“A Sense of Stewardship”: Assessing the Archives of Alexandria Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Storeroom Taphonomies: Site Formation in the Archaeological Archive" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 1961, the city of Alexandria, Virginia financed one of the first municipally funded archaeological projects in the country, laying the groundwork for today’s Alexandria Archaeology which curates three million artifacts from over 250 sites. Since the 1960s, the program has witnessed urban renewal, the birth of the CRM industry, vast technological advancements in computing and conservation, and multiple interpretive shifts that gradually refocused our research onto the lives of ordinary and marginalized people who have lived, worked, and passed through Alexandria. This paper examines the roots of Alexandria Archaeology, traces its biography over the last six decades, and attempts to grapple with the effects of these “site formation processes” on the current state of archaeological collections. We will assess some of the current challenges and opportunities the program faces that must be understood within the historical, economic, and technological contexts that have shaped the program and its associated archives.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Storeroom Taphonomies: Site Formation in the Archaeological Archive   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38270.0