from an artifact going and talking to people that’s collected them for years,” Dedmon said. “There’s still arrowheads all over the place.”
Dedmon said the Volunteer State Archaeological Society of Tennessee operates as a nonprofit and uses table fees primarily to cover the costs of the venue and advertising. Dedmon said any additional proceeds from the event are typically donated to organizations like the Humane Society.
“It’s been done for a long time and people enjoy it, and kids really like it,” Dedmon said. “And it’s just an adventure, you never know what you’ll find, and something pretty fun to do.”
When he was younger, Dedmon said he would often find local artifacts after farmers were done tilling the fields and the rains would wash away dirt and debris. Dedmon said the best locations to find artifacts are on high ground near water sources like springs or creeks.
“There’s not as much opportunity to find them because a lot of the farming is no-till these days,” Dedmon said. “You could find them better when they would turn the ground over and disk it and then it would rain on them and they would just, you know, you could just walk through a field and they’d be laying everywhere.”
Dedmon said he is focused on advertising the event to increase public awareness and attendance for his first year as a host. Dedmon said he would be open to collaborating with Indigenous groups for future events.
