Murfreesboro, TN - Archaeologist AnnaLevi Chavis is the guest speaker at this coming Sunday’s (8/25/0224) meeting of the Rutherford County Archaeological Society. There is no admission fee, and the session at in the Event Hall at Oaklands Mansion, 900 N. Maney Ave. Doors open at 1:30PM, but the talk is at 2:00PM.
Chavis will focus on, "The History of Heritage Legislation: Property Rights, Artifact Collecting, and Professional Archaeology Today."
The local Archaeological Society’s Founder and Director Laura Bartel told WGNS News, “Ms. Chavis is employed at the Tennessee Division of Archaeology where she is responsible for overseeing requests for Site File information as well as other archaeological responsibilities. She has experience with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and descendant communities.
She is knowledgeable about the well-known 1920’s local speakeasy known as Black Cat Cave. In 2014 that site, across from the Alvin C. York VA Medical Center, was determined to be a prehistoric cemetery at the site, and through radiocarbon-dating it was determined that the human artifacts and human remains recovered from the cave date back 5,000 to 7,500 years to what is known as the Middle Archaic Period.
AnnaLevi Chavis is MTSU's 2024 CLA Outstanding Graduate Student, where she earned her MA in Public History.
At MTSU, she also served as the public history and archaeology lab manager where she curated and rehabilitated legacy collections. She also instructed and worked with undergraduate students in professional curation care practices.
She is a graduate of Indiana University's Intensive NAGPRA Summer Education Program.
Bartel concluded, “Ms. Chavis's presentation will offer a plethora of important information on the history and development of cultural heritage legislation, artifact collecting do's and don'ts, and the practice of archaeology is today's world.”
Again, the talk will be at 2:00 o’clock this Sunday afternoon in the Event Hall at Oaklands Mansion, 900 N Maney Ave. Doors open at 1:30. Free admission and easy parking and access.
