Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Archeology

Check Out the Super-Cute Baby T-Rex in This American Museum of Natural History Animation

2019-03-13T15:30:00-04:00

Did you know that when Tyrannosaurus rex was a hatchling it was most likely covered in fluffy feathers? Go behind the scenes of the new exhibition T. rex: The Ultimate Predator, which opens March 11 at the American Museum of Natural History, with paleontologist Mark Norell and the model makers to find out how they create the stunningly detailed, life-sized models of the iconic dinosaur as a baby, juvenile, and menacing adult. Warning: you may never think of T. rex the same way again.

See the T. rex: The Ultimate Predator exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History from March 11th, 2019 through August 9th, 2020.

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These NYC Third Graders Are Digging for Treasures in Their 100-Year-Old School Building

2017-11-18T17:00:00-05:00

Some New York City grade school kids are digging history, and for buried treasure. Steve Hartman met them, on the road.

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[WATCH] American Museum of Natural History's Shelf Life Highlights the Guts and Glory of Object Conservation

2017-04-28T14:30:00-04:00

In the most recent episode of Shelf Life entitled The Guts and Glory of Object Conservation, the American Museum of Natural History discusses how curators deal with the challenges associated with preserving anthropology collections for future researchers, educators, scientists and museum visitors.

In the Museum’s Objects Conservation Laboratory, walrus intestines, birch bark, and reindeer hide are all in a day’s work for conservators trying to preserve Siberian anthropology collections for the future.

Check out the accompanying article for more.

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Centuries Old Artifacts Found on Lower East Side Construction Site

2016-02-16T11:24:47-05:00

Underneath the old Bereket Turkish restaurant and current construction site on Houston and Orchard lies artifacts dating back to the 1860's.

The artifacts were found within an old outhouse, which were commonly used to hold both feces and other garbage. With the feces long gone, all that's left is centuries old artifacts waiting to be found.

According to L.E.S. documentarian Clayton Patterson, who covered the dig, the privy well’s sides were lined with brick, and the objects seen on this page were found about 5 feet down. The find included detritus that was 150 years old or more, including a ceramic ginger beer bottle, meerschaum clay tobacco pipes, plate fragments and small bottles for medicinal tinctures.

Check out the full article to read more about the find.

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Evidence of 17th Century Burial Ground Uncovered in East Harlem

2016-01-23T11:48:57-05:00

Buried below a bus depot along the East River in East Harlem lies a 17th century burial ground containing recently discovered remains of New Yorkers of African descent.

More than 140 bones and bone fragments were found at the site last summer by archaeologists under contract to the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Most compelling of all was a skull, its cranium intact, that most likely came from an adult woman of African descent.

Check out the full article for more information on what is likely to become of the site.

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There's a Piece of Plymouth Rock Sitting in This Brooklyn Heights Church

2016-01-21T11:56:10-05:00

Brooklyn Heights' Plymouth Church is an ordinary church with a few unordinary artifacts inside, one of which is a piece of the original Plymouth Rock.

A piece of Plymouth Rock, located at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights, is considered one of the many "secrets" of the borough, which this series plans to uncover and reveal to the public.

You can visit the artifact in person anytime Plymouth Church is open.

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6 Block Markers Rediscovered in Central Park, Grid Remnants from Before Park's Creation

2016-01-11T10:28:21-05:00

A fascinating article recently published in the New Yorker titled Unearthing the City Grid That Would Have Been in Central Park reads more like an Indiana Jones movie premise than real life New York City archeology.

On an overcast day in November, 2014, just before Thanksgiving, two men dug a rather large hole in a lawn in Central Park. […] they unearthed a roughly three-foot-tall, nine-inch-square white stone, two sides of which were inscribed with numbers. […] It was a discovery akin to finding a marble statue submerged in a remote lake or a lamppost in the wild woods of Narnia.

Turns out the stone was a Randel Monument, one of over 1550 such that were placed at intersections of Manhattan's grid to delineate the island before the streets and avenues even existed in the Northern section. Only a couple had been thought to survive the 2 centuries since placement, and none of them were found in their original location. Until now.

First there was one, now there are six: four Randel monuments and two bolts (at least) live in Central Park. They are testament to the reversal in the great grid’s fortune, a reminder that park’s eight hundred and forty-three acres could have been a hundred and fifty-three rectangular city blocks, arrayed with tall buildings.

Check out the full article for a fascinating read on New York City history and to imagine what Central Park might have been had the space not been created.

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Second 19th Century Burial Vault and Human Remains Discovered Under Washington Square Park

2015-11-06T09:57:43-05:00

Just yesterday we wrote about the 19th century burial vault rediscovered under Washington Square Park during recent water main replacements, and now a second burial vault has also been rediscovered.

A second burial vault has been found under Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village following the discovery earlier this week of a 19th century burial vault containing skeletal remains. Officials with the city's Department of Design and Construction said first 8 foot wide, 20 foot long vault contained the remains of about a dozen people. It was discovered Tuesday while a contractor was excavating a century-old water main replacement project.

Brooklyn-based firm Chrysalis Archaeology is handling the cataloging, excavation, and preservation of the human remains, coffins and other artifacts found within the vaults.

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19th Century Burial Vault Discovered Under Manhattan's Washington Square Park

2015-11-05T10:26:15-05:00

While working on a construction project to replace and upgrade 19th century water mains underneath Washington Square Park, workers from the Department of Design and Construction rediscovered a burial vault, sealed off and filled with human remains.

The vault, which is about 8 feet deep, 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, contained the remains of more than a dozen people, according to officials of the city's Department of Design and Construction. A contractor excavated the site, and archaeologists and anthropologists will be working there to gather more information, officials said Wednesday.

Detailed analysis hasn't been done yet, but they believe the vault dates back to the mid 19th century when the water infrastructure was originally installed. The Croton Aqueduct brought water to the City through the park starting around 1842.

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Alyssa Loorya's TED Talk on Urban Archeology in New York City

2015-01-16T14:29:36-05:00

Urban archeologist Alyssa Loorya is President and Principal Investigator of Chrysalis Archaeology, an archeologic consultancy company which helps municipal agencies, managing firms and construction crews navigate the tough national, state and local cultural and historic regulatory requirements when excavating land in an Urban environment. During a recent TEDx New York conference, Alyssa talks about the fascinating items found while digging under the Financial District on Fulton Street, as well as some other Urban Archeological finds and how they help tell a story about our past.

via TEDxNewYork

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