Processing Artifacts

Archaeological Laboratory Analyst Angela Bailey catalogs artifacts recovered by the Archaeology team during the Mansion Revitalization Project. (MVLA)

While the Archaeology field crew excavates in the cellar (as part of the Mansion Revitalization Project), the lab crew facilitates the processing, researching, and cataloging of the artifacts being discovered.

First, artifacts are processed—washed, labeled, sorted, and bagged for storage—often with the help of Mount Vernon’s dedicated team of interns and volunteers. By sorting artifacts from one context by material, volunteers greatly aid lab analysts during the next stage: research and cataloging.

Interns and volunteers clean, sort, bag, and label each individual object.

After artifacts are researched, they are entered into the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS), a database that allows archaeologists to compare artifacts from sites of enslavement in the United States and the Caribbean.

The management of excavated materials is an essential component of maintaining ethical standards in archaeology, and it takes a lot of time and skill to complete. Ultimately, the completed catalog of artifacts will be used to interpret the site and what happened there in the past.