2023 Field School Week 4 (Part 2)

A Trip to Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestowne

By: Nicole Finnigan

While the focus of the first half of the week was on digging our units and learning about flotation, the second half of Week 4 involved a delightful and exciting two-day trip to Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestowne.

The first day of the trip was spent in Colonial Williamsburg. We started the day with a tour of the multiple archaeological sites within the town led by Colonial Williamsburg’s Director of Archaeology, Jack Gary. We had the opportunity to see a number of sites, including the Custis Square excavations, the Bray School restoration project, and the First Baptist Church site. After the tour of the sites, we were given the chance to explore Colonial Williamsburg’s artifact collection, processing, and conservation labs. We ended the day with our independent exploration of the town before retiring in preparation for the next day’s trip to Historic Jamestowne.

The second and last day of the trip was spent at Historic Jamestowne. The day started with a lecture on the history of Jamestown and the archaeological efforts surrounding it from Director of Archaeology, Dave Givens. After the lecture, we were given a tour of the James Fort sites, both those being actively dug and those preserved for the public to see. We got to learn more about survey techniques like ground penetrating radar (GPR) during our tour as well. After our tour of the archaeological sites, we were given the opportunity to tour the conservation lab and learn more about the conservation process. We also got a chance to see some of the artifact collection. After our tour of the lab, we ended the day with a visit to the Archaearium Museum.

This coming week, we are returning to our units in preparation for the Fourth of July celebrations.