This event is free and available online.
Bits and pieces—left behind by those who lived in New York City long before the age of skyscrapers—are still scattered throughout the five boroughs, found in backyards, construction sites, street beds, and parks. Indigenous tools used thousands of years ago; wine jugs from a 17th-century tavern; a teapot from Seneca Village, the 19th-century Black settlement displaced by Central Park; raspberry seeds sown in backyard Brooklyn gardens—these everyday objects are windows into the City’s forgotten history.
Join the NYG&B for a look at Buried Beneath the City: An Archaeological History of New York. We will be joined by Amanda Sutphin and Jessica Striebel MacLean, two of the authors writing on behalf of the LPC, who will discuss this exciting new work. Buried Beneath the City uses urban archaeology to retell the history of New York City, from the deeper layers of the past to the topsoil of recent events. Amanda and Jessica will discuss how the City’s history and the stories of its diverse residents can be told through the artifacts they left behind. They will demonstrate how the archaeological record can be used to fill in the gaps where written records do not exist or have not survived. These artifacts, often mundane items, can help detail the lives of our ancestors, especially those who are absent from the documentary record.
All in-person attendees will receive a copy of Buried Beneath the City.
About the Authors
Amanda Sutphin is the Director of Archaeology at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and manages the NYC Archaeological Repository: The Nan A. Rothschild Research Center.
Jessica Striebel MacLean is an urban archaeologist at the New York City LPC and the NYC Archaeological Repository.
The LPC 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.
Amanda Sutphin
Jessica Striebel MacLean
The NYC Archaeological Repository is a project of the Archaeology Department of the LPC. Opened in 2014, the purpose of the Repository is to curate the City’s archaeological collections and make them accessible to archaeologists, researchers, teachers, students, and the public. The Repository currently houses hundreds of thousands of artifacts from more than 32 sites throughout the City. The LPC worked with the Museum of the City of New York from 2013–2016 to create a comprehensive database to make these collections available digitally to everyone.
Program Support
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
