Digging Darrow

Follow the archaeologists excavating America’s biggest Shaker settlement, and support our research

Watch The Dig

Our diggers upload everything we find for you to see, straight from the trenches!

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Meet The Finders

It's our crowdfunders who make the real discoveries

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Join The Team

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Dig Timeline

Catch up on all the action from site, as it happens

Overview
Key Dates
Diary
Finds
Photos
Social
Videos

Jun 14 2018 - 5:19 PM

WOOT! Here’s our buddy Stephen crushing it onstage at National Geographic Festival, talking about our recent dig in New York State with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery. So proud to be doing archaeology with these awesome people.

Aug 30 2017 - 11:00 AM

What We Found At Darrow’s Mount Lebanon Shaker Village

DigVentures’ first crowdfunded excavation in America has shown that if you want new material evidence on the Shakers, Darrow is the place to come and get it. Around the world, the Shakers are once…

Jun 3 2018 - 4:00 PM

Does that say wild and deadly?! We wonder what was stored in that jar…

Spent two weeks in New York looking for evidence that (contrary to popular opinion) the Shakers were neither plain, nor simple. Think we might finally have nailed it #DiggingDarrow pic.twitter.com/GCcYQFkpew
— maiya🏺 (@muckymaiya) June 8, 2018

Jun 1 2018 - 7:00 PM

Day 11 Photo Album

Jul 27 2018 - 12:00 PM

Why Military Veterans Are Turning to Archaeology

National Geographic came to film our collaboration with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery!
Here’s their report on how our partnership has opened up new possibilities for American military veterans…

1784

Mother Ann Lee Dies

Her life hadn't been easy, and she was buried at the Shaker cemetery near Watervliet.

1787

The Shakers Establish Their First Community At Mount Lebanon

They are a celibate order, and devote themselves to the ideal of 'hands to work-hearts to god'.

1774

Ann Lee Leads The Shakers To America

Ann Lee and her converts set sail to America to escape religious persecution.

Aug 30 2017 - 11:00 AM

What We Found At Darrow’s Mount Lebanon Shaker Village

Jun 3 2017 - 7:00 PM

SITE DIARY: What Happens In Amber’s Trench

It’s Day 5 on site. Here’s what happened according to Field School Venturer Amber Mingus. This morning I woke up naturally early again, thinking about how much troweling I would have to finish that…

Jun 2 2017 - 7:00 PM

SITE DIARY: A Junior-Archaeologist’s-Eye-View

We all know that archaeology isn’t just for adults, but what does doing it actually look like from a Junior point of view? On Friday, we handed our camera over to Anna. Here are…

Jun 3 2018 - 4:00 PM

Does that say wild and deadly?! We wonder what was stored in that jar…

Spent two weeks in New York looking for evidence that (contrary to popular opinion) the Shakers were neither plain, nor simple. Think we might finally have nailed it #DiggingDarrow pic.twitter.com/GCcYQFkpew
— maiya🏺 (@muckymaiya) June 8, 2018

Jun 2 2018 - 6:00 PM

What a lovely find! To begin with, the Shakers were very fond of smoking, and this being a redware clay pipe looks like one that they would have made themselves… probably in the forge just 20m from where we’re digging. But in 1845, the revised Shaker Millenial Laws started limiting their use of tobacco.

Found a 19th century redware clay pipe! It’s plain, undecorated and made from local red clay and was likely made right here by the Shakers themselves! So exciting. #DiggingDarrow pic.twitter.com/Hb5sct4ALs
— maiya🏺 (@muckymaiya) June 2, 2018

May 31 2018 - 5:08 PM

This is DEFINITELY our star find of the dig so far… looks like a graphite pencil that might have been used to mark up the Shaker prints being produced in the print shop.

Graphite pencil. Just imagine that this might have been used by a Shaker to sketch out one of their beautiful prints or artworks #Archaeology #DiggingDarrow #Finds pic.twitter.com/vRHWZQEG3S
— DigVentures (@TheDigVenturers) May 31, 2018