Archeology reveals information about the people who lived at the Eppes Family Plantation. Now called Grant’s Headquarters at City Point, part of Petersburg National Battlefield, these sites are located on a peninsula on the James River, not far from the mouth of the Appomattox River in the state of Virginia. Today, Grant’s Headquarters at City Point helps the National Park Service tell the story of over 12,000 years of history: from the first people to explore the area, to the establishment of plantations, through the Civil War.
About This Activity
In this informal learning activity, we will explore ways that the archeological artifacts can provide insight about people's lives in the past.
Objectives: 1) Explore how archeology reveals information about people living at the Eppes Plantation at Grant’s Headquarters at City Point and 2) Study artifacts and complete activities to deepen your understanding.
Audience: This online activity is developed primarily for 4th-grade audiences but can be scaled to lower or higher grade levels. It provides a starting point that you can adapt to suit the needs of your learners.
Skills and Standards: Each section asks learners to draw on skills such as reading comprehension, independent or group work, writing, and using evidence to support conclusions. The activities provide opportunities to meet several Common Core State Standards, Virginia State Standards, and National Council for the Social Studies Curriculum Standards Themes. The content can be adapted to address Virginia State Standards for grades 4, 5, 8, and 11.
For more information, visit the park’s website. Also try the other two activities in this series: Archeology and the Indigenous Peoples at Grant's Headquarters at City Point and Archeology and When War Came to the Hare House in the Eastern Front.
The Eppes Plantation
The Eppes family established plantations on and around Grant’s Headquarters at City Point, beginning in the mid-17th century. One way they amassed land was by sponsoring Europeans to come to America in exchange for their service for a period of years, for which the family was awarded land. They also enslaved Africans, who were the Eppes’ legal property.
Sometimes archeologists know a lot about the people who lived at a place - like the Eppes family -- such as their full names, family lineages, ages, and sources of income. Most times, as for indentured servants or enslaved people, there is very little specific information unless the Eppes family recorded it in personal records or the local administration collected it.
Artifact Study
Archeology helps fill in missing details about people’s lives and work. Most artifacts, however, cannot be tied to an individual. They invite us to ask questions: What was this object used for? Who used it? Why was it lost?
Archeologists know that the Eppes family hired construction workers, enslaved Africans, and had indentured servants. They lived and worked on the property inside the Eppes’ house, for the general upkeep of the area, and to plant and grow crops like tobacco. Although we do not know their names, we do know the functions of the recovered artifacts. These functions help us to understand what people did.
Each of these artifacts was found by archeologists at the Eppes Plantation. Look closely at them using the 3d viewer and answer the questions.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
