Governor Stein Proclaims Archaeology Month

Archaeology Month

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, archaeology illuminates the conditions and cultures of the inhabitants of North Carolina, including people whose stories remain enigmatic because of their social or economic circumstances; and

Whereas, North Carolina’s Office of State Archaeology (OSA), part of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR), in partnership with the academic community, federal and state agencies, and independent consultants, serves all residents of the state by discovering, recording, and preserving information on more than 64,000 sites representing all cultural groups and time periods and encompassing 14,000 years of human history; and

Whereas, the OSA Research Center is the steward of millions of artifacts from Paleoindian era stone tools to more modern 20th century historical items; and

Whereas, the OSA has operated an Underwater Archaeology Branch at Kure Beach for more than 50 years and an archaeology branch at the DNCR’s Western Office in Asheville for more than 40 years; and

Whereas, the OSA has operated the OSA Conservation Laboratory (formally Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Laboratory) in Greenville for more than 20 years, in collaboration with East Carolina University, to conserve and document recovered archaeological remains from the La Concorde/Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck and other archaeological sites terrestrial or submerged; and

Whereas, the OSA assists communities with recording and caring for historic cemeteries and is working to create a digital database of all cemeteries in North Carolina; and

Whereas, the OSA provides public education programs and digital platforms to share the field of archaeology with the community and promote our state’s cultural heritage to enhance the social, educational, and economic future of North Carolina;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 2026 as “Archaeology Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.