| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Hatfields-McCoys to air Tuesday, January 29, 2013 on Diggers National Geographic piece centers on archeological work at property in Hardy, Pike County, KY, believed to have been the McCoy home ambushed on New Year's Day, 1888. Features metal detector work of George "KG" Wyant and Tim "Ringy" Saylor working with Kentucky archaeologist Kate Culpepper in fascinating international story about a famous Kentucky historical incident. By Diane Comer FRANKFORT, KY - A notorious feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky is once again making national news, but this time it is for a discovery of artifacts associated with patriarch Randall McCoy's home and site of an infamous 1888 attack. The findings were confirmed by Dr. Kim McBride, a historic archaeologist with the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, a joint partnership with the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology and the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office. McBride's work is central to the story of the site, and what the artifacts and their context of recovery can contribute to our understanding of the events that happened there. Her work will be featured in an upcoming episode of the National Geographic television series "Diggers," airing at 9pmCT/10pmET Tuesday, January 29, 2013. The show follows George "KG" Wyant and Tim "Ringy" Saylor, who through metal detecting and sleuthing attempt to unearth finds of interest to viewers. In this instance, they worked with the show's staff archaeologist Kate Culpepper and local historian Bill Richardson to explore the location of what was long believed to have been the McCoy home in Hardy, located in Pike County. Here, the family was ambushed as they slept on New Year's Day in 1888. Two family members were killed, Randall's wife was badly beaten, and the home was burned. In their investigation of the property, which is privately owned, Wyant and Saylor discovered charred wood, bullets and metal fragments. The artifacts were tagged and mapped, and McBride was asked to verify the find and record the site with the Kentucky Office of State Archaeology. "This is an incredible discovery behind America's greatest family feud," she said in a recent press release from National Geographic. "After spending two days excavating at the site, we were pleased to find a number of original artifacts from the actual structure, such as window glass and both wrought and machine-cut nails, and we were able to trace the lineage of the property right back to Randall McCoy and his wife, Sarah McCoy. As archaeologists, we are very excited to find real evidence to back theories that have abounded for decades." According to McBride, the experience was an unlikely pairing of metal detecting enthusiasts with professional archaeologists, but the partnership demonstrated that the two groups can work together to find and properly document artifacts in a scientific manner benefiting both interests. The effort to find material evidence associated with the McCoy homestead was initiated by the "Diggers" team; however, the discovery of the artifacts would have had little meaning without the additional systematic investigations and recovery of other artifacts by trained archaeologists who could interpret them within the context of where and how they were found, she said. McBride said that when the "Diggers" program originally aired, the archaeological community, and professional organizations such as the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Society for American Archaeology, were concerned that guidelines weren't being followed in a way that would allow archaeological resources to be studied for their historical context. These groups were also concerned that too much emphasis was being placed on finding artifacts solely for their monetary value, which might encourage others to destroy or loot historic or prehistoric archaeological sites. Fortunately, she said, discussions between archaeologists and the show's producers resulted in a revamped format she hopes will emphasize responsible stewardship and preservation. "Bits of items that are typically excavated from archaeological deposits have no intrinsic value in and of themselves," McBride said, "but if they are recovered and studied in place, they have enormous potential for research about events that occurred in the past, and to help us frame them in new ways that may completely change our understanding of what actually transpired." Interpreting artifacts such as those excavated at the McCoy site also provides an opportunity to shed new light on people and events already entrenched in popular culture, assisting local efforts to expand heritage tourism, she said. Thanks to programs such as the recent History Channel miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," the feud between the clans - which gripped the nation's attention in the late 19th century - continues to hold our interest today. State Archaeologist Dr. George Crothers concurs that collaborations such as the one portrayed on this episode of "Diggers" are capable of producing remarkable results, and have been done successfully at other sites across the Commonwealth including Blue Licks Battlefield and the Battle of Richmond. "Metal detecting is a technique that archaeologists also use, especially on historical period sites, to locate buried remains of old structures, and on battlefields to identify troop movements," he said. "The best thing I see coming out of the show is to demonstrate that archaeologists and metal detector enthusiasts can work together for the common good." Archaeologists don't object to use of metal detectors to collect modern items, he said, but state and federal laws govern how and where this may be done on state or publicly owned property. Under the State Antiquities Act, collecting archaeological material on state, county or municipal property requires a permit from the Office of State Archaeology. "When metal detecting is used to find and loot historical items, our common cultural heritage is destroyed," he said. "But the metal detector community can help by reporting historical sites when they discover them, as they did on the 'Diggers' show, and archaeologists can enlist metal detector users to help in the study of these historical sites. Doing so, everyone gains." - Diane Comer, the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Heritage Council This story was posted on 2013-01-26 02:41:10
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Kentucky:
Kentucky ranks fourth in nation for light vehicle production Saturday Storm Damage reported in Western Kentucky OxyContin trial will be held in Pikeville, Kentucky Construction goes-ahead for 2 Ohio R. Crossings at Louisville Kentucky's jobless rate dropped to 8.2% in November 2012 Five area officials cited for exemplary child support efforts Gov. Beshear orders flags to half-staff for week 5 Best Small Towns in America include 2 from Kentucky State property tax rate remains set at 12.2 cents for 2012 KY 1538 now honors First Lieutenant Eric D. Yates View even more articles in topic Kentucky |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
