It's More Than Lincoln: interpretation challenges at multi-component urban archaeological sites

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Multi-component sites are common in urban excavations because of continuous occupation. In downtown Springfield, Illinois there are 3 major areas of archaeological excavation that correspond with specific eras and inhabitants. The Lincoln Home National Historic Site focuses on pre-Civil War inhabitation in the neighborhood, while the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum mitigation focuses more on the second half of the 19th century. More recently, the Carpenter Street Overpass project has focused its efforts on houses contemporary to the 1908 race riot. The narratives of preservation created by the archaeologists and historians who work at each of these sites are compelling inquiries into Springfield’s diverse past. Even so, these narratives often focus site interpretation and preservation on specific eras which leaves interesting site history to fall by the wayside to build a cohesive representation of the past in historical neighborhoods and districts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow