Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The archaeology of urban spaces brings the past, present, and future crashing together in a complex network of archaeologists, historic preservationists, residents, tourists, governments, developers, and other stakeholders. This session will be the first in a series dedicated to assessing the current state of urban archaeology, highlighting the important research emerging from cities, and candidly discussing the challenges posed by this environment. Over the past few decades, urban waterfronts, often formerly industrial landscapes, have undergone significant redevelopment and revitalization, with various impacts to historic resources. This has resulted in massive excavations along city shores, presenting archaeologists with both amazing opportunities for understanding the urban past and new challenges in managing, curating, interpreting, and communicating these finds. Presenters are encouraged to submit papers on the archaeology of urban waterfronts. These papers may be research driven, methodological or public interpretation focused, or on the state and future of archaeology in urban settings.

Other Keywords
Waterfront • Urban • Urban Archaeology • Landfill • Education • Interpretation • Archaeology • Collections • Topography • Public Archaeology

Temporal Keywords
18th and Early 19th Century • 19th and 20th Century • 19th Century • Historic • 19th and 20th centuries • Ca. 1700- Ca. 1850 • 1630-1740

Geographic Keywords
Coahuila (State / Territory) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Nuevo Leon (State / Territory) • Delaware (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • The Archaeology of Maritime Alexandria (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Eleanor Breen.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2012, City Council approved a plan to revitalize Alexandria’s historic waterfront. Just as Alexandrians sought to transform their sleepy tobacco town into a prosperous port, so too do today’s residents envision a vibrant waterside destination. Because of the 30-year old Archaeology Protection Code requiring, archaeologists geared up...

  • "Boring" Archaeology Along the Buried Historic Seattle Waterfront: Challenges from the Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement Project in Washington State (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Scott S Williams. Cassandra Manetas.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Seattle waterfront, a formerly industrial landscape that has undergone significant redevelopment over 150 years, has deeply buried former surfaces and historic sites. WSDOT removed a seismically vulnerable viaduct structure and replaced it with a bored tunnel under the historic waterfront and adjacent urban center. Project constraints...

  • Cut and Fill-adelphia: Measuring Topographic Change since the 19th Century in Philadelphia (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Richie Roy.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Urban landscapes are some of the most intensely modified contexts in which archaeological sites are located. These modifications can dramatically impact the preservation of sites. Methodologically characterizing such changes allow archaeologists to strategically direct their efforts away from areas where disturbance has erased most...

  • Four Ships, Three Years, Two Blocks: Managing Alexandria’s Derelict Merchant Fleet (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Tatiana Niculescu.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Adopted by City Council in November of 1989 and incorporated into the zoning ordinance in 1992, Alexandria’s Archaeological Protection Code serves to preserve the city’s rich heritage for future generations of scholars and the public. Recent large-scale projects along the waterfront have unearthed amazing finds, perhaps beyond what the...

  • Inquiry and Modeling: Turning Misconceptions into Informed Knowledge (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Emma R Richardson.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The redevelopment and revitalization of Alexandria’s waterfront has resulted in significant finds, including four historic ships. Meaningful interpretation requires acknowledging and harnessing public misconceptions about the ships and the surrounding maritime cultural landscape. Archaeologists woring in the public sphere are accustomed...

  • "On Examining the Records of the Town we find an Omiſsion": Using Historical GIS (hGIS) in Conjunction with Archaeolgoical Excavation to Document Property Histories and Understand Changing Waterlines in Alexandria, Virginia. (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Benjamin A. Skolnik.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For terrestrial archaeologists working in urban and waterfront settings, the water’s edge frequently represents a boundary that is seemingly fixed and insurmountable, beyond which is figuratively (and sometimes literally) outside of their jurisdiction. However, the water should be seen as the connective tissue that link these port towns...

  • Public Interpretation of Faneuil Hall/Town Dock Artifacts: Exploring Boston’s Role in Slavery (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Kiley Schoff.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2000, Massachusetts voters passed the Community Preservation Act (CPA) enabling municipalities to raise local property taxes to fund historic preservation, land conservation and affordable housing. The City of Boston (COB) Archaeology Program, which has been chronically underfunded for the last thirty-six years, has no operating budget...

  • The Right to Wharf Out: Contextualizing Early American Wharf Construction (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Molly McDonald.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Over a third of Lower Manhattan’s landmass is composed of fill contained within buried wharves, bulkheads, and other landfill retaining structures. Archaeological investigations have increasingly afforded opportunities to examine the construction methods used to build these early structures in New York City and elsewhere. This...

  • An Unexpected Spark: The Seaport Shipwreck Shines a Light on Seaport History (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Liz Neill.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In May 2016, development and construction firm Skanska discovered a terrestrial shipwreck at 121 Seaport Boulevard in Boston. They convened an archaeological team (The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc., City Archaeology Program) at the site to excavate the shipwreck and a design team (Amaze Design, Copley Wolffe, Trivium Interactive) to...

  • Urban Archaeology Along St. Augustine’s Shorelines: Past and Future Challenges (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Andrea P. White.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For more than 450 years, St. Augustine’s shoreline spaces—where the water meets the land—provided past city residents with abundant opportunities, as well as presented several challenges. Using archaeological evidence gathered over the past 30 years by the City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program, this paper discusses the changing uses...