17th-Century Home Unearthed During Archaeology Lab Construction
Colonial Williamsburg is home to some beautiful intact buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, but it's also the site of plenty of unseen history. Archaeologists working in the area have been digging to find some of this buried past, and they just discovered a piece of this history in perhaps the most fitting of places.
The scientists have been working on the site of a new archaeology lab set to open in 2026 that will study what life was like in the area in the late 1600s and early 1700s. The latest find, coincidentally, was the foundation of a house that dates back to 1660.
"It really reminds us that everywhere we go, there’s something literally under our feet in this town," Colonial Williamsburg's executive director of archaeology Jack Gary told WTKR. "It allows us to tell the story of what was here before the city of Williamsburg was even here, and the artifacts that are coming out of it are just a fantastic snapshot of daily life in this area in the early 18th century."
Related: Archaeologists Make Incredible, Centuries-Old Discovery at George Washington’s Home
More than 60 million artifacts have been found in Colonial Williamsburg in the nearly 100 years that excavations have been happening. Last year, Gary's team found what they believe to be Revolutionary War barracks.
"It’s a very rewarding process for us to be able to take what’s in the ground, what we study here in the lab and then know that that information is actually going out there to tell a really accurate story of what life in Williamsburg was like in the past," he said.
This summer, Colonial Williamsburg might be worth paying a visit for some living history in nice weather.
