By J. Ogborne When Poplar Forest archaeologists excavated the area that had once been the kitchen in Jefferson’s Wing of Offices, they found two cast iron grates. The kitchen, and […]

By Karen E. McIlvoy Thomas Jefferson owned and designed many clocks and watches throughout his life; enough that his home at Monticello contains at least one in nearly every room. […]

It’s time to admit a difficult truth…archaeologists are not perfect. We are not omniscient and the artifacts we recover during excavation are sometimes misidentified. One of the many reasons why […]

Anthropomorphic clay tobacco pipes, also sometimes called figural pipes or face pipes, were a popular type of commemorative souvenir in the nineteenth century. Pipe manufacturers often made pipes depicting the […]

By Lesley Jennings This week the field school students learned about the importance of public archaeology and the interaction between archaeologists and the public. Public archaeology uses various methods to […]

By Ryan McDowell Six weeks, gone by in a blink of an eye, but time is strange like that.  Logically, standing outside in the hot sun all day, digging up […]

By Logan Barger June 20th began the third week of archaeology field school at Poplar Forest, in which students gained an introduction into the field of Landscape and Environmental archaeology.  […]

by Caitlyn Johnson, Summer Research Intern Monday June 6 marked the start of the 2016 Poplar Forest Archaeology Field School. This year’s field work focuses on what is possibly a slave […]

Servant bells, also called house bells, are systems of wire and pulleys that run throughout a building and allow a resident to call for a servant from the far reaches […]

“So the ages have their dress and undress; And the gentlemen and ladies of Victoria’s time are satisfied with their manner of raiment…” W.M. THACKERAY — “THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP” […]

Over the last 3 years, archaeologists at Poplar Forest have excavated the Carriage Turnaround to understand what it might have looked like during Jefferson’s era and what changes the later […]

By Ashley Stoots and staff contributions It is an anecdotally well-established rule among archaeologists that the final days of an excavation offer the most tantalizing discoveries, and this week proved […]