Buried Beneath the City

An Archaeological History of New York

Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff , Jessica Striebel MacLean

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English

Columbia University Press
06 September 2022

History of the Americas; Archaeology by period & region

Bits and pieces of the lives led long before the age of skyscrapers are scattered throughout New York City, found in backyards, construction sites, street beds, and parks. Pottery shards dating to 600 CE, wine jugs from the Dutch taverns around City Hall, a child's shoe from the Black settlement in Central Park called Seneca Village, raspberry and rhododendron seeds sown in backyard Brooklyn gardens-these everyday objects are windows into the city's forgotten history.

Buried Beneath the City uses urban archaeology to retell the history of New York, from the deeper layers of the past to the topsoil of recent history. The book explores the ever-evolving city and the day-to-day world of its residents through artifacts, from the first traces of Indigenous societies more than ten thousand years ago to the detritus of Dutch and English colonization and through to the burgeoning city's transformation into the modern metropolis. It demonstrates how the archaeological record goes beyond written history by preserving mundane things-details of everyday life that are beneath the notice of the documentary record. These artifacts reveal the density, diversity, and creativity of a city perpetually tearing up its foundations to rebuild itself. Lavishly illustrated with images of objects excavated in the city, Buried Beneath the City is at once an archaeological history of New York City and an introduction to urban archaeology.

By: Nan A. Rothschild, Amanda Sutphin, H. Arthur Bankoff, Jessica Striebel MacLean
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 254mm, Width: 178mm,
ISBN: 9780231194952
ISBN 10: 0231194951
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 06 September 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Introduction 1. Indigenous Peoples Before the City 2. Dutch Beginnings, 1624–1664 3. The British Colonial City and the Nascent Republic, 1664–1800 4. Growing Pains, 1800–1840 5. Development of the Modern City, 1840–1898 Conclusion Appendix A: The New York City Landmarks and Historic Districts Discussed in the Book Appendix B: Archaeological Sites Within New York City Discussed in the Book Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index

Nan A. Rothschild is an urban social archaeologist who was Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and is adjunct professor at Columbia University. Amanda Sutphin is the director of archaeology at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and manages the NYC Archaeological Repository: The Nan A. Rothschild Research Center. H. Arthur Bankoff is the advisor to the chair for archaeology at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and is a professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Jessica Striebel MacLean is an urban archaeologist at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and the NYC Archaeological Repository. The Landmarks Preservation Commission is the largest municipal preservation agency in the United States. It is responsible for protecting New York City’s architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status and regulating them after designation.

Reviews for Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York

This is a terrific book, one well worthy of reading. Writing a book accessible to all readers, the authors present the complexities and the unique contributions of archaeological excavation and thorough research on the recovered artifacts to our understanding of the panorama of human occupation of a living city. I applaud the authors for their success. -- Martha Zierden, coauthor of <i>Charleston: An Archeology of Life in a Coastal Community</i>

Commended for Felicia A. Holton Book Award, Archaeological Institute of America 2024
Winner of SAA Book Award - Popular, Society for American Archaeology 2023