Virginia Archaeology Month Open House

Come celebrate Virginia Archaeology Month. Monticello’s Archaeology Department will host its annual open house this October, featuring displays, exhibits on recent discoveries in the field and the lab, engaging activities for all ages, and walking tours of the vanished Monticello Plantation landscape. 

Archaeology staff members will be on hand to answer questions. 

About the Event

Displays and exhibits will be in the North Yard area of the historic mountaintop, near the Mountaintop Activity Center, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. These displays will show our ongoing work here at Monticello as well as current projects undertaken by the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery. 

In honor of this event, archaeologists will lead complimentary Mountaintop Archaeology Walking Tours throughout the day. The tour will explore the long history of archaeological excavations at Monticello and how this work continues to enhance our understanding of those living and laboring on the mountaintop. 

Walking Tours will leave from the North Yard area at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. The tour will follow the paths around Mulberry Row and the Monticello house. Sturdy shoes and a water bottle are recommended. The pop-up exhibits and activities in the North Yard as well as the Mountaintop Archaeology Walking Tour are included with any ticketed tour admission; no reservations needed. 

Monticello Members can enjoy this event for free by presenting their membership card or information at the ticket office and receiving a Grounds Ticket for the day.

This event is weather-dependent. If rain is forecast, a cancellation notification will post on this webpage by 5 p.m. on October 9.