Research Tools: “New York City Launches Archaeological Repository and Digital Archive”

From the Associated Press:

Nearly 1 million antiquities including ceramics, a bayonet, perfume and medicine bottles — even a 200-year-old douche device — have been unearthed at construction sites in New York City, artifacts that help shed light on local history and the people who once lived there.
Excavated from 31 sites across the city’s five boroughs, the objects — frequently in fragments — had been stored for decades at 14 locations across the city — until now.
On Wednesday, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unveiled a climate-controlled repository where all the specimens are housed under one roof.
It also launched an online database of the archaeological finds that have been cataloged and photographed in partnership with the Museum of the City of New York.

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From The NY Times

The repository and website are also a collaboration of the Museum of the City of New York; the Fund for the City of New York; and Iron Mountain, a records and data management company.

The digital archive includes images, maps, an education guide and quiz for students, a searchable database, archaeological reports by the landmarks commission and information on which local colleges and universities offer degrees in the field. (A tip for beginners: If you want to sound smart, refer to a piece of broken pottery as a sherd, not a shard.)

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Direct to NYC Archaeological Repository

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