From the Attic to the Basement: Rehousing the Archaeological Collection at Carlyle House Historic Park

Summary

The John Carlyle House, a ca. 1753 structure located in Alexandria, Virginia, is owned and operated as a historic house museum and park by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.  Limited archaeological survey of the site was conducted by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in 1973, and the subsequent salvage excavations of four features were performed during restoration work on the house undertaken between 1974 and 1976.  The artifact assemblage was later processed, catalogued and stored in the attic at Carlyle House. The overall condition of the collection deteriorated over time.  A comprehensive rehousing project began in 2013, with the dual goal of bringing the collection up to professional standards and finding it a suitable home in a dedicated archaeological collections repository.  Rehousing also produced a searchable digital catalogue, revealing the potential research trajectories of this significant site and increasing the chances of its future reanalysis. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Wealth of Data: Rising to the challenge of decades of curated collections   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 782