WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA—The Daily Press reports that Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary are conducting a joint excavation in the unusual, terraced backyard of the Robert Carter House, which is located off the outdoor living history museum's Palace Green. Built in the early eighteenth century for his daughter by Robert “King” Carter, the colonial governor and the wealthiest man in Virginia, the property’s outbuildings are located to the sides of the main two-story building, rather than directly behind it. Additionally, the house's dining room is located in the rear— when in most houses in Williamsburg, the dining room was located in the front— prompting speculation about the importance of the house's back yard. “We think there was an ornamental garden here, but we want to know for sure,” explained teaching assistant Alexis Ohman. The team, led by Colonial Williamsburg archaeologist Mark Kostro, is looking for ephemeral garden features under the landfill dumped on the site in the early twentieth century. So far, the excavators have found a long, dark stain in the soil that could be evidence of a planting bed, and a six-foot stretch of crumbled white shell that may have been a path. To read about archaeology at nearby Jamestown, go to "Colonial Cannibalism."
