MONTPELIER STATION, Va. (AP) — Lily Strange found part of a fork. Denver Davis uncovered a harness buckle and a wing nut.
To these recent college graduates, the grounds of Montpelier are rich in history, holding evidence of 10,000-year-old American Indians and, more recently, items used by James Madison, the nation’s fourth president, his family and his slaves.
Miss Strange, a James Madison University graduate, and Mr. Davis, an archaeology intern and Lynchburg College graduate, are two of several students and graduates spending the summer with Montpelier employees.
They are toiling in 5-foot-by-5-foot plots in the slave quarters and in the basement — looking for nails, pottery fragments and anything else to connect them with the Madisons.
“It’s interesting how limited our knowledge is of this,” said Miss Strange, who spent time digging in the slave quarters site. “We have sort of a confined idea, a 5-by-5 idea. Everything’s in fragments.”
In July, Montpelier visitors can help dig, under the supervision of the home’s archaeological staff. And there’s certainly enough digging for everyone, said Lynne Lewis, senior archaeologist for the National Trust for Historical Preservation.
“There is more here than is imaginable,” said Miss Lewis, who has worked at Montpelier since 1985, when the trust purchased the land. “It could be an archaeologist’s career.”
Archaeology began at the plantation in 1985, with most of the work taking place in the past five years. The digs coincide with the $20 million overhaul of the mansion, which is expected to be complete in 2007.
JMU and State University of York-Potsdam host field schools at Montpelier during the summer. It’s often the first chance for students to dig.
Mr. Davis found out just how slowly and how quickly the artifacts can come to light.
He discovered the buckle the first week of field school. It “just kind of came out in the mess of moving dirt,” he said.
The wing nut was a different story. To preserve its integrity, it had to be removed one layer of dirt at a time.
“You just want to pull it out,” Mr. Davis said.
But as crew chief Jim Barton knows, every step has to be documented and sometimes photographed in the pursuit of even the smallest piece of the past.
“Archaeology is everything from a shovel down to a dental pick,” Mr. Barton said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.