Participants will be instructed in the use of archaeological tools and techniques during the three day dig. After an introduction to the site and objectives of the season, teachers will experience different facets of the excavation process. Teachers will be required to maintain a journal of their work noting their activities and observations. Teachers will be expected to indicate how this information will be used in the classroom.

Dates: Tuesday, July 5 – Saturday, July 9
Any three consecutive days

Location: Jay Heritage Center, 210 Boston Post Road, Rye, New York

Time: 9:30-3:30
Cost: $30
Contact Hours: 15

Dr. Byland, Mamaroneck and Lehman College, will continue to investigate the foundation of an 18th-century barn, which was associated with John Jay’s childhood home. Jay’s elder son, Peter Augustus Jay replaced his father’s boyhood home with a Greek Revival mansion in 1838.

Dr. Byland uncovered the archeological site in 2003 with a group of volunteers and teachers after investigating a depression in the land east of the Jay Mansion. The presence of the Jay family’s 18th-century farm complex in Rye is well documented in letters, deeds, and wills, as well as a period drawing. But Dr. Byland’s archeological find represented the first physical evidence of the 18th-century farmstead.

Cutoff date: June 25