Montpelier Pubic Archaeology Programs

Pat Vazquez

The March 16 CCASM meeting was fairly informal.  Patricia Vazquez, CCASM's Vice President, shared her experiences participating in two week-long public archaeology programs at James Madison's Montpelier.  The two programs she attended were Excavate: Archaeology Expedition and Locate: Archaeology Site Location (that included metal detecting).  These programs include a mix of lectures/tours and working in the field.  Interestingly, the site on which they did metal detecting was a blacksmith's shop.  Also due to the soil chemistry the artifacts that are not diagnostic are photographed and returned to the hole. 

Finding Metal
(Blacksmith Site)

In the Lab (when raining outside)

Tour with Dr. Matt Reeves

 

After Pat's talk Charles County Archaeologist Esther Read shared her plans for the next two months.  Esther needs to complete the interim report for the  Phase IA survey at the Maxwell Hall Equestrian Center.  She also plans to start additional investigations at the James Swann House in Port Tobacco and is working with Tourism to have students come out to that site.  Of course, all this will require additional field work, and Esther recognized that CCASM support would be needed for these efforts.  Jim Gibb and Esther also discussed possible directions for archaeology in the county.  Quite interesting.

Members and Guests

Attendance: 10