Heather Cline

Born and raised just over the hill from JSE&A, Heather’s family roots in Rockingham County run deep, dating all the way back to the mid-18th century. She graduated from Turner Ashby High School in 1996, the College of William and Mary in 2000 with a degree in Anthropology/History, and obtained her master’s in Public History in 2009 from Armstrong Atlantic State University (Savannah, GA).

Unlike many of her ancestors who never left the Shenandoah Valley, Heather ventured first to Bluffton, South Carolina and then to Wheeling, West Virginia, following her profession as an archaeologist. In South Carolina, she served as the Archaeological Laboratory Director for Integrated Archaeological Associates at Palmetto Bluff for five years, working on several artifact collections including those excavated from 18th and 19th century plantations. In 2011, Heather moved to Wheeling, West Virginia, where she served for seven years as the Lead Curator of Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex, home to the state of West Virginia’s archaeological artifact collections. 

It was during her 18-year career in the field of archaeology that Heather acquired a strong interest in historic period ceramics, especially those from the colonial era. After years of cataloging only fragments of these beautiful pieces, she has finally moved on to studying the complete piece. She is excited to continue adding to her knowledge about ceramics and other historic treasures here at JSE&A.    

When she isn’t cataloging the interesting and varied ceramic pieces that come through the doors of the auction house, Heather enjoys a variety of activities including: exploring local historic cemeteries, seeing live music (especially bluegrass), driving her 1957 Nash Metropolitan convertible with her Dad, volunteering with Relay for Life, and spending time with her friends and family. Heather shares her cute home in Port Republic with her two cats, Beaufort and Munro, and her corn snake, Ellenton.