National Anthropological Archives

Guide to the Records of the Thunderbird Site, Warren County, Virginia, 1971-2003 (bulk dates 1971-1979)

Summary

Collection ID:
NAA.2010-03
Creators:
Gardner, William M. (William Milton), 1935-
Walker, Joan M.
Thunderbird Research Corporation
Dates:
1971-2003
bulk 1971-1979
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
13 Linear feet
(30 document boxes), plus 20 rolled maps and drawings, and 4 oversize map folders
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection comprises the field and administrative records of the Thunderbird site near Front Royal in Warren Country, Virginia. The collection accompanies approximately 50,000 Paleolithic Clovis artifacts that have been formally accessioned by the Department of Anthropology, Division of Archaeology (see Accession No. 2035656) and it includes field records, notebooks, maps and photographs. These records document work on the site by Dr. William Gardner and his wife Dr. Joan Walker between 1971 (when Dr. Gardner discovered the site) and roughly 1986. Excavations on the site were directed by Dr. Gardner for more than fifteen years. The collection is separated into series and includes some research from neighboring archaeological sites. 44WR11 is the technical designation for the site (44 refers to Viginia; WR is 'Warren County); and 11 is the number designating the site on the Virginia archaeology registry.)

Administration

Author
Benjamin Z. Brown
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The archaeological field notebooks, maps and photographs pertaining to the Thunderbird Collections (some 50,000 Paleolithic Clovis stone artifacts excavated at the Thunderbird site in Front Royal, Warren Country, Virginia were donated to the Smithsonian in May of 2005 by Dr. Joan Walker, President of the Thunderbird Research Corporation. The Thunderbird Research Corporation was founded in 1975 in order to raise funds to purchase the property on which the site was located so that it could be protected from development. Dr. Dennis Stanford, Director of the Smithsonian's Paleo-Indian Program, Department of Anthropology, NMNH, was the contact person through whom these records and the accompanying stone artifacts were donated and transferred to the Smithsonian. The accession of these materials was formalized on September 4, 2007 by the Department's Collections Advisory Committee as Accession No. 2035656.
Processing Information
The records of Thunderbird were received partially organized by material type. The processing archivist kept existing groupings where useful but made shifts where obviously needed. Few original folder titles were retained; titles in brackets were provided by the archivist and were typically an elaboration of an existing folder title.
Some maps, photos, and other documents were separated prior to the processing of the collection for conservation treatment. After treatment was completed, the materials were reunited with the collection in 2011. These materials were inventoried in 2012 and added to this guide.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Records of the Thunderbird Site, Warren County, Virginia are open for research.
Access to the Records of the Thunderbird Site, Warren County, Virginia requires an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Preferred Citation
Records of the Thunderbird Site, Warren County, Virginia, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Archaeology Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
North America Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Virginia Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paleoindian Tradition: Clovis (archaeological culture) Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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