Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews historian Cathy Hellier to discover the daily activities of young aristocratic girls in Colonial America. In addition, Hellier discusses the most important duty of young gentry girls: marriage.

Interested listeners can learn more about the adolescence of gentry girls by perusing this article by Cathleene B. Hellier.

The Bruton Parish graveyard is one of America’s oldest cemeteries. Listen as Anne Conkling—church guide at Bruton Parish Church—describes the church, its graveyard, and colonial burial practices.

Joyce Henry, head coachman and interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, describes the place of the horse in colonial society, including its use in work and transportation, its value, and its training.

Colonial Williamsburg also provides a short video clip demonstrating present-day horse training.

Colonial Williamsburg beekeeper Bill Krebs talks about the importance of bees to English colonists in North America and the ins and outs of bee behavior and beekeeping.

Historian and archaeologist Ivor Noel Humes tells the few details known of the early English colony established on Roanoke Island in 1587. Following on a series of unsuccessful colonization attempts, the "Lost Colony" mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only the word "Croatoan" carved on a fort gate.

Colonial Williamsburg's Mark Schneider follows the history of dueling, looking at what separates a duel from an ordinary fight and at the codes of dueling—including the Irish 1777 "Code Duello." He notes Alexis de Tocqueville's observations that, while duels were not as ritualized in the new U.S., they did occur and were often fatal.

Also check out this slideshow reenacting the duel between John Daly Burke and Felix Coquebert.

Colonial Williamsburg staff archaeologist Meredith Poole discusses excavation at the Williamsburg Ravenscroft site, where archaeologists are using the "Frenchman's map," a map showing the layout of Williamsburg in the 18th century, to guide their search for the remains of structures.

Interested listeners can learn more about the Ravenscroft Archaeological Project by exploring the project's website.

Colonial Williamsburg author Mike Olmert discusses the significance and preservation of colonial-era outbuildings, which included structures such as kitchens, laundries, dairies, privies, smokehouses, offices, dovecotes, and icehouses. Olmert focuses on the window onto social norms and expectations and onto indentured and enslaved life that these structures reveal.

To listen to this feature, select "All 2009 podcasts," and scroll to the July 27th program.

Tony Williams, author of The Pox and the Covenant: Franklin, Mather, and the Epidemic That Changed America's Destiny, discusses the colonial-era smallpox epidemic that began in Boston in 1721.

Discover more about colonial germ warfare by reading this article by Harold B. Gill Jr.

Sharon Cotner, a medical historian at Colonial Williamsburg's Pasteur and Galt Apothecary, describes 18th-century medical practices, including basic operations, lacking in antiseptics, antibiotics, and anesthesia; battlefield surgery procedures; bloodletting; and understandings of infection at the time.

Discover more about the apothecary at Colonial Williamsburg by clicking here.