I had to page through today’s newspaper a bit to find a story that caught my eye. This story was on page 5, and I like it because it talks about the ongoing focus of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation on exploring and explaining the past.
The story focuses on a groundbreaking ceremony for a new archaeology center for the foundation, scheduled for this Friday. It will be located across the street from the newly renovated Art Museum in Williamsburg. The planned location is adjacent to one of the foundation’s ongoing digs on the Custis Square – property owned by John Custis, Martha Washington’s first father-in-law.
The article recounts the peripatetic existence of the foundation’s archaeological work. Under the leadership of Ivor Noel Hume, the foundation’s director of archaeology from 1957-88 (considered by his peers to be the founder of historical archaeology), the work grew and expanded. Originally, the foundation maintained an archaeology museum at Carter’s Grove Plantation. CW sold the Carter’s Grove property in 2007 and dismantled the archaeology museum, but the president of CW at the time – Colin Campbell – promised that a new museum would be established. In the meantime, the work of the department continued on the nearby Bruton campus – home of the foundation’s Rockefeller research library – but not generally very accessible to the public.
The new facility will house CW’s archaeological department along with storage space for the evolving collection, classrooms, exhibition, and laboratory space. Right now, visitors to CW can only access the work of this department by visiting active dig sites. According to Jack Cary, current director of CW’s Department of Archaeology, only about 40% of the work takes place at the excavation site. The rest happens in the laboratory.
According to the press release announcing the groundbreaking ceremony, the evolution of archaeology at CW has continued “to advance in technology and broader social trends which inform not only the types of questions being asked but also who is asking them.” I particularly like this statement, because I am interested in the evolution of historiography. Research into history shouldn’t focus on arriving at definitive conclusions about the past – rather, it should focus on continuing to ask questions of the past. When modern historians (almost by definition more diverse than older generations of historians) query the past, they ask new questions and thus get new answers. These new answers generate new theories about causation – which is at the heart of historical research. Greater public access to the nitty-gritty of archaeological research – defined as “the use of material culture to understand the development of the modern world” – will help spread a better understanding of the role of the historian – not to confirm earlier understanding of the past but to question it and broaden it.
I have a slim connection to the archaeology department through the Osher program. In recent years, members of this department have offered a class called “Dirt on the Neighbors,” during which they highlighted several ongoing digs and explained how their research process intersects with and complements more traditional paper-based research. I’ve taken a couple of these classes and thoroughly enjoyed them. I also like to walk through the historic area in Williamsburg and watch the archaeologists at work. Part of their job description is to explain what they’re doing, and it’s fun to watch visitors – particularly the children – engage in this activity.
I’m excited about this new project.
Good for CW!