Pair of Archeologists Win Chesterfield Award

Chesterfield Mayor Bruce Geiger presented the Leonard Blake Ancient History Award to the husband and wife archeology team of Michael Fuller and Neathery Batsell Fuller Monday night at a regular council meeting.

The Fullers, who are Town and Country residents, began doing digs in the Chesterfield area in the early 1980s as graduate students University of Missouri St.Louis.

Neathery Batsell Fuller did a Masters Thesis (Washington University) in 1985 on Thornhill: An Emergent Mississippian Farmstead in St. Louis County. It's located in Faust Park.

The pair discovered evidence of civilization in the Chesterfield area dating back to at least the 10th century.

Both Fullers are professors of archeology at the Meramec campus of St. Louis Community College.

The pair was nominated for their 30 years of work in Chesterfield by Mark Leach, a member of the Chesterfield Historic and Landmark Preservation Committee.

The award is named after Leonard Blake, "an amateur archeologist" who uncovered Native American artifacts in Chesterfield earlier, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article.