Unusual Artifacts - New York State Museum
Unusual Artifacts - New York State Museum
Unusual Artifacts - New York State Museum
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The Magazine<br />
of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
VOL. 3 • NO. 1<br />
SUMMER 2007<br />
INSIDE:<br />
Cohoes Mastodon<br />
Wayward Bats<br />
Thacher Park’s Past<br />
<strong>New</strong> Exhibitions<br />
Archaeology in Albany<br />
<strong>Unusual</strong> <strong>Artifacts</strong> PAGE 8
Required Reading!<br />
For more than 100 years, <strong>Museum</strong> publications have shared knowledge of anthropology,<br />
biology, geology, history, and paleontology with readers excited by discovery.<br />
In <strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #509,<br />
Before Albany, An Archaeology<br />
of Native-Dutch Relations in<br />
the Capital Region, 1600–1664,<br />
author Dr. James W. Bradley<br />
explores the interaction<br />
between Native Americans<br />
and the Dutch settlers living<br />
in the Beverwijck settlement,<br />
now present-day Albany. He<br />
discusses the mutual respect<br />
between the two groups<br />
and how, despite some<br />
conflicts, they established<br />
reciprocal relationships that<br />
led to the settlement of the<br />
Capital Region.<br />
230 pages, 8 1 /8 x 9 3 /4 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #502, Natural<br />
History of the Albany Pine Bush,<br />
is a comprehensive field guide<br />
to the trees, shrubs, wildflowers,<br />
insects, amphibians, reptiles,<br />
birds, and mammals that<br />
inhabit one of the most<br />
endangered landscapes in the<br />
Northeast. Author Jeffrey K.<br />
Barnes also reviews the human<br />
exploitation, land use, and<br />
conservation of the area as<br />
well as the challenges related<br />
to its ecological management.<br />
245 pages, 6 x 9 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #505, James<br />
Eights, 1798–1882, Antarctic<br />
Explorer, Albany Naturalist,<br />
His Life, His Times, His Work,<br />
presents a synopsis of the life<br />
and times of a little-known<br />
but respected 19th century<br />
scientist from Albany. Author<br />
Daniel McKinley brings to life<br />
Eights’ professional career and<br />
recognizes his contributions to<br />
science. Interested in various<br />
fields of natural history, James<br />
Eights explored extensively in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> and donated many<br />
of the biological and geological<br />
specimens he collected to the<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
456 pages, 8 1 /2 x 11 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #507,<br />
Fabulous Fossils: 300 Years of<br />
Worldwide Research on<br />
Trilobites, documents the history<br />
of research on this fascinating<br />
group of prehistoric animals.<br />
This collection of 15 papers,<br />
written by internationally<br />
renowned scientists, is a significant<br />
contribution to the history<br />
of trilobite paleontology. The<br />
book was edited by Donald G.<br />
Mikulic, Ed Landing of the<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>, and Joanne<br />
Kluessendorf.<br />
248 pages, 8 1 /2 x 11 inches<br />
For information about these and other titles, call 518-486-2013 or visit www.nysm.nysed.gov/publications.
contents<br />
VOL. 3 • NO. 1<br />
SUMMER 2007<br />
Recent archaeological excavations<br />
form the basis of a new long-term<br />
exhibition, Beneath the City: An<br />
Archaeological Perspective of Albany.<br />
features<br />
10<br />
12<br />
Rock of Deep Ages by Dr. Chuck Ver Straeten<br />
A little geological information makes hiking along Thacher’s<br />
Indian Ladder Trail more than a walk in the park.<br />
Digging for Deeper Meaning<br />
In a series of essays, <strong>Museum</strong> staff discuss how historical<br />
archaeology inspired a new exhibition on Albany’s early history<br />
and how archaeology broadens our understanding of the past.<br />
departments<br />
2<br />
Director’s Note<br />
3<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> <strong>New</strong>s<br />
7<br />
Discovery Now<br />
Searching Old Ground with <strong>New</strong> Methods<br />
A geologist uses ground-penetrating radar<br />
to locate missing and misplaced graves.<br />
by Dr. Andrew Kozlowski<br />
8<br />
Hidden Treasures<br />
Strange Creatures from the Archaeology Collections<br />
by Dr. Penelope B. Drooker and George R. Hamell<br />
Mudcracks in the Manlius<br />
Limestone reveal the geologic<br />
history of Thacher Park. This<br />
summer, <strong>Museum</strong> scientists lead<br />
explorations of the biology,<br />
anthropology, and geology of<br />
Thacher during the 7th annual<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> Goes<br />
to the Parks program. See The<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Calendar for details.<br />
Pop-eyed birdstones, dating<br />
generally to 1000 B.C., are<br />
among the unusual artifacts<br />
in the archaeology collections.<br />
16<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Stories<br />
Bats: Gone with the Wind?<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s bats have a mysterious and perilous<br />
fascination with wind turbines.<br />
by Dr. Roland W. Kays<br />
The unseenamerica NYS exhibition<br />
includes more than 50 images taken<br />
by working people from throughout<br />
the state, including Volunteers by<br />
George Smith, a tractor-trailer driver.<br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov<br />
On the Cover<br />
This engraved plate of mica, depicting a horned<br />
water monster, was found on Long Island<br />
and donated to <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> in 1849. The<br />
correct orientation is 90 degrees to the right.<br />
Photo by Thaddeus Beblowski, NYSM.<br />
Inset: Excavation of an 18th century rum<br />
distillery in Albany, seen in Beneath the City:<br />
An Archaeological Perspective of Albany.<br />
IMAGES FROM TOP RIGHT: DR. CHUCK VER STRAETEN, NYSM; THADDEUS BEBLOWSKI, NYSM; GEORGE SMITH; NYSM COLLECTIONS
JOHN WHIPPLE<br />
The Magazine of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
director’s note<br />
Two issues ago, I wrote about the role of museums as educational institutions—<br />
how the power of objects in exhibitions can stimulate the imagination and<br />
generate a thirst for knowledge. <strong>Museum</strong>s in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> are chartered by the<br />
Board of Regents through the chartering office at the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> and are<br />
required to provide educational programming aligned with Regents’ standards.<br />
This requirement has evolved not only from an obligation to provide public<br />
benefit, but also from a growing recognition that learning stretches beyond<br />
the classroom to museums, libraries, historical societies, scientific laboratories,<br />
and the field.<br />
Success in our increasingly complex, high-tech world requires students to<br />
learn how to access, interpret, and analyze information. <strong>Museum</strong>s are ideally<br />
suited to play an important role in helping students acquire these critical<br />
21st century skills. The Regents have developed an action plan for education<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> that is designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century.<br />
One of the critical components of the action plan is the <strong>Museum</strong> Education<br />
Act developed here at the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
The <strong>Museum</strong> Education Act launches a major partnership between museums<br />
and schools, bringing the resources and expertise of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s museums to<br />
statewide efforts to improve student performance. It recognizes that museums<br />
are centers for learning and provides much-needed funds, at a time when<br />
many museums struggle to keep their doors open.<br />
This act recognizes, for the very first time, the contributions of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s<br />
museums by establishing a program of formula-based funding. Going even<br />
further, it establishes competitive grants to fund teacher development, programs<br />
that address science literacy, innovative mechanisms to bring museum resources<br />
into schools, enhancement of exhibitions, and virtual-learning experiences.<br />
To learn more about the <strong>Museum</strong> Education Act, please visit our Web site<br />
at www.nysm.nysed.gov. I encourage you to lend your support by using the<br />
sample letter found there to write to your legislator. I hope each of you will<br />
join me in advocating for this important educational advance.<br />
Cliff Siegfried<br />
Director, <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov<br />
Maria C. Sparks, Managing Editor<br />
Leigh Ann Smith, Design Consultant<br />
Bonnie Kerrick, Copy Editor<br />
Design<br />
2k Design<br />
Contributors<br />
Penelope B. Drooker<br />
George R. Hamell<br />
Roland W. Kays<br />
Nancy Kelley<br />
Andrew Kozlowski<br />
Martin Pickands<br />
Christina B. Rieth<br />
Victoria Schmitt<br />
Michelle Stefanik<br />
Chuck Ver Straeten<br />
Advisory Board<br />
Harry M. Rosenfeld<br />
Clifford A. Siegfried<br />
John P. Hart<br />
Mark Schaming<br />
Jeanine L. Grinage<br />
Robert A. Daniels<br />
Penelope B. Drooker<br />
Editorial Board<br />
Carrie Bernardi<br />
Penelope B. Drooker<br />
Cecile Kowalski<br />
Geoffrey N. Stein<br />
Chuck Ver Straeten<br />
Legacy is published quarterly by the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> Institute,<br />
Third Floor, Cultural Education<br />
Center, Albany, NY 12230. The<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> Institute,<br />
a private single-purpose 501(c)(3)<br />
charitable organization, supports the<br />
exhibitions, research, and programs<br />
of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
The magazine is sent to members<br />
of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> as<br />
a benefit of their membership. For<br />
information about membership,<br />
call 518-474-1354 or send an e-mail<br />
to membership@mail.nysed.gov.<br />
2 ■ Legacy
museum news<br />
Through<br />
the Eyes<br />
of Unseen<br />
Workers<br />
Cafeteria workers preparing<br />
food. A game of street<br />
basketball. Bengali women<br />
studying at a table. A little girl<br />
at her birthday party. A firefighter<br />
on duty. These photographs tell<br />
stories of work, of community,<br />
of family. The images are made<br />
by security guards, housekeepers,<br />
healthcare workers, refugees,<br />
truck drivers, teachers, and<br />
others as part of unseenamerica<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong>, an innovative<br />
arts project in which workers<br />
document their own experiences<br />
and describe their worlds with<br />
the assistance of professional<br />
writers and photographers.<br />
unseenamerica <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> gives those who are<br />
unseen in our communities the<br />
tools and opportunities to<br />
become seen. There are more<br />
than 50 revealing photographs<br />
on display in Exhibition Hall<br />
through October 21.<br />
Esther Cohen, executive<br />
director of Bread and Roses—<br />
the nonprofit cultural arm of<br />
the health and human services<br />
union 1199SEIU—founded<br />
unseenamerica five years ago.<br />
The core of the project is a<br />
12-week workshop where the<br />
participants learn the basic<br />
principles of documentary<br />
photography. Throughout the<br />
nation, unseenamerica teaches<br />
photography as a language<br />
that can be used to gain worker<br />
visibility and dignity. Each workshop<br />
culminates with a local<br />
exhibition of the photographs<br />
accompanied by text written by<br />
the participants.<br />
The exhibition at the <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> consists of images made<br />
solely in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> at recent<br />
workshops in Albany, Syracuse,<br />
Rochester, Buffalo, many small<br />
towns, and on Long Island,<br />
among other places. It is a collaboration<br />
of the Bread and Roses<br />
Cultural Project of 1199SEIU,<br />
the NYS AFL-CIO, and the<br />
Workforce Development Institute.<br />
“unseenamerica is an exercise<br />
in democracy,” says Zoeann<br />
Murphy, the regional<br />
coordinator of the<br />
unseenamerica NYS<br />
exhibition. “Workers,<br />
immigrants, and refugees<br />
are creating their own<br />
media, and we are integrating<br />
these voices into<br />
the larger social and cultural<br />
fabric of the nation. It has been<br />
an incredible privilege to hear<br />
the stories people tell in the<br />
classes and work with the participants<br />
to depict their stories<br />
through their photographs.”<br />
– Nancy Kelley, coordinator of<br />
temporary exhibitions<br />
Clockwise from top left: Claudia<br />
Payne, AFL-CIO Community<br />
Services Liaison, Headstand;<br />
George Smith, Tractor-Trailer Driver,<br />
Volunteers; Diane Loan, Mike’s<br />
Craft Booth; Hosneara Kader,<br />
Hudson Even Start, Strive.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 3
museum<br />
news<br />
The Works of Alex Katz<br />
Alex Katz, Eli, 1963.<br />
Oil on canvas,<br />
73 1 /2 x 95 1 /2 in.<br />
(186.7 x 242.6 cm).<br />
Whitney <strong>Museum</strong><br />
of American Art,<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>; gift<br />
of Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Herbert Fischbach<br />
64.37<br />
The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> acquired a<br />
c. 1915 carousel in 1975 and<br />
located its original military band<br />
organ in 2000. After a 50-year<br />
separation, the carousel and the<br />
band organ are together again.<br />
The latest exhibition in the<br />
Bank of America Great<br />
Art Series presents more<br />
than 30 works by renowned Pop<br />
artist Alex Katz.<br />
In Alex Katz: Selections from<br />
the Whitney <strong>Museum</strong> of American<br />
Art, viewers see lesser-known<br />
landscape paintings and collages<br />
from Katz’s early career in the<br />
1950s as well as the large,<br />
brilliantly colored images of his<br />
family and friends from his work<br />
in the 1960s and later.<br />
JOHN SCHERER, NYSM<br />
“This is the fifth Great Art<br />
exhibit that the Whitney has<br />
organized for us since 1999, but<br />
it is the very first that focuses on<br />
the work of one artist,” says<br />
Nancy Kelley, the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
coordinator of temporary exhibitions.<br />
“The Whitney was the first<br />
museum to collect Katz’s work,<br />
and it has mounted exhibitions<br />
that were instrumental in his<br />
career. Consequently, curator Dana<br />
Miller was able to draw on works<br />
created over a half century—<br />
drawings, collages, prints, Katz’s<br />
signature billboard-sized paintings,<br />
and ‘cutout’ sculpture.”<br />
The exhibition includes the<br />
earliest of Katz paintings in the<br />
Whitney’s collection, Untitled<br />
(1951), a work of Abstract<br />
Expressionism. Examples of<br />
Katz’s more recent style are also<br />
included; the small-scale works<br />
show the process Katz uses<br />
to create his large-size portraits.<br />
The exhibition runs through<br />
August 19 in West Gallery.<br />
Reunited<br />
and<br />
It Sounds<br />
So Good<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s carousel, built<br />
in 1915 by the Herschell-<br />
Spillman Carousel Factory in<br />
North Tonawanda, and its<br />
original band organ are making<br />
music together once more. On<br />
Wednesday mornings, and by<br />
NYSM<br />
request, the Wurlitzer military<br />
band organ plays carousel music<br />
the way it was heard for nearly<br />
40 years: lively and loud.<br />
The band organ was designed<br />
to be played outdoors to attract<br />
crowds. From 1915 until 1933,<br />
the Stadel Brothers of Wellsville<br />
traveled the carousel with its<br />
booming military band organ—<br />
complete with snare and bass<br />
drums, horns, a cymbal, and a<br />
pipe organ—to various fairs<br />
around the Southern Tier. They<br />
later sold the carousel and band<br />
organ to Olivecrest Park on Cuba<br />
Lake. The band organ was used<br />
until the mid-1950s, when it<br />
evidently became easier to use a<br />
phonograph to provide carousel<br />
music, according to John Scherer,<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>’s curator of popular<br />
entertainment.<br />
The owners of the carousel<br />
sold the band organ to a man<br />
who wanted to play it as he<br />
boated around the lake. However,<br />
without a large enough boat<br />
and a portable power source to<br />
make this a reality, he kept the<br />
band organ in his garage. The<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> acquired<br />
the band organ 45 years later,<br />
in 2000, and recently completed<br />
the restoration of its natural oak<br />
case and playing mechanism.<br />
The band organ plays music at<br />
92 decibels, just slightly louder<br />
than the 90 decibel rating of a<br />
lawnmower. For more comfortable<br />
listening, CDs of band organ<br />
music are played daily, 10 a.m. to<br />
4:30 p.m., no earplugs necessary.<br />
4 ■ Legacy
▲<br />
The Cohoes Mastodon, shown at right when it was exhibited in the “Old” <strong>Museum</strong>, now<br />
resides in a brand-new exhibition in South Hall.<br />
Excavation of an 18th century rum distillery in Albany, seen in Beneath the City:<br />
An Archaeological Perspective of Albany.<br />
▲<br />
A Look Back:<br />
The Cohoes<br />
Mastodon<br />
In 1866, during the construction<br />
of Harmony Mill No. 3 near<br />
Cohoes Falls, workers found<br />
the remains of a mastodon that<br />
lived 11,000 years ago. In life,<br />
this male mastodon stood nearly<br />
8.5 feet high at the shoulder,<br />
was about 15 feet long, and<br />
weighed between 8,000 and<br />
10,000 pounds.<br />
In the years since its discovery,<br />
the Cohoes Mastodon (Mammut<br />
americanum)—one of the <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s rarest treasures—has<br />
been a popular exhibition for<br />
generations of visitors. It was<br />
first exhibited around 1870 in<br />
Geological and Agricultural Hall<br />
and moved into the new <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> when it opened within<br />
the <strong>State</strong> Education Building<br />
in 1915. When the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
relocated to the Cultural<br />
Education Center in 1976, the<br />
mastodon was dismantled and<br />
put into collections storage.<br />
However, in recognition of its<br />
status as a <strong>Museum</strong> icon, the<br />
Cohoes Mastodon was reassembled<br />
and placed in the 1st Floor<br />
lobby of the Cultural Education<br />
Center in 1998.<br />
The mastodon now has a new<br />
home in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s South Hall.<br />
The location is a more stable<br />
climate for the bones, which<br />
DR. NORTON MILLER, NYSM<br />
helps the <strong>Museum</strong> preserve the<br />
mastodon for years of display. It<br />
also provides visitors with better<br />
access to view the mastodon. The<br />
new exhibition contains more<br />
information about the Cohoes<br />
Mastodon than ever before. It<br />
explains and demonstrates,<br />
through models, the differences<br />
between mastodons and mammoths<br />
and indicates what led to<br />
the mass extinction of mastodons,<br />
mammoths, and other large<br />
The Moss Exchange and<br />
the Bryophyte Herbarium<br />
To identify plants correctly,<br />
seeing is believing.<br />
Through an exchange<br />
managed by the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>,<br />
scientists and teachers worldwide<br />
receive specimens of mosses<br />
that, when reviewed in tandem<br />
with published descriptions,<br />
provide more precise information<br />
about the biodiversity of this<br />
poorly known, species-rich group<br />
of plants. The exchange enables<br />
researchers to draw more accurate<br />
animals 10,000 years ago. The<br />
exhibition also presents what<br />
science reveals about the<br />
Cohoes Mastodon’s life and<br />
death. The mastodon’s original<br />
left tusk and a cross-sectioned<br />
tooth are displayed in cases<br />
next to the mastodon. Weighing<br />
about 50 pounds each, the<br />
tusks are too heavy to mount in<br />
the skull. The right tusk remains<br />
in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s collections for<br />
scientific study.<br />
Catoscopium nigritum, one of the thousands of moss specimens in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s Bryophyte<br />
Herbarium, is known to occur only in Batavia.<br />
conclusions, equips teachers<br />
with the best-available information,<br />
and provides scientists<br />
with something new for their<br />
herbarium reference studies.<br />
It also helps to build the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s Bryophyte Herbarium,<br />
a collection of more than<br />
45,000 specimens of mosses,<br />
liverworts, and hornworts,<br />
which are otherwise known as<br />
‘bryophytes,’ the second largest<br />
group of green land plants. As<br />
▲<br />
Must-See<br />
Exhibitions<br />
Beneath the City:<br />
An Archaeological<br />
Perspective of Albany<br />
Continuing<br />
Cohoes Mastodon<br />
Continuing<br />
Bank of America Great<br />
Art Series<br />
Alex Katz: Selections<br />
from the Whitney<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> of American Art<br />
Through August 19<br />
Alton Frabetti, University at<br />
Stony Brook, Ritratto, 2006.<br />
Wood, rusted steel.<br />
2007 Best of SUNY<br />
Student Art Exhibition<br />
Through September 3<br />
unseenamerica NYS<br />
pictures of working lives<br />
taken by working hands<br />
Through October 21<br />
Look-Alikes:<br />
The Amazing World<br />
of Joan Steiner<br />
Through March 2, 2008<br />
See the <strong>Museum</strong> Calendar<br />
for details.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 5
museum<br />
news<br />
Leucobryum albidum, a common<br />
forest floor moss, is found on<br />
Long Island.<br />
DR. NORTON MILLER, NYSM<br />
a separate organized collection,<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>’s Bryophyte<br />
Herbarium dates back to about<br />
1950, and its content reflects<br />
the work of Stanley J. Smith, a<br />
former curator of botany at the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>. When members of<br />
the American Bryological and<br />
Lichenological Society (ABLS)’s<br />
Moss Exchange send sets of<br />
duplicate specimens to the <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong>, one specimen of each<br />
set of duplicates becomes part<br />
of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s Bryophyte<br />
Herbarium, and the rest are<br />
distributed to as many of the<br />
exchange participants as possible.<br />
The addition of specimens is<br />
important for the <strong>Museum</strong> and<br />
its growing collection. “It allows<br />
more definite scientific decisions<br />
to be made about the species<br />
composition of the state’s<br />
flora,” says botanist Dr. Norton<br />
Miller, who oversees the moss<br />
exchange program.<br />
Nearly 40 ABLS members—<br />
typically colleges, universities, and<br />
free-standing museums worldwide—participate<br />
in the exchange.<br />
Dr. Miller and Lorinda Leonardi,<br />
who manages the collection,<br />
have handled more than 3,500<br />
exchange specimens in the two<br />
years the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> has<br />
managed the exchange program.<br />
The moss exchange allows<br />
ABLS members to gather comparative<br />
samples from around the<br />
world. Some plants are widely<br />
distributed and may be known by<br />
one name locally and by another<br />
previously established name elsewhere,<br />
explains Dr. Miller. For this<br />
reason, the written descriptions<br />
of the plants are only part of the<br />
quest to know the species. The<br />
real discovery occurs with seeing<br />
the specimen.<br />
BRIAN MALLOY, NYSM<br />
MUSEUM VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION<br />
Holly Osborn:<br />
A Familiar Face Behind<br />
Family Fun Weekends<br />
People associated with<br />
the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> learn<br />
quickly that the number<br />
of visitors surges on a rainy<br />
or an especially warm day in<br />
good weather and on a clear<br />
day in the winter. As a craft<br />
activity volunteer during<br />
Family Fun Weekend, Holly<br />
Osborn has learned to be<br />
ready for anything.<br />
On a warm July day, her<br />
first as a volunteer, there was<br />
a constant flow of people<br />
looking to decorate sun<br />
visors with glitter. The kids<br />
approached the messy craft<br />
with gusto. And Holly, the<br />
mother of a 10-year-old<br />
daughter, probably wasn’t<br />
too surprised by what<br />
happened next. “Some of<br />
the kids went to town with<br />
the glitter,” she says. Since<br />
then, this regular volunteer<br />
on Family Fun Weekend<br />
Saturdays has helped participants<br />
create birdfeeders, paint<br />
through a butterfly stencil,<br />
and make a birch bark canoe,<br />
among others. “I really like<br />
the people, and it’s fun helping<br />
out,” says Holly. “It’s been<br />
a very positive experience.”<br />
Holly is one of two<br />
dedicated volunteers who<br />
make the weekend fun and<br />
exciting for the hundreds of<br />
families who participate in<br />
the crafts, activities, and<br />
special events. “It takes many<br />
individuals and a great deal<br />
of effort to make a successful<br />
program,” says Brian Malloy,<br />
coordinator of volunteers.<br />
“Hours are spent planning,<br />
setting up, and actually<br />
hosting the program. Our<br />
volunteers’ commitment to<br />
the program, the project,<br />
and the <strong>Museum</strong> is what<br />
makes it all come together.”<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> offers many interesting and educational<br />
opportunities for volunteers, interns, and those interested in community<br />
service placements. For more information, call 518-402-5869.<br />
6 ■ Legacy
discovery now<br />
Searching Old Ground<br />
with <strong>New</strong> Methods<br />
BY DR. ANDREW KOZLOWSKI<br />
Acommon attribute among<br />
geology, archaeology,<br />
and history is that each<br />
of the disciplines revolves around<br />
the burial of information, be it<br />
sediment, objects of cultural<br />
antiquity, or events. As a glacial<br />
geologist, I am trained to evaluate<br />
inconclusive bits of information<br />
long since buried or removed by<br />
erosion and to make geologic<br />
interpretations. Recently, I was<br />
approached by a historian who<br />
asked me if I could use groundpenetrating<br />
radar (GPR) technology<br />
to find unmarked graves in two<br />
Pennsylvania cemeteries. I found<br />
it ironic that my previous research<br />
sought to unravel events from<br />
tens of thousands of years of<br />
glaciation, and that now I would<br />
search the subsurface of two<br />
quarter-acre parcels for lost,<br />
missing, and misplaced graves<br />
from the past 200 years.<br />
The success of geophysical<br />
surveys is dependent on individual<br />
site conditions and the ability to<br />
measure contrasting physical<br />
properties (magnetism, resistivity,<br />
conductivity, density, etc.) between<br />
subsurface targets and the<br />
surrounding background material.<br />
I had only used GPR technology<br />
to map glacial landforms and<br />
subsurface deposits, but I was<br />
willing to offer any assistance I<br />
could to locate the graves.<br />
The parcels are within two<br />
40-acre cemeteries in Milton,<br />
Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna<br />
River. Site 1 is an open<br />
area believed to contain the<br />
re-interred remains from an intracity<br />
cemetery after a flood in<br />
1889 exhumed numerous graves.<br />
In an attempt to prevent disease,<br />
the scattered human remains and<br />
coffins were hastily relocated to a<br />
mass grave on a higher<br />
elevation stream<br />
terrace without documenting<br />
the burial<br />
location or installing<br />
grave markers.<br />
The other parcel, a<br />
“Potters Field” burial<br />
plot for individuals of<br />
low economic status,<br />
was estimated to<br />
contain as many as<br />
40 individuals buried<br />
between 1780–1925. Any documentation<br />
of the grave locations<br />
had long since been lost, and<br />
grave markers were absent or<br />
had gone missing over time.<br />
I used multiple geophysical<br />
methods, with an emphasis on<br />
3-D GPR, to painstakingly survey<br />
the parcels. Tantalizing clues<br />
began to appear after the data<br />
were processed into maps. Buried<br />
amongst the noise of a century’s<br />
worth of human activity, several<br />
anomalies appeared about 1 meter<br />
below the ground surface. The<br />
radar anomalies appeared as<br />
elongate 6-foot ovals oriented<br />
east-west, and the amplitudes of<br />
the radar data suggested the<br />
burial methods varied throughout<br />
the parcels. The maps produced<br />
from the other geophysical<br />
methods correlated with the<br />
radar data and supported our<br />
interpretations about probable<br />
grave locations. In all, a total of<br />
14 suspected unmarked burials<br />
were located.<br />
As this was my first attempt<br />
at using near-surface geophysics<br />
for an archeological project, I<br />
was enthralled with the results,<br />
fascinated by the challenges of<br />
this project, and reminded of<br />
the interdisciplinary nature of<br />
scientific research.<br />
Currently, I am collaborating<br />
with Aaron Gore of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
Cultural Resources Survey Program,<br />
using GPR to search for the buried<br />
remains of Fort La Presentation in<br />
Ogdensburg, N.Y. I’m also using<br />
GPR to map the thickness of cave<br />
sediments, as part of Dr. Robert<br />
Feranec’s search for vertebrate<br />
remains in the Albany area. More<br />
opportunities exist to use this<br />
technology, now that the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
has acquired a state-of-the-art<br />
GPR system to complement<br />
geological, archaeological, and<br />
other research interests. ■<br />
Above: Scientist Dr. Andrew<br />
Kozlowski brings experience<br />
using ground-penetrating radar<br />
to the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
Left: Ground-penetrating radar<br />
generated this 3-D map that<br />
displays high amplitude anomalies,<br />
shown by the arrows and ovals.<br />
The anomalies indicate the location<br />
of graves.<br />
Images courtesy of Dr. Andrew<br />
Kozlowski.<br />
Dr. Andrew Kozlowski is<br />
the glacial geologist at the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
He directs the STATEMAP<br />
program and the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
earth science workshop for<br />
teachers. Dr. Kozlowski’s<br />
research interests include<br />
glacial geology and<br />
near-surface geophysical<br />
applications, particularly<br />
ground-penetrating radar.<br />
Before joining the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
in 2006, he was a university<br />
professor in Pennsylvania.<br />
He earned a Ph.D.<br />
from Western Michigan<br />
University in 2004.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 7
hidden treasures<br />
Strange Creatures<br />
from the<br />
Archaeology Collections<br />
BY DR. PENELOPE B. DROOKER AND GEORGE R. HAMELL<br />
Dr. Penelope B. Drooker is<br />
curator of anthropology<br />
and assistant director of<br />
research and collections<br />
at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong>. Senior historian<br />
George R. Hamell is the<br />
ethnology collections<br />
manager at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
Among the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
collections of Native<br />
American archaeological<br />
artifacts that document human<br />
history in this region during the<br />
past 13,000 years are thousands<br />
of representations of animals<br />
and people. Such artifacts<br />
include bear-headed stone<br />
pestles used around 4,000 years<br />
ago; amazingly lifelike birds,<br />
animals, and human faces on<br />
stone and clay smoking pipes<br />
that were made and smoked<br />
during the past 600 years; and<br />
starting in the 1500s, intricate<br />
bone and antler combs depicting<br />
all manner of living things,<br />
including Europeans with trademark<br />
hats, horses, and guns.<br />
Such representations also<br />
include quite a few mysteries:<br />
depictions of fantastic creatures<br />
whose stories might be lost in<br />
the depths of time—or might live<br />
on in oral traditions accessible<br />
today. These strange creatures<br />
include unique and rare images<br />
in unusual materials as well<br />
as classes of artifacts that still<br />
remain mysterious.<br />
The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>’s archaeology<br />
collection had its origins in<br />
1847 as part of a newly established<br />
Historical and Antiquarian<br />
collection. The Regents sought<br />
contributions to this collection<br />
through a circular, which asked<br />
their “fellow citizens ... [for]<br />
their aid, in furnishing the relics<br />
of the ancient masters of the<br />
soil, and the monuments and<br />
remembrances of our colonial<br />
and revolutionary history.” The<br />
first “antiquities” were donated<br />
in 1848 by collectors in Avon,<br />
Canandaigua, Lake George,<br />
and Rochester. Those earliest<br />
donations often came with little<br />
contextual information, making<br />
it difficult to assess the ages<br />
of some of the more unusual<br />
artifacts and to deduce how they<br />
fit into the daily life of the people<br />
who made them. Some of the<br />
most unusual and fascinating<br />
artifacts in our collections—<br />
several of which are shown<br />
here—were donated during this<br />
time. Research over many decades<br />
has added to our understanding<br />
of them, but this is still a work<br />
in progress. ■<br />
8 ■ Legacy
▲<br />
▲<br />
This engraved plate of mica, depicting a horned water monster (head to left) surrounded<br />
by the tails of a half-dozen fish, whales, or other water creatures, was donated to <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> in 1849 by Nathaniel Miller, M.D., member of the Assembly from Suffolk County. The<br />
second annual Regents report in 1849 records that this artifact was “turned up by the plow<br />
several years since, in the town of Brookhaven [Long Island], at a depth of about two feet<br />
below the ground.” It probably depicts an ocean-dwelling water monster known to the people<br />
living in the area. The drawing at right provides a more detailed look at the<br />
engraving. NYSM A-16079, 19.7 cm x 15.5 cm x 0.7 cm. Photograph<br />
by Thaddeus Beblowski. Drawing by Patricia Kernan.<br />
Many artifacts of this shape, known colloquially as<br />
pop-eyed birdstones, have been excavated at sites in<br />
the lower Great Lakes region as well as farther afield in the Southeast and Midwest, and date<br />
generally to c. 1000 B.C. They often are fashioned from strikingly patterned granitic or dioritic<br />
porphyry or other colorful stone, which adds to the strange appearance of these weird<br />
creatures. Birdstones with and without umbrella-shaped pop-eyes probably served as atlatl<br />
(spear-thrower) weights. This eye-catching example, acquired by the NYSM in 1914 as part<br />
of the Otis M. Bigelow Collection, was found in Lysander, Onondaga County. NYSM curator<br />
William M. Beauchamp described it in 1897 as “the finest example of this class of amulets<br />
yet found.” NYSM A-31776, 12.1 cm x 4.7 cm x 6.2 cm H. Photograph by Thaddeus Beblowski.<br />
▲<br />
Snakes, lizards, and salamanders have fascinated people everywhere since<br />
the beginning of time. This flat-bottomed slate salamander effigy at one<br />
time probably boasted inlaid eyes of shell, freshwater pearls, metal, or glass<br />
beads. There is no closely similar object in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s archaeological<br />
collections. It came from Montgomery County and was cataloged in 1906,<br />
but its collector and the circumstances of its discovery are unknown.<br />
Unfortunately, the records for many artifacts acquired before 1911 were<br />
lost in the great Capitol Fire of that year. NYSM A-4371, 17.4 cm x 2.8 cm<br />
x 1.2 cm H. Photograph by Thaddeus Beblowski.<br />
▲<br />
This tiny pewter or lead figure of a human-faced animal or human on<br />
all fours was collected by Donald A. Rumrill at the mid-17th century Mohawk<br />
village Printup site in Montgomery County and donated to the NYSM by his<br />
children, Barbara Dahn and Donald M. Rumrill, in 2005. It may once have<br />
had a tail, now broken off. Native-made lead effigies are common at Mohawk<br />
sites occupied during the 1650s, but this particular figure may be unique.<br />
Such a depiction is highly unusual within Iroquoia and only slightly more<br />
common elsewhere in eastern North America. It echoes the appearance of<br />
some large stone effigy pipes from Ohio and Illinois that date to about<br />
800 years ago. It also bears a resemblance to the upper Great Lakes region<br />
mythological underwater panthers, sometimes described as having coppery<br />
scales, who guard native copper sources there. However, a direct relationship<br />
is highly unlikely. NYSM A-A2005.13BJ.19, 3.5 cm x 0.8 cm x 2 cm H.<br />
Photograph by Thaddeus Beblowski.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 9
Rock<br />
DeepAges<br />
OF<br />
Step onto the Indian Ladder<br />
Trail and walk back into<br />
ancient Thacher Park<br />
BY DR. CHUCK VER STRAETEN<br />
Dr. Chuck Ver Straeten<br />
specializes in sedimentary<br />
geology at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>. His research<br />
focuses on Devonian-age<br />
geology and volcanic ash<br />
layers in sedimentary rocks.<br />
He lives in the Helderbergs<br />
and is vice president of<br />
the Friends of Thacher<br />
and Thompsons Lake<br />
<strong>State</strong> Parks.<br />
Avisit to John Boyd Thacher<br />
<strong>State</strong> Park provides a<br />
variety of interesting<br />
subjects to delight the eyes and<br />
mind of the naturalist. Up on the<br />
Helderberg Escarpment west of<br />
Albany, the park’s 2,162 acres<br />
abound in wildlife and a variety<br />
of forest types, meadows, and<br />
wetlands. The cliffs and rock<br />
outcrops there have been famous<br />
among geologists around the<br />
world since the early 1800s.<br />
With a curious mind, observing<br />
eyes, and a little bit of geological<br />
information, you can view the<br />
park through deep time—an<br />
historical perspective that reaches<br />
back thousands, millions, and<br />
even billions of years. What was<br />
Thacher Park like so long ago?<br />
The clues are found throughout<br />
the park, including in the rocks<br />
along the Indian Ladder Trail that<br />
are approximately 418 million<br />
years old. Let’s take a walk.<br />
A Geological Treasure Hunt<br />
Starting from the west end of<br />
the trail, descend the broad<br />
steps, past the sign that explains<br />
some of the geological history.<br />
Look at the rocks on your right<br />
as you walk down the stone<br />
steps. How would you describe<br />
them? Step back, take the big<br />
view and then step forward and<br />
look up close. The rock is coarse,<br />
largely made of broken bits of<br />
shells or whole shells. [Clue #1].<br />
And what is that large semispherical,<br />
mound-like thing in<br />
the rock, with a honeycomb-like<br />
pattern on it? A coral? [Clue #2].<br />
Notice that there are few welldefined<br />
layers in the rock. Keep<br />
that image of poorly layered<br />
rocks in your mind for a while<br />
and compare it with the layering<br />
style found lower down the cliff,<br />
farther along the trail.<br />
So, shells and broken-up pieces<br />
of shells. Sounds like the seashore?<br />
Well, not exactly. The shells on<br />
a beach come from the sea, not<br />
from the shore. If we were to<br />
swim out from a shelly Florida<br />
beach, with mask, snorkel, and<br />
fins, we’d find the ocean floor<br />
blanketed with shell material<br />
some distance out. In fact, much<br />
of the shell material may be<br />
broken by waves offshore and<br />
later transported to the beach.<br />
And the coral. What does the<br />
coral tell us? Most of us know that<br />
IMAGES: DR. CHUCK VER STRAETEN<br />
10 ■ Legacy
The Manlius and Coeymans<br />
limestones at Mine Lot Falls,<br />
along the Indian Ladder Trail.<br />
The distinctive layers in the<br />
Manlius Formation (below),<br />
and the smooth, difficult-to-see<br />
layering in the Coeymans<br />
Formation (above) reflect the<br />
deposition of sediments in<br />
different environments.<br />
corals are found in salt water—<br />
the oceans, the tropical seas. Yet<br />
there are two fossil coral reefs<br />
found in the vicinity of Thacher<br />
Park, in slightly younger rocks.<br />
Reefs form in warm tropical<br />
seas—and at present, the warm<br />
tropical locations are found<br />
between 30 degrees north and<br />
south of the equator. This<br />
provides a hint not only about the<br />
climate at Thacher 418 million<br />
years ago, but also about where<br />
on the globe it sat at that time—<br />
which was approximately 25 to<br />
30 degrees south of the equator,<br />
according to many lines of<br />
geological evidence.<br />
Picture this environment where<br />
the rocks in the upper part of the<br />
Indian Ladder cliff were formed:<br />
some distance offshore from the<br />
beach, where waves are constantly<br />
crashing against the sea floor,<br />
moving shells around, breaking<br />
many of them; where you can<br />
see the waves break and tumble<br />
over; where you’d want to go<br />
surfing (if you jumped into a time<br />
machine with your surfboard).<br />
That’s where the rocks that<br />
form the upper part of the cliff,<br />
called the Coeymans Formation,<br />
were deposited as sediments in<br />
a shallow, tropical sea.<br />
A Surprising Contrast<br />
Walk farther along the Indian<br />
Ladder Trail and descend<br />
the metal steps to the path along<br />
the base of the cliff. One of the<br />
first things you might notice are<br />
the well-defined layers in the<br />
rock, generally a few inches or<br />
less in thickness. Quite different<br />
from above, yes? Different enough<br />
to give the rocks a different<br />
name—the Manlius Formation.<br />
Look closely—you won’t see visible<br />
pieces of fossil shells, except<br />
rarely (and then, shells of very<br />
different animals). The rock feels<br />
fairly smooth to the touch, and<br />
no grains are visible. Remember the<br />
large shells and shell fragments<br />
in the rock higher up? All of the<br />
sediment grains in the rocks<br />
down here are very fine—microscopic,<br />
in fact. Why the difference?<br />
Think about the turbulent water<br />
energy it takes to move shells. And<br />
then think about places where<br />
fine muddy sediments settle out<br />
of the water. This occurs in environments<br />
with very low (to no)<br />
water energy [Clue #3]. These<br />
are very different environments<br />
from those that formed the rocks<br />
high in the cliff.<br />
Farther along the trail, in a few<br />
places you will see other kinds of<br />
mound-like forms. Some of these<br />
are fossils of mound-like sponges.<br />
Other mounds are formed by<br />
cyanobacteria, formerly known as<br />
blue-green algae. The sponges<br />
are called stromatoporoids; the<br />
bacterial mounds are called<br />
stromatolites and thrombolites<br />
[Clue #4]. These latter mounds<br />
form today in extremely shallow<br />
waters, just below the low-tide line.<br />
In other places, where the<br />
rock layers have a kind of buff,<br />
yellowish color, thin crinkly layers<br />
are visible, like the pages of a<br />
book that became wet and then<br />
dried. These are other types of<br />
stromatolites, also formed by<br />
cyanobacteria, but ones that<br />
form within or just above the<br />
tide zone. In some of those layers<br />
you also can find cracks through<br />
the paper-thin layers, and if you<br />
see them from above (or below),<br />
you’ll realize they look like the<br />
cracks seen in a mud puddle<br />
that dried up [Clue #5]. The mud<br />
cracks in the rock tell us that<br />
those rocks formed in an environment<br />
that was sometimes wet<br />
and sometimes dry; in this case,<br />
on a tidal flat.<br />
Now you’ve figured out the<br />
environments at Thacher Park<br />
about 418 million years ago.<br />
The rocks in the lower half of the<br />
Indian Ladder cliff, which were<br />
deposited as sediments first,<br />
formed in tidal environments—<br />
sometimes above, sometimes<br />
within, and sometimes just below<br />
the tide zone. And the rocks in<br />
the upper half of the cliff? They<br />
formed a little later in time, in an<br />
environment a little deeper and<br />
farther offshore from wide tide<br />
flats—where the waves were<br />
crashing, in a tropical sea, where<br />
every day was warm and pleasant<br />
(well, ok, not so pleasant on days<br />
with hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.).<br />
That’s just one small part of<br />
the geological history of John<br />
Boyd Thacher <strong>State</strong> Park. Put on<br />
your boots and go exploring. ■<br />
Page 10: Ancient mudcracks in the<br />
Manlius Limestone, seen here from<br />
the underside, indicate that the<br />
sediments were originally deposited<br />
in an environment that alternated<br />
between wet and dry conditions.<br />
Below: This “thrombolite” mound,<br />
similar to a stromatolite mound,<br />
was formed by bacterial mats in<br />
shallow water. A U.S. quarter is<br />
shown for scale.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 11
Digging<br />
for Deeper<br />
Meaning<br />
Archaeologists excavate a burial from a site on<br />
Pearl Street, at the intersection of Howard and Norton<br />
streets, where the Lutheran Church and cemetery were<br />
located from the 1670s to 1816. After study, the skeleton<br />
of this man was reburied at Albany Rural Cemetery.<br />
Beneath the City:<br />
An Archaeological<br />
Perspective of Albany<br />
BY DR. CHARLES L. FISHER*<br />
This spring, the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
opened a new long-term<br />
exhibition demonstrating<br />
how archaeological research<br />
contributes toward a richer, more<br />
complete understanding of the<br />
history that is not restricted by<br />
wealth, education, ethnicity,<br />
religious beliefs, or political views.<br />
Documents such as publications,<br />
letters, treaties, inventories,<br />
pictures, and maps are rich in<br />
historical details. However, they<br />
are closely associated with a<br />
powerful minority—the literate,<br />
wealthy, and politically connected.<br />
If we want to learn about the<br />
If we want to learn about the lives of<br />
The new exhibition Beneath the City:<br />
An Archaeological Perspective of<br />
Albany spotlights the field of historical<br />
archaeology and how recovered artifacts<br />
can help us learn about the past. In<br />
this series of articles, a curator and<br />
an educator discuss how the detailed<br />
study of things left behind forms the<br />
basis for the new exhibition and<br />
improves our understanding of people<br />
who lived in the past. Archaeologists<br />
in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s Cultural Resource<br />
Survey Program share how historic<br />
sites are identified and studied to learn<br />
about human history, from Colonial<br />
times through the 20th century.<br />
city of Albany and its residents.<br />
Archaeology solves mysteries<br />
through the detailed study of<br />
things left behind. Scientific<br />
excavations connect us to the<br />
daily lives of people from our<br />
community’s past. <strong>Artifacts</strong> are<br />
more than objects. They express<br />
the values and beliefs of the<br />
people who made and used<br />
them. Archaeologists attempt<br />
to discover the cultural meaning<br />
of these artifacts to the people<br />
who once lived and worked at<br />
the sites being excavated. In<br />
this process, the archaeological<br />
remains become part of our<br />
culture and provide us with<br />
knowledge of and questions<br />
about our own past.<br />
Archaeological evidence of<br />
people’s actions can be used in<br />
combination with documentary<br />
records to construct a democratic<br />
lives of ordinary people, we<br />
need to consider what they<br />
leave behind.<br />
The material things that<br />
people make, exchange, use,<br />
and discard or lose in their daily<br />
activities reflect their assumptions<br />
about the world and their<br />
actions in it. People are not<br />
aware of the historical record<br />
they create when they throw<br />
away broken objects. Such<br />
unintentional actions create<br />
numerous archaeological sites.<br />
Archaeologists attempt to<br />
determine what the artifacts<br />
meant to the people who made<br />
and used them. The information<br />
archaeologists record about an<br />
artifact is essential to this goal.<br />
Its physical form, its condition, its<br />
precise location, and the other<br />
things found with it all provide<br />
clues to an artifact’s meaning.<br />
12 ■ Legacy
Beneath Albany’s streets,<br />
sidewalks, backyards, and<br />
buildings are layers of soil that<br />
contain objects made, used, and<br />
discarded by former residents.<br />
Each item reveals information<br />
about the people who created<br />
and used it. The study of each<br />
fragment in its context and its<br />
relationship to other places and<br />
things is necessary to learn about<br />
the people who left them behind,<br />
how they interacted with others,<br />
and how they constructed the<br />
world around them.<br />
Albany itself is a defining<br />
artifact of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> society. It is<br />
one of the oldest European cities<br />
in North America: A permanent<br />
settlement was established in<br />
1614 on Castle Island, and<br />
continuous settlement began in<br />
19th century commercial activities,<br />
the 19th–early 20th century<br />
county almshouse, and the daily<br />
life of residents in the past.<br />
The archaeological collections<br />
at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
are a result of development and<br />
expansion of the city. Federal<br />
and state laws require archaeological<br />
explorations prior to<br />
public-funded construction.<br />
These laws serve to protect and<br />
preserve important information<br />
about the history of the city.<br />
The new exhibition Beneath<br />
the City: An Archaeological<br />
Perspective of Albany illustrates<br />
how research employing these<br />
materials can greatly enhance<br />
our understanding of the city’s<br />
development and the lives of its<br />
residents over time.<br />
A view of visitors at the completed excavation<br />
of an 18th century rum distillery in Albany.<br />
No historical maps showed a distillery at this<br />
location, so its discovery during routine preconstruction<br />
archaeological investigations at the<br />
site of a new parking garage was unexpected.<br />
It was built in 1758–59 by Peter W. Quackenbush<br />
and Volckert A. Douw, members of two Albany<br />
Dutch families related through marriage.<br />
ordinary people, we need to consider what they leave behind.<br />
1624 with the establishment of<br />
Fort Orange. The town of<br />
Beverwyck, just to the north of<br />
Fort Orange, became Albany<br />
after the English peacefully took<br />
over the Dutch colony in 1664.<br />
Albany developed as a Dutch<br />
settlement among Native<br />
Americans, then it was a Dutch<br />
settlement under English rule.<br />
This helped to produce a distinctive<br />
American city with a heritage<br />
unlike any other.<br />
Research in Albany demonstrates<br />
how archaeology can<br />
provide us with a unique way of<br />
learning about our past. Some<br />
of these discoveries and their<br />
meaning in the history of the city<br />
and <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> are presented<br />
in the new exhibition, which<br />
focuses on the 17th century<br />
Dutch settlement, an 18th century<br />
rum distillery, late 18th–early<br />
Tools of Discovery<br />
BY MICHELLE STEFANIK<br />
By exposing the past we<br />
never knew, historical<br />
archaeology helps us learn<br />
about the middle class and the<br />
poor as well as women, slaves,<br />
traders, and merchants.<br />
Beneath the City: An<br />
Archaeological Perspective of<br />
Albany is an educationally exciting<br />
exhibition. It shows how archaeologists<br />
combine information<br />
from historical maps, government<br />
documents, and evidence<br />
discovered during excavations<br />
to capture stories of businesses<br />
and people previously unknown.<br />
Maps as old as 1698, 1756–57,<br />
and 1798 as well as the modern<br />
maps in the exhibition offer the<br />
opportunity to teach geography<br />
and map-reading skills while giving<br />
visitors a view of the physical<br />
changes and development of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>’s capital city. By using these<br />
maps, we can begin a dialogue<br />
with visitors about the changing<br />
landscape of a nearly 400-year-old<br />
city. We can discuss the outline<br />
and extent of the city’s stockade,<br />
see the changes and similarities<br />
of streets, and rediscover the<br />
streams and small rivers that<br />
have been tunneled over but still<br />
pass beneath our feet.<br />
The exhibition also offers<br />
visitors the chance to learn<br />
about archaeology. In 1797, a<br />
fire destroyed 30 percent of the<br />
city of Albany. Archaeologists<br />
excavating the Department of<br />
Environmental Conservation/<br />
Picotte building site in downtown<br />
Albany saw evidence of<br />
the fire and used this fact to<br />
help date other layers of the<br />
ABOUT THE AUTHORS<br />
Dr. Charles L. Fisher was<br />
the curator of historical<br />
archaeology at the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
Michelle Stefanik is an<br />
educator within the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Education office.<br />
Martin Pickands is an<br />
archaeologist, and Victoria<br />
Schmitt is an architectural<br />
historian with the Cultural<br />
Resource Survey Program,<br />
headed by <strong>State</strong> Archaeologist<br />
Dr. Christina B. Rieth.<br />
*Published posthumously<br />
from exhibit text panels<br />
written by Dr. Fisher.<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 13
Above: Major archaeological sites<br />
in downtown Albany<br />
Right: The well of 18th century<br />
Albany merchant Stewart Dean<br />
was uncovered during excavations<br />
at the SUNY Construction Fund<br />
Parking Garage site in 1999.<br />
Dean, a Revolutionary War hero,<br />
was active in the China trade. His<br />
voyage to China in 1785 was only<br />
the second from the United <strong>State</strong>s<br />
to the important trading port of<br />
Canton. <strong>Artifacts</strong> found in this<br />
well, which later silted up and was<br />
used for a privy, included an ivory<br />
cricket cage and an Asian sandware<br />
teapot with a cartouche of<br />
Chinese characters translated as<br />
“<strong>New</strong> Joint Venture.”<br />
ABOUT THE IMAGES<br />
Photographs taken by<br />
Hartgen Archeological<br />
Associates and the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
Cultural Resource Survey<br />
Program are now part<br />
of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Collections.<br />
site. By using a technique called<br />
relative dating, archaeologists<br />
can date layers of a site based<br />
on its relationship to other layers.<br />
Everything above the level of the<br />
fire dates to after the 1797 fire;<br />
everything below it was deposited<br />
before that event. Knowing this,<br />
scientists can see what buildings<br />
and other features were present<br />
before the fire and who did or<br />
did not rebuild, or how that part<br />
of the city changed after the fire.<br />
Thanks to creative design and<br />
excellent graphics, the part of the<br />
exhibition that presents the fire is<br />
one of the most educationally<br />
valuable sections. It helps to teach<br />
about this topic of stratigraphy<br />
as it relates to archaeology and<br />
to geology as well.<br />
To learn about people who<br />
lived in the past, nothing gives a<br />
better snapshot than their garbage.<br />
One of my favorite features<br />
in the exhibition is the well of<br />
Stewart Dean, an 18th century<br />
businessman who built his home<br />
on Albany’s busy waterfront. The<br />
well was built at a time when<br />
Albany residents living near the<br />
waterfront dumped fill along the<br />
shores of the Albany basin. They<br />
were literally making land along<br />
the riverbank. However, the well’s<br />
location in this new land and its<br />
stacked stone design could not<br />
keep out silt and sand from the<br />
tidal river that had been in the<br />
same spot. Eventually the well<br />
silted up, and the Deans made<br />
this convenient hole into a privy.<br />
Privies are revealing archaeological<br />
features. Visitors can see<br />
some of the amazing objects<br />
that came from this well-turnedprivy—including<br />
an Asian sandware<br />
teapot and an ivory cricket<br />
cage from China—and how they<br />
reflect the life and travels of the<br />
family who owned them. This<br />
lesson can then be turned back<br />
upon the visitor with a discussion<br />
that is often intriguing and<br />
insightful: What does your trash<br />
tell others about you?<br />
Historical Archaeology<br />
at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong><br />
BY MARTIN PICKANDS,<br />
VICTORIA SCHMITT, AND<br />
DR. CHRISTINA B. RIETH<br />
Historical archaeology<br />
seeks to understand<br />
groups that lived in<br />
the recent past through their<br />
material remains. It focuses on<br />
the portion of human history<br />
that begins with the appearance<br />
of written records extending from<br />
Colonial times to the 20th century.<br />
The study of historical archaeology<br />
informs us about the<br />
past and teaches us about events<br />
that have occurred during<br />
our lifetime.<br />
Historical archaeologists recover<br />
information from sites containing<br />
evidence of past human activity.<br />
The artifacts recovered from<br />
these sites help us understand<br />
when the site was occupied, in<br />
what capacity the site was used,<br />
and who used the site. Archaeological<br />
sites, and their associated<br />
artifacts, are non-renewable<br />
resources. Once destroyed, they<br />
cannot be restored.<br />
The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>’s Cultural<br />
Resource Survey Program (CRSP)<br />
identifies several dozen historical<br />
sites each year. Since the program’s<br />
inception in 1958, more<br />
than 400 historical sites have<br />
been identified during highway<br />
and building construction projects<br />
completed for state agencies<br />
such as the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
Department of Transportation,<br />
Office of General Services, and<br />
Department of Environmental<br />
Conservation. The collections<br />
generated by these projects are<br />
curated at the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
and are used for research and<br />
educational purposes as shown<br />
14 ■ Legacy
in the Beneath the City exhibition.<br />
Historical sites are identified<br />
through historical documents and<br />
fieldwork. Excavations by CRSP<br />
staff include 18th, 19th, and<br />
20th century rural and urban<br />
domestic sites and farmsteads,<br />
battlefield sites, and sites representing<br />
the development and<br />
decline of regionally oriented<br />
industries in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>. In recent<br />
years, a variety of industrial sites<br />
have been identified and documented,<br />
including Carpenter’s<br />
Mill, a 19th century woolen mill<br />
in Rensselaer County; the Alvord<br />
Plaster Mill, a grist mill in<br />
Onondaga County; the Glen<br />
Tannery in Warren County; the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Knife Company in<br />
Orange County; and two rural<br />
blacksmith shops, one at Bemis<br />
Heights, Saratoga County, and<br />
one in Parishville Center, St.<br />
Lawrence County. The Fort Plain<br />
Canal Store site represents one<br />
important business that supported<br />
the transportation industry on the<br />
Erie Canal, and Spain’s Boarding<br />
House in Thendara represents<br />
worker’s housing in an Adirondack<br />
frontier industrial setting.<br />
The study of such sites and<br />
their relation to the local and<br />
national community highlights<br />
the social and economic forces<br />
of the time and the ways that<br />
such businesses reflected their<br />
environment. The Parishville<br />
Blacksmith Shop can be seen to<br />
be intimately involved with its<br />
isolated community, using locally<br />
supplied raw materials to produce<br />
and repair farm tools and<br />
vehicles and to shoe the horses<br />
of the immediate community.<br />
The business operated a wagon<br />
and wheelwright shop until<br />
competition from mass-produced<br />
The excavation of the SUNY Construction<br />
Fund Parking Garage site shows remains of<br />
18th and 19th century waterfront structures.<br />
The Hudson River is in the background. The<br />
river shore had been gradually built out.<br />
In the 17th century, the river shore was<br />
located along the street in the lower right.<br />
vehicles, components, and shoes<br />
drove it out of business in the<br />
20th century.<br />
Architectural surveys are<br />
required when the existing<br />
landscape is modified. An architectural<br />
survey near Glenville,<br />
Schenectady County, produced<br />
two unique examples of architectural<br />
resources. Conifer Park,<br />
a residential treatment center,<br />
was originally built as a tuberculosis<br />
sanatorium in 1927. An<br />
architectural drawing dated that<br />
year shows that the brick building<br />
remained fairly unaltered<br />
for 80 years. This building is not<br />
only historically important as a<br />
rare example of a tuberculosis<br />
hospital still standing, but also<br />
as a structure built in the<br />
Spanish Eclectic architectural<br />
style, a style more likely to<br />
be seen in Florida and the<br />
Southwest. Also discovered was<br />
a buried trolley bridge with two<br />
arches (one for the north line,<br />
the other for the south line).<br />
Built in 1904, this bridge carried<br />
the Boston and Maine Railroad<br />
over the trolley tracks of the<br />
Schenectady Railroad Company.<br />
The trolleys traveled between<br />
Schenectady and Ballston until<br />
1941, and the bridge was<br />
buried shortly thereafter. This<br />
bridge is an important historical<br />
resource as one of the last<br />
surviving intact features of the<br />
trolley company. ■<br />
For Further<br />
Reading<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> publications<br />
related to historical<br />
archaeology topics<br />
Bulletin #509, Before Albany:<br />
An Archaeology of Native-<br />
Dutch Relations in the Capital<br />
Region, 1600–1664, by James<br />
W. Bradley<br />
Bulletin #506, Mohican<br />
Seminar 2, The Challenge, An<br />
Algonquian Peoples Seminar,<br />
edited by Shirley W. Dunn<br />
Bulletin #503, Three Sixteenth<br />
Century Mohawk Iroquois<br />
Village Sites, by Robert E. Funk<br />
& Robert D. Kuhn<br />
Bulletin #501, Mohican Seminar<br />
2000, The Continuance–An<br />
Algonquian Peoples Seminar,<br />
Selected Research Papers,<br />
edited by Shirley W. Dunn<br />
Bulletin #500, Perishable<br />
Material Culture in the<br />
Northeast, edited by<br />
Dr. Penelope B. Drooker<br />
Bulletin #499, People, Places,<br />
and Material Things: Historical<br />
Archaeology of Albany,<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, edited by<br />
Dr. Charles L. Fisher<br />
Bulletin #498, The Navigators,<br />
A Journal of Passage on the<br />
Inland Waterways of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>,<br />
by Phil Lord, Jr.<br />
Bulletin #495. Nineteenthand<br />
Early Twentieth-Century<br />
Domestic Site Archaeology in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, edited by Dr. John P.<br />
Hart and Dr. Charles L. Fisher<br />
Cultural Resources Program<br />
Series #2, The Most Advantageous<br />
Situation in the<br />
Highlands, An Archaeological<br />
Study of Fort Montgomery<br />
<strong>State</strong> Historic Site, edited by<br />
Dr. Charles L. Fisher<br />
Software Series No. 4, The<br />
Science and Art of the Facial<br />
Reconstruction Process, by<br />
Gay Malin<br />
Summer 2007 ■ 15
new york stories<br />
Bats: Gone with<br />
the Wind?<br />
BY DR. ROLAND W. KAYS<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> researchers are collaborating<br />
with the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
Department of Environmental<br />
Conservation to find the correlation<br />
between declining bat populations<br />
and Tug Hill wind farms.<br />
Dr. Roland W. Kays is the<br />
curator of mammals at the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
From the slow decline of <strong>New</strong> England Cottontails<br />
to the rapid extinction of the Passenger Pigeon,<br />
the scientific collections of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> document changes to the state’s fauna<br />
over the past 150 years. A tragic new collection of<br />
bats received by the Mammal Lab in fall 2006 shows<br />
that these changes can occur in unpredictable places;<br />
in this case, wind turbines.<br />
The attraction of humans to wind turbines is<br />
obvious: environmentalists see the promise of<br />
pollution-free energy; farmers see a new source of<br />
income for their rural communities. We don’t know<br />
why bats are attracted to wind turbines, but recent<br />
research by the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> Department of<br />
Environmental Conservation and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> shows how important it is to find out.<br />
Bats fly into wind turbines and die at disturbing<br />
rates. Infrared video actually records bats going<br />
out of their way to fly into the whirling blades!<br />
Since wind turbines are relatively new to the state,<br />
biologists are scrambling to study the problem. In<br />
2006, consultants for the owners of a new wind<br />
project (PPM Energy) monitored a sample of 50 of<br />
their 120 wind turbines in the Tug Hill region of<br />
northern <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, looking for dead bats or birds.<br />
All dead bats were collected and brought to the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> for identification and processing.<br />
In total, 326 bats were found from mid-June to<br />
mid-November, probably an underestimate of the<br />
total problem since some had likely been removed<br />
by scavenging animals. The timing of the kills<br />
provides the first clue—there was a clear peak during<br />
bat migration, when the animals move south to<br />
warmer weather. Identification of the bats provided<br />
a second clue—75 percent of the mortalities were<br />
in the tree bat family, which are the most migratory<br />
species, the least frequently encountered, and<br />
among the rarest in the state. The tree bats include<br />
some of the most beautiful animals in the region,<br />
like the Red Bat and the Silver-haired Bat. Ongoing<br />
genetic and isotopic analysis of the samples taken at<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong> will determine where these migrating<br />
bats came from and whether these wind turbines<br />
are causing their populations to decline.<br />
Do the bats think wind turbines are big trees<br />
where they can rest on their long migration south?<br />
Are the number of dead bats found this year, and<br />
expected in the future as wind power becomes more<br />
popular, enough to cause entire bat populations to<br />
decline? No one knows yet, but we’re working to<br />
find out soon to prevent these fine creatures from<br />
going the way of the Passenger Pigeon. ■<br />
IMAGES: NICHOLAS LUE, NYSM; AT LEFT, NYSDEC<br />
16 ■ Legacy
Celebrate your child’s birthday<br />
with an adventure party<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>’s theme parties<br />
make for a memorable, fun-filled day!<br />
CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING PARTY THEMES:<br />
• Clowning Around for 3- and 4-year-olds<br />
• Carousel Party for 4- and 5-year-olds<br />
• “Bear”thday Celebration for 5- and 6-year-olds<br />
• Bug-a-full Birthday! for 6- and 7-year-olds<br />
• <strong>Museum</strong> Detectives for 7- to 10-year-olds<br />
• Blast from the Past for 8- to 10-year-olds<br />
• Art Party for 10-year-olds and older<br />
Parties are available on weekends at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. For more information or to<br />
schedule a party, call 518-473-7154 weekdays or send an e-mail to psteinba@mail.nysed.gov.<br />
Parties must be scheduled at least three weeks in advance of the requested date.
close-ups<br />
IMAGES: TRUEMASTER TRIMINGHAM, NYSM<br />
Clockwise, from top left: Coiled-shelled nautiloid from the Middle Devonian seascape, in the Ancient Life<br />
of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> exhibition; detail of the figure representing a labor organizer, in the Black Capital: Harlem in<br />
the 1920s exhibition; detail of a tugboat, modeled after one operated from 1924 by the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Central<br />
Railroad, in the Port exhibition; and detail of the Sesame Street sign, in the Sesame Street exhibition.<br />
Tell us what you think about Legacy. Send your comments to nysmfeedback@mail.nysed.gov.<br />
For a schedule of exhibitions, programs, and events, see The <strong>Museum</strong> Calendar or visit<br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov/calendar<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> is a program of The University of the <strong>State</strong> of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>/The <strong>State</strong> Education Department