The Archaeology of Maritime Alexandria

Summary

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 for a period of intensive focus on some of the most historically significant areas within the National Register District. Project by project, the remains of wharves, warehouses, dwellings, industries, privies, and ship remnants have emerged from the waterlogged depths at the river’s edge. Even as individual features and artifact assemblages, these finds are highly significant, but when taken together along with a wealth of historical documentary data, a maritime cultural landscape is taking form. This paper poses the question, how does a maritime cultural landscape approach further our understanding of the Alexandria seaport at the turn of the eighteenth century?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 222