Archaeology Opportunities

The 2025 Public Archaeology Institute (PAI) is a unique program that invites students, entering grades 9-12, to work alongside archaeologists in the field and explore the connections between documentary and archeological evidence, and how they work together to convey a unified interpretation in a public history setting.

Participants of the PAI will receive approximately eight hours of “class time,” during which a history of Custis Square and Williamsburg’s Public Hospital will be examined along various artifact types, including ceramics, architectural materials, faunal remains, and small finds. Students will spend the remainder of the week practicing archaeological field methods, site recording, and interpretation of findings through hands-on field work and speaking with visitors. Each session will conclude with a site tour showcase, in which each PAI participant will guide one archaeological site tour. Student-guided tours will share the site’s history, project objectives, and observations made in the field with visitors, family members, and friends.

This program is offered free of charge to accepted students.

Session One
Students Entering Grades 9 &10
June 23-27, 2025
Click Here to Apply

Session Two
Students Entering Grades 11&12
July 7-11, 2025
Click Here to Apply

Applications close at midnight on April 1, 2025.

To learn more about the Public Archeology Institute, contact Crystal Castleberry, Public Archaeologist, at [email protected].

Download the Handbook

For more than 30 years, College of William and Mary students have learned excavation techniques and recording, as well as the identification of common eighteenth-century artifacts at Colonial Williamsburg field schools.

This class provides students with practical training in archaeological field methods and public historic site interpretation. Students will participate in the surveying, recording and excavation of an active archaeological site. Participants in this course will learn how to: perform archaeological excavation techniques, identify archaeological artifacts and features and effectively communicate archaeological results to members of the public.

This summer students enrolled in the field school will be helping to excavate the Peter Scott site, the house and workshop of one of Williamsburg’s premier 18th-century cabinetmakers. This course will be held Monday-Friday 8am-3:30pm from June 30-August 1, 2025.

For more information about the class and instructions for how to enroll please click here.