First Week of Excavation!

Foundation Walls present in top and right of picture

The 2013 field season at Elfreth's Alley started this week!  Over the weekend we dismantled a portion of the brick patio in the courtyard behind the Museum of Elfreth's Alley; no small feat given the concrete mortar holding the bricks together.  After pulling up the bricks, we prepped the area for excavation.  So far we have opened up one new unit, unit 13, behind 126 Elfreth's Alley.  We have already located several foundation walls in the unit associated with the former structures that stood in this location.  A quick review of the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) map of Elfreth's Alley from 1931 shows the footprint of the structures.  Unit 13 is placed with in the interior of the last structure depicted behind 126 Elfreth's Alley.  Excavation will help illuminate the function of this structure.

Volunteer excavating Unit 13

We got rained out today, but will be back out digging next week!  

Fete Day in Review

The annual Fete Day celebration at Elfreth's Alley was last Saturday.  The day was replete with colonial artisans and colonial eats!  

Artisan Spinner working the the Alley

Michele Schutte, Museum Curator, also gave a demonstration on traditional colonial garb.  

Michele explaining how to wear colonial attire

We also had a small archaeology display and spoke with visitors about the ongoing excavations throughout the day.  

Archaeology Display

Overall, it was a great event and a beautiful day for a stroll down the Alley!

Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet

The Online Sign-Up Sheet for volunteering with the excavation at Elfreth's Alley this summer is up! More information about volunteering is available on the Volunteer Opportunities section of the blog.  Be sure to read all the directions before signing up.  Check out the calendar for the schedule of days we will be out digging. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact Deirdre at dkelleher@temple.edu. 

Fete Day

Elfreth's Alley's annual Fete Day is this Saturday, June 8th!  Every June alley residents open their homes to visitors to celebrate the history of the small street.  The event has been an alley tradition since the 1930s.  Come by the alley and enjoy the festivities including a brief talk about Archaeology on the Alley at 2pm!  More information and tickets for the event can be found here.

Also check out the nice write-up about Fete Day on Uwishunu.

New Exhibit at the Museum of Elfreth's Alley!

This weekend the Museum of Elfreth's Alley is opening their new exhibit, Making Ends Meet: 300 Years of Life on Elfreth's Alley. The exhibit highlights the lives of the everyday people of Elfreth's Alley from the 18th through the 20th century. This Saturday, May 18th the Museum is hosting an opening reception from 5-7pm. The reception will include a brief presentation about the ongoing archaeology as well as talks by Curator Michele Schutte and historian Bob Skiba. More details about the exhibit and information about purchasing tickets is available here.

Talk at The Free Library of Philadelphia

Thanks to everyone who came out to the talk at The Free Library of Philadelphia last night!  It was pleasure to talk to everyone about the Alley and how archaeology is helping to explore the rich history of the small street.  The presentation was part of a larger series hosted by the Library called History Alive! History and Genealogy Programs.  Check out their other upcoming talks here. 

Digging for History at Elfreth's Alley

Science Carnival Recap

We had a blast at the Philadelphia Science Carnival this past weekend!  We spent the day talking to kids about what it takes to be an archaeologist and how to analyze artifacts.  Budding archaeologists had the opportunity to examine artifacts and record the characteristics of the objects including sketching the artifact.  Based on their observations, participants were then asked to determine what they knew about the people who made and used the artifact.  The kids were really perceptive and creative in their deductions!  We were kept busy all say long as kids of all ages visited out tent.

A big thanks to Michele, Matt, Katie, and Jesse for helping make the event a success! Check out picture of the carnival below.

The Franklin Institute decked out in Science Festival swag.

Deirdre talking to kids about being an archaeologist.

Michele and Deirdre analyzing artifacts with the kids.

Matt, Jesse, and Katie overseeing the budding archaeologists

For more pictures of Elfreth's Alley Archaeology at the Science Carnival, check out the Museum of Elfreth's Alley blog post.

The Science Carnival was just one event in the larger Philadelphia Science Festival.  The Festival continues all week and has events for all age ranges.  The Science Festival website lists the coming events.