Privy to the Past: Refuse Disposal on Alexandria’s 18th Century Waterfront

Author(s): Elizabeth Waters Johnson

Year: 2017

Summary

While the discovery of an 18th century ship on the site captivated the media and public….just a few feet away we quietly worked to excavate another exciting find…a public privy. The large privy, one of four uncovered at the site, was located fifteen feet from the 1755 Carlyle warehouse, and is thought to be associated with this first public warehouse in Alexandria. Thousands of seeds, ceramics, glass, shoes and other unique finds provide a window into the lives of these early residents that helped to shape Alexandria’s waterfront.

Cite this Record

Privy to the Past: Refuse Disposal on Alexandria’s 18th Century Waterfront. Elizabeth Waters Johnson. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435175)

Keywords

Temporal Keywords
18-19th Century

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 492