Finding the Mikveh: Using technology to confirm oral histories at an early 20th century site in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Summary

During the summer of 2014, a group of archaeologists, volunteers, and students excavated at a former house site at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. Archaeological excavation was undertaken with the goal of locating a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) in the basement. Physical evidence of this important component of Jewish community life and ethnic identity was undocumented, and the only proof of its existence was from oral histories.  A former resident of the house still living in Portsmouth remembered the mikveh being in the eastern part of the house’s basement, while geophysical survey undertaken before excavation showed an anomaly on the western side. Two separate excavation blocks were opened to investigate both possible locations for the mikveh. This paper will discuss the value of technology in expanding narratives built on oral histories and the possibilities for their combined use in urban archaeological settings.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Material Culture, Identity, and Practice: Methods, Theories, and Case Studies

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 422