By: Cameron Cash This was an exciting week for the 2023 Archaeology Field School. Despite Monday’s inclement weather keeping us away from our 5 ft. x 5 ft. excavation units […]

By: Catherine Haines The 2023 Archaeology Field School at Poplar Forest began by learning about the history of the property, the field techniques, and touring the lab. First, the students […]

By: Steve Lenik, Ph.D. Ice houses are underground pits that stored ice or snow collected during the winter to provide chilled food and beverages throughout the year. These were common […]

Poplar Forest was excited to once again host its Field School in Historical Archaeology last summer through the University of Virginia. We welcomed five students who learned the skills and […]

By: Karen McIlvoy “What is the metal turtle in that box?” It was an unexpected question, but not the strangest one I’ve been asked as the Archaeology Laboratory Supervisor for […]

When digging, archaeologists use mesh screens that allow them to recover artifacts that are ¼-inch in diameter or larger. But what about objects that are extremely small, that fall through […]

The 1857 Slave Dwelling, located only a few hundred feet east of the retreat house, often gets overshadowed by Jefferson’s architectural masterpiece. But this relatively unassuming brick structure is quite […]

By Brooks McCabe   It’s the sixth week and final week of Poplar Forest’s archaeology field school. This week, the students wrapped up their excavations, and each student gave a […]

By Nancy Williams   This week, we learned about and participated in Public Archaeology. On July 4th, many members of the public came down to the site to learn about […]

By Jackson DeWitt   Week 4 of the Poplar Forest field school was one of the most exciting yet! We started out the week by expanding two of the test […]

By Morgan Reeder   It was a busy week for the Poplar Forest field school! We started off by taking a field trip to Monticello on Monday. We had the […]

By Kaitlyn Holmes   In our second week here at Poplar Forest, the field school started by listening to a very important and interesting lecture on historic ceramics. After the […]