Archaeology at James Madison's Montpelier Zoom Talk

This is the beginning of a series of posts about archaeology at James Madison's plantation called Montpelier. Over the summer I told Jen, professor of public archaeology at Rowan University, that friends often ask me how they, too, can become involved with public digs and I tell them about digging at Red Bank. She misunderstood my comment, and replied the best program she knows about takes place at Montpelier, their Archaeology Exploration Program where ordinary people can participate on a dig.

This time it was my turn to misunderstand her. I thought she was sending me to a program in Montpelier, Vermont.

A quick google search and I was on track. I looked at the list of dates for the 2026 digging season and decided on the week of September 28-October 2. Temperatures should be cooler. It is a quieter time of year.

I invited Don to join me, but he had another plan. He decided to ride the Great Allegheny Passage to the C&O Rail Trail that week instead. He promises me a blogpost that will be shared HERE. The plan then became we would both do something we loved: me digging, him riding, and meet up in Virginia on Friday afternoon.

I asked Martha P. (I have several Marth archaeology friends), one of my Newlin Grist Mill archaeology friends if she wanted to join me. She jumped on the opportunity. We shared a hotel room about ten minutes away in Orange, Virginia.

Two and a half weeks before our adventures we had a zoom call. We were also sent readings to help us prepare for our trip.

From the Zoom talk, led by Matthew, the head of the Archaeology Program. He said Montpelier offers weeklong, and two-day programs. Alumni are allowed to stay in Arlington House, which he described as a dorm/barracks, or in Constitutional Village. There are other hotels and Airbnbs in the area. He does not recommend staying in Richmond as the commute would be too long.

We would start with a breakfast on Monday morning. A change from the Sunday evening welcoming reception we had read about. 

There would be a link to a Google folder with information about the staff, readings, and a packing list.

The list of what to pack did not surprise me: gloves, hats, sunscreen, bug spray, pants, work boots/tennis shoes, layers. Then he added clean shoes for when we go in the house because archaeologists always bring with them a layer of dirt. The other important reminder was that everything we wear will end up covered in Virginia red clay soil that is very hard to get out. Basically be prepared for "heavy gardening."

Bring a water bottle, pack a lunch each day.

Ticks are an issue, especially on our walking tours in the woods.

We will receive a schedule before our week. 

Montpelier is in Northern Central Virginia in the Piedmont Mountains. Orange is about five minutes away on Route 20. It is near Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, about 90 minutes from Washington, DC without traffic. The property is 2,650 acres (later we learned the original plantation was about 5,000 acres). 

In 1987 Montpelier joined the National Trust when the property was gifted by the DuPont Family, the last owners. The trustees decided to bring it back to how it looked in the 1820s when James and Dolley Madison were entertaining guests in his post-Presidential years. The large DuPont-era addition was removed. A visitor's center was added. The area from the Madison family cemetery to the Temple, where we would be working, make up the main part of the tourist sections of the land. Across the street is the 1870s-1880s Gilmore Cabin. The Community Archaeology Lab at Montpelier is also across the street.

Our readings would give us a sense of the history of the site.

In 1811 the neoclassic Temple was built by slaves on the 18th century 
blacksmith.  

The goals are the meet the needs of Montpelier Foundation to understand what was here in the 18th to 19th century. There is the Southern Yard, where some of the enslaved live, and the Mere Distinction of Colour exhibit in the basement of the mansion. Both were created based on archaeological finds.

Recently, the 18th century blacksmith
complex was found using metal detecting surveys and a heat map that marked the hits. They did not dig out each hit. The area is marked off with a 10x10 grid using blue flags.

We will work on shovel test pits and units during our week.

For the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, excavations were started this spring around the 18th century blacksmith shop. During the Revolutionary War materials were made for the Continental army. The 1776-1784 ledger book kept by Moses, the enslaved blacksmith, is one of the only ledger books to survive. It has a wealth of information.

A project was started a decade ago to match blacksmith customer names with deeds from the time. This was a focus of one of the lunchtime lectures we received a link to watch. Ten years later, they are able to identify where 180 of the 250 customers lived. It was quite a hub of activity.

During the Revolutionary War James Madison, Sr. was in charge of the local militia. He had to figure out how to deal with the loyalists, the politics of living during those days, how the enslaved population is connected. Other family members also owned plantations in the area.

The restoration of the Temple and the ice house that is 25 feet underground has been an on-going project. Through this they have discovered the 1820s road network. The blacksmith shop used to be where the Temple now stands. It was moved in the 19th century closer to where the visitor's center now stands. They would like to reconstruct it.

During the time of the American Revolution this area had a gully where slag and debris were thrown. In the early 1800s, the blacksmith ship was moved and the area was repaved with a road. Wagon ruts have been discovered from the time before another road was put on it. There is a layer caking of the landscaping features. Time travels 200 to 2,000 years in three inches of dirt. 

The area is rich in artifacts of trash that remains from the 1840s. We'll have a chance to explore the ice house.

Why was the blacksmith shop moved and the temple built?

When the main house was expanded it was moved to the Home Farm. The house house had issues with penetration. The slag deposits allowed the soil to be drained, similar to house a French drain works. James and Dolley Madison expanded the formal landscape gardens to form neo-Georgian look. The work area had to move away from the house to segregate from parties to show they were prospering. 

There were levels of people who used this space. 

Do the readings. They will help prepare us. On the other hand, they will meet us where we arrive.

Back to the logistics for the week. Bring a car. The campus is 3/4 of a mile. Uber does not really exist in this area.