Regional artifact hounds will be showing their collections at the VFW's annual Artifact Show, which will be held from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 in Fulton.
There will be between 30 and 40 tables of artifacts, some that date back as far as 6,000 years. Vendors will also have Civil War era guns on display as well.
"There are usually a couple hundred people who come to the show each year," said Post 2657 Commander Larry Underwood, an avid collector himself.
"I started walking for exercise when I got home from Vietnam," said Underwood, who spent much of his time in the woods around Callaway County. "I gained an interest in artifacts, and had a friend show me what to look for. The more you learn, the more interested you get."
Most of Underwood's collection comes from his home ground. He said that the many creeks and bluffs around the county made perfect campsites for early inhabitants.
"But we don't bother the mounds," he said referring to the burial mounds that are protected by law. "That's just a given. That's taboo."
As Missouri has a wealth of archaeological history, and it's important that collectors have the right information before heading out, the Missouri Archaeological Society (MAS) attempted to clarify questions about legalities related to artifact collecting by publishing an article in one of their 2014 issues of MAS Quarterly that summarizes state and federal laws.
According to the article, collecting on private land is legal under most circumstances as long as the individual is the landowner or has the landowner's permission, and "that there is no possibility of disturbance of any human remains."
As far as burial sites go, "the Unmarked Human Burial statute covers any instance where unmarked human skeletal remains are discovered or where they are believed to exist based on reasonable evidence. It pertains to any ground-disturbing activities that may uncover such remains on private as well as state lands."
Further the article explains "artifact surface collecting or any kind of digging on state-owned lands without specific permit or authorization is prohibited by 10 CSR 90-2.040 and 3 CSR 10-11.110." There are similar restrictions for federal lands, which are covered in the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA).
"We want to encourage people to know the laws before they start collecting," said Underwood.
"And we want to promote an interest in the history around here," said the collector. "There are probably people who have rocks or arrowheads stuck in a drawer that their grandfathers may have found."
Underwood said he and the other collectors encourage folks to bring those types of items to the show and learn about their origins.
"I love (the VFW) show because the collectors are very approachable and extremely knowledgeable," wrote Michael O'Brien, professor of anthropology and director of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Missouri, in an email. "It's great when people like Larry go to the time and effort to pull together artifact shows, where there's so much knowledge concentrated in one small space."
The post, located at 505 Collier Lane, charges $25 for those wanting a booth, and that money goes to fund the many projects they support. The event itself is free and open to the public.