In 1990, a Virginia Indian village was discovered during the construction of the Moyer Sports Complex along the Roanoke River in Salem. This is believed to be the site of Totero Town, an important trading center and where European explorers Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam once stayed. Shells, beads, pottery, arrowheads, and stone tools were all discovered, along with a trigger from an 18TH century European gun.
This snaphaunce rifle trigger clearly demonstrates trading connections with other Indian tribes and European explorers, and hints that this location is likely the site Batts and Fallam visited. Visitors can see it on display now at the Salem Museum in their current featured exhibit “The First People of the Roanoke Valley.”
In “The First People of the Roanoke Valley,” visitors look back into the time of the Tutelo. Drawing on archaeological artifacts, maps, and interpretive displays, this exhibit reveals how the Tutelo and other Eastern Siouan peoples shaped the land long before European settlement. Examine tools used in hunting, view pottery once storing a winter’s meal, and discover the many uses of animal hides and bones!
The Salem Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-4 and located at 801 E. Main St.
