Volunteers and interns have helped Mount Vernon's archaeologists since 1987 donating more than 50,000 hours towards researching and restoring the estate. 

Volunteer Dwayne learns how to survey.

Mount Vernon Archaeology is seeking volunteers to help excavate plowzone at a late-18th-century site on George Washington's plantation.

The site was discovered during a Phase I survey this winter and is being excavated in advance of a construction project. The survey identified three concentrations of domestic artifacts across a large area and is not documented in the plantation records. We are currently sampling plowzone through the excavation of multiple 5 x 5 foot units across the site.

We are digging Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 4:00 through December 31. Volunteers should commit to at least half a day each visit. ASV certification students can receive survey hours for their work.

Interested volunteers should contact Curt Breckenridge cbreckenridge@mountvernon.org for more information and to schedule their initial visit. Volunteers must be over 16 years old.

To participate as an intern you must be enrolled in a college or graduate program studying archaeology.

Unfortunately, we offer no lodging or stipends, and cannot pay any expenses.

Click here to read about current internship projects in archaeology.

I love volunteering with Mount Vernon archaeology.  I've learned so much about the history of the plantation and about George Washington's life.

~Betsy Alexander, an archaeology volunteer