Archaeology: Work from Home Edition

April is NH Archeology Month! Normally Strawbery Banke Museum would be hosting a free public event along with other NH archaeologists to celebrate. However, under the NH Governor's Stay at Home orders during the current COVID-19 pandemic, Strawbery Banke employees are working from home and all our public events and programming have been cancelled or postponed. Along with lots of phone calls and video conference meetings, like so many others, we thought it would be interesting to share some of the other archaeological work that can be done from home.

Facilities & Collections staff meet on Zoom

Visitors are sometimes surprised to learn that most archaeological research at Strawbery Banke actually happens outside of our short New England field season. Before we excavate, there are months of research and planning to carry out. Since most of our excavations are planned in advance of rehabilitation or construction projects, this planning phased helps us make sure we have time to recover archaeological resources before ground disturbance. For example, right now we are in the early planning stages of a proposed new building on the museum grounds, so we are reviewing historic maps and documents along with recent geophysical bore samples and building plans to help decide where to dig.

After we excavate, there is a lot to do in the lab -- some of which can be done from home! Fortunately, we completed cataloging all the artifacts from the 2016-2018 Penhallow excavations over the winter. This data needs to be entered in a digital database that can be linked to our site map in ArcGIS. Some of our stalwart Archaeology volunteers are working on this data entry from home from scanned pages of catalog sheets. When the digital database is complete, we can explore the distribution of different types of artifacts across the Penhallow site map.

Several museum employees are currently working on a new exhibit, “Water Has a Memory: Preserving Strawbery Banke and Portsmouth from Sea Level Rise,” featuring the impacts of sea level rise on our historic site. Since the history of the Puddle Dock neighborhood relates closely to the tidal inlet of the Piscataqua River that the neighborhood built up around, part of the exhibit will explore how the waterways changed over time (and will continue to change -- although the tidal inlet was filled in by 1904, the groundwater still rises and falls with the tides).

The earliest map that shows the shape of the tidal inlet dates to 1813, but we can contribute archaeological evidence to help paint a picture of what the landscape would have looked like in the 17th and 18th centuries -- from household and industrial activities to the changing shape of the inlet and surfaces of the surrounding roads and paths. Stay tuned to see what we've contributed when the exhibit opens later this year.

1813 Hales map -- the tidal inlet is labelled "DOCK"

We are also working to finalize publications and reports for several recent projects which we hope to be able to share with you soon! In the meanwhile, we've been sharing artifacts from the Archaeological Collection on social media. You can view the complete list here: Collections Department Artifact of the Week -- or follow Strawbery Banke on Facebook or Instagram to see Archaeology posts along with content from our Curator, Education and Horticulture Departments, and Restoration Carpentry team.

Other museum archaeologists are working from home as well. Check out the following links to see what's going on elsewhere on the East Coast!

Plimoth Plantation Collections Department

City of Boston Archaeology Program

James Madison's Montpelier

Archaeology at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Colonial Williamsburg Archaeology Department

Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe and we look forward to welcoming you back to Strawbery Banke.