# Explore Philadelphia\'s Hidden Past: 

# New Archaeological Discoveries in our Town

**A Pennsylvania Archaeology Month event, featuring illustrated talks,
exhibits, films, and interactive programs for children.**

Saturday, October 20, 2007, 10am-5pm

Independence Living History Center Archaeology Laboratory in
Independence National Historical Park, Third Street between Chestnut and
Walnut Streets

**Free and open to the public. No advance tickets or reservations
required.**

For more information call 215-861-4956.

Jointly sponsored by Independence National Historical Park and the
Philadelphia Archaeological Forum.

### Program --- Schedule

**10:00 am**

> **Welcome**\
> Jed Levin (National Park Service)\
> Douglas Mooney (Philadelphia Archaeological Forum)
>
> *Presented Talks*
>
> **Calendars and Comets**\
> An artifact excavated in Old City, Philadelphia is showing us how our
> colonial forbearers kept track of dates. We don\'t know everything
> about this object yet but we have a good start: We know that it is a
> *calendar medal* and that it was produced for use in the year 1758.
> This item is also providing us a small peak into some pretty big
> changes taking place in the 18th century. (Patrice L. Jeppson)
>
> **The Brushmaker and the Water Well**\
> In 1786, Ebenezer Robinson did something seemingly unexceptional ---
> he built a well behind his North 5th Street home. The excavation of
> that well in 2001, however, sparked a series of discoveries that
> provide uncommonly personal and provocative insights into the life,
> mind, and character of a long forgotten Philadelphia Quaker. (Douglas
> Mooney)
>
> **Chewing on the Bones: Investigating Colonial Philadelphia Foodways
> and Cuisine from Archaeological Animal Bones and Historic Cookbooks**\
> Philadelphia culinary history involves more than just a discussion of
> cheesesteaks and soft pretzels. In fact, the city had many great food
> traditions long before these now-famous foods were even around. These
> older food trends require a bit more resourcefulness to discover since
> many of them are no longer obvious or available. An historical
> archaeological perspective on Philadelphia cuisine is one way to begin
> to look into some of this interesting history. (Teagan Schweitzer)

**11:00 am**

> *Presented Talks*
>
> **Partnering in a South Philadelphia Dig: The Washington Avenue
> Bioarchaeology Project**\
> In addition to its reputation as the \"cradle of cheesesteak
> cuisine\", South Philadelphia was the birthplace of a grassroots
> effort to provide the proper treatment and reburial for 9 adults and 6
> children whose skeletal remains were discovered during a water main
> installation project in the fall of 2001. This presentation documents
> the 4-year journey that these deceased individuals made from
> Washington Avenue to Laurel Hill Cemetery, and the remarkable
> volunteer effort that resulted in a dignified and distinguished
> reburial in 2006. (Arthur Washburn)
>
> **Taking a Closer Look at Philadelphia\'s Early Poor Population: A
> Study of the City Almshouse 1732-1767**\
> For the past few years, archaeology students from Temple University
> have been investigating a privy associated with Philadelphia\'s first
> *Almshouse*, or \'home for the poor\'. Located on Cypress Street, in
> what is now Society Hill, this facility was in operation between 1732
> and 1767. Artifacts from this site are shedding new light on the lives
> of the destitute \"inmates\" and the administrators and caregivers of
> this early, Philadelphia institution. (Mara Katkins)
>
> **Delaware River & Bay Underwater Archaeological Sites**\
> A wide variety of shipwrecks associated with the historic port of
> Philadelphia have been documented in Delaware Bay and River over the
> last three decades. Maritime archaeologists have discovered and
> recorded data from 18th century British merchant vessels and
> Revolutionary War craft, 19th century steamships and canal boats, to
> 20th century wooden sailing vessels. (J. Lee Cox, Jr.)

**Noon**

> *Archeology Lab Open House*
>
> The Independence Living History Center\'s Archeology is a facility
> dedicated to researching and preserving the archaeological heritage of
> Philadelphia and the Nation within Independence Park. The laboratory
> is a joint undertaking of the National Constitution Center and the
> National Park Service.

**1:00 pm**

> *Presented Talks*
>
> **Poverty, Patriots and Pestilence: Archaeological Investigations of
> Unmarked Burials beneath Philadelphia\'s Washington Square**\
> In late 2006, a series of historical burials were encountered beneath
> the northeast corner of Washington Square during the installation of
> public utility upgrades. The physical remains, representing
> individuals originally interred within the city\'s 18th century
> Potter\'s Field burying ground, were subsequently mapped,
> photo-documented, and analyzed by archaeologists before being reburied
> within the Square. (Tony McNichol)
>
> **A Candle to Freedom: Archaeological Investigations on the
> Underground Railroad, Johnson House, Philadelphia, PA**\
> Located in Germantown and built in 1768, the Johnson House was the
> home of five generations of prominent anti-slavery activists. Recent
> investigations of this property identified the remains of a previously
> unknown outbuilding and produced more than 1,100 historical artifacts,
> many dating to the time the house served as an active stop on the
> Underground Railroad. Continued explorations of this property have the
> potential to contribute to our understanding of both the Johnson
> family and those many unnamed individuals who sought refuge in this
> house during their quest for freedom. (Kimberly Morrell)
>
> **Sundries in the Cistern at James Logan\'s Stenton**\
> Built in 1730 by James Logan, Stenton was and is one of Germantown\'s
> finest colonial homes. Archaeological investigations in 1982
> identified the remains of a previously unknown cistern that contained
> more than twenty thousand mid-eighteenth century artifacts. This
> presentation highlights many of those objects including a wide
> assortment of local and imported ceramics and a unique pair of gold
> cufflinks. (Deborah Miller)

**2:00 pm**

> *Presented Talks*
>
> **The Lost Mills of RittenhouseTown**(Katherine Cavallo)
>
> **The Hidden Casements of Fort Mifflin: Sealed for a hundred and forty
> years and now suddenly revealed**\
> Built originally by the British in 1771 Fort Mifflin is most renowned
> for its tenacious defense during the 1777 campaign which resulted in
> the capture of Philadelphia. Recently a long forgotten sealed section
> of the fort was accidentally revealed and important archaeological
> data was recovered. (David G. Orr)
>
> **Toilet Technology Through Time: New Information from the Convention
> Center Site**\
> (Rebecca Yamin and Grace Ziesing)

**3:00 pm**

> *Presented Talks*
>
> **Archeology Explores Slavery and Freedom at the President\'s House**
> In the 1790s Presidents George Washington and John Adams lived and
> worked in a large house in Philadelphia. Washington brought nine
> enslaved Africans from his plantation in Virginia to that house during
> the years he resided there. Recent archaeological excavations
> conducted by the National Park Service and the City of Philadelphia
> have revealed new information about the site. This talk will present
> an overview of the excavations and the new insights that have resulted
> from this work. (Jed Levin)
>
> **Archaeology at the President\'s House: What It Means for
> African-American History**\
> Archaeology and public participation at the President\'s House site
> have provided fruitful opportunities for reexamining many aspects of
> American history. From the executive branch of the government to
> escape from slavery, archaeological and historical interpretations
> based on the foundations of the president\'s house are pushing
> American history in new directions. This talk will delve into the
> productive ways in which archaeology illuminates the past. (Cheryl
> LaRoche)
>
> **Discussion/Question and Answer Period**

**4:00 pm**

> *Archaeology Film and Video*
>
> **TV\'s *Skeleton Stories* and the Mystery Coffins from the
> Philadelphia Almshouse**\
> In December 2006, the Discovery Health Channel\'s docudrama *Skeleton
> Stories* featured a husband-and-wife forensic anthropology team as
> they and their students excavated mysterious coffins from the late
> 1700s discovered beneath a row house in South Philadelphia. This
> episode will be presented in its entirety, together with comments and
> discussion by the excavation team\'s director. (Thomas A. Crist)
>
> **Videos of the President\'s House Excavation by the *Philadelphia
> Inquirer***

### Exhibits (Lobby, Independence Living History Center)

> **Oliver Evans Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology**\
> Formed in 1984, the 100+ members of Oliver Evans (Philadelphia, PA)
> are interested in the engineering and industrial heritage of the
> Delaware Valley area. The society seeks to educate people about our
> industrial past, to document it (particularly those sites in danger of
> extinction), and to act as an advocate toward the preservation of
> historic industrial and engineering sites. The Chapter organizes tours
> of local industrial sites and presents lectures. (Muriel Kirkpatrick)
>
> **Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology John Shrader Chapter #21
> (Southeastern PA)**\
> SPA was organized in 1929 to promote the study, scientific research,
> and conservation of the prehistoric and historic archaeological
> resources of Pennsylvania and neighboring states, to promote the
> dissemination of information about this archaeology, and to encourage
> the exchange of archaeological knowledge between the professional and
> the avocational archaeologist. The local chapter of SPA meets on the
> 1st Wednesday each month at 7:30 p.m., at the Joanna Furnace, Berks
> County, PA (Catherine Spohn)
>
> **Archaeology in Philadelphia**\
> (Muriel Kirkpatrick of Philadelphia Archaeological Forum)
>
> **Archaeology is a Community Resource**\
> Philadelphia\'s rich archaeological heritage is utilized for
> elementary and high school education purposes, college internship
> experience, community solidarity for cultural heritage, and community
> service opportunities. A sample of our community\'s engagement with
> local archaeological resources includes projects from local Charter
> Schools, the *Daily News Urban Journalism Workshop* (Bianca Crespo,
> James Dobson, and *Vivid Voice*)*, The Harrisburg Internship
> Semester.*
>
> **2007 *Pennsylvania Archaeology Month***\
> Posters, web site information, lesson plans, and activities. (Deborah
> Miller, PAF, and Patrice L. Jeppson)
>
> **3D Colonial Philadelphia** is a new ongoing project using 21st
> century media and computer technologies to re-create and explore 18th
> century Philadelphia and the surrounding region. *3-D Colonial
> Philadelphia* will serve as a research and production center for 3-D
> models, animations, and interactive media. It will be a repository for
> virtual artifacts and digital assets associated with colonial life. It
> will provide searchable databases for researchers and scholars and
> will create immersive 3-D interactive environments for teaching
> colonial American history in schools, at historic sites and on the
> internet. Digital Media Program faculty and students from the
> Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel
> University will be on hand to show and demonstrate works-in-progress,
> including 3D models and animations of the James Oronoco Dexter House,
> Philadelphia; The Whitall House and Fort Mercer sites, Woodbury, New
> Jersey; and The Mill at Anselma, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. (Glenn
> Muschio, Christopher Redmann, Jervis Thompson)
>
> **\'Table Top\' Dig Demonstration**\
> Test your observation and analysis skills in this hands-on
> demonstration that draws on using human osteology evidence to learn
> about African American history and culture. (Najah Palm)
>
> **Philadelphia Archaeological Forum (PAF)**\
> PAF is dedicated to the protection and preservation of archaeological
> resources in the Philadelphia region. The organization aims to further
> awareness of this rich archaeological heritage through educational
> programs and activities that reach beyond the professional community.
> PAF meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Information on
> upcoming meetings and events can be found at
> www.phillyarchaeology.org.