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.

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Dr. Scott Stephenson, director of collections and interpretation for the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge, discusses his discovery of 18th-century Native American beadwork in private ownership in Scotland. He talks about how difficult it is to find intact collections, with both the documentation of the pieces' origins and the pieces themselves together in one location.

Colonial Williamsburg's curator of zooarcheaology, Joanne Bowen, talks about how the bones left behind from kitchen waste can reveal information about the foodways of people from colonial days through the 19th century.

The Governor's Palace is a Williamsburg icon. Chief Curator Emeritus Graham Hood discusses the work involved in reexamining the furnishing and decoration of its period rooms, to make them as historically accurate as possible.

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The story of Jamestown continues to unfold as archaeology proceeds at the fort site. One of the discoveries was an abandoned well where early colonists dumped oyster shells, which were studied by Juli Harding, the senior marine scientist at at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She explains how oysters join the narrative of America's first permanent English settlement.

Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.

Colonial Wiliamsburg Librarian Juleigh Clark describes her research into the events described in Revolutionary-War-era newspapers, both in articles and advertisements.

Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.

Elaine Shirley, manager of rare breeds at Colonial Williamsburg, talks about the management of livestock and the roles these animals played in colonial-era society.

Brenda Rosseau, supervisor of Research and Design in the Costume Design Center at Colonial Williamsburg, talks about the work involved in accurately costuming historical interpreters and the place of clothing and fashion in colonial society.

Carolyn Wilson, who interprets the historical figure Betty Randolph at Colonial Williamsburg, talks about the Randolph family, one of the first families of Virginia, focusing particularly on John and Peyton Randolph and the American Revolution.