News, Ship Unearthed at WTC Site. (historical, years, historians, Alaska)

[JD59]

(NEW YORK) — Workers excavating at the World Trade Center site have unearthed the 32-foot-long hull of a ship likely buried in the 18th century.

The vessel probably was used along with other debris to fill in land to extend lower Manhattan into the Hudson River, archeologists said.



Read more: Ship Unearthed at WTC Site - TIME (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2003978,00.html#ixzz0tnmArvo5 - broken link)

[texdav]

I heard them say its like a ship dumped their in a landfill with teh area its in. Said it was common practice then.I have alwasy thought it would be interesting to see what they make of our land fill in 500 years.Luckily; I doubt the pampers will be there.

[round tuit]

Originally Posted by texdav

I heard them say its like a ship dumped their in a landfill with teh area its in. Said it was common practice then.I have alwasy thought it would be interesting to see what they make of our land fill in 500 years.Luckily; I doubt the pampers will be there.

...reminds me of an article (book?) about future archaeologists finding the remains of a motel with cabins called "Toot-N' Come-On" ...complete with metal sculptures of "gods" named "Cougar", "Thunderbird" etc. ...a ring of seated skeletons around a box with a glass window...etc. Funniest was the ceremoiial necklace with a "sanitized" seal still intact & a chain with a rubber plug. Funny stuff, and I can't remember the author's name.

[quiet walker]

In the late 40's the White Pass & Yukon railroads in Alaska dumped worn out old steam locomotives along riverbanks as rip rap to prevent erosion. In those days metal was not as valuable and recycling had yet to catch on. Some of those old locos have been retrieved and some hope to restore the now rare specimens.

The Curious Case of the Buried Locomotives or Railroad Archeology with a Vengeance
http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/22-10/22-10-16.pdf

[round tuit]

Originally Posted by round tuit

...reminds me of an article (book?) about future archaeologists finding the remains of a motel with cabins called "Toot-N' Come-On" ...complete with metal sculptures of "gods" named "Cougar", "Thunderbird" etc. ...a ring of seated skeletons around a box with a glass window...etc. Funniest was the ceremoiial necklace with a "sanitized" seal still intact & a chain with a rubber plug. Funny stuff, and I can't remember the author's name.

That would be Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay
Amazon.com: Motel of the Mysteries (9780395284254): David Macaulay: Books

[Grandstander]

This same sort of discovery was made in San Francisco in 1978. They were digging the foundation for what was to become Levi Plaza and turned up the remains of a 100 foot long, 30 foot wide sailing vessel which everyone agreed dated to the Gold Rush days. Archaeologists and historians were brought in, arguments erupted over the identity of the ship, arguments erupted over whether it should be preserved or not and at one point I do recall Levi Strauss announcing that they were going to turn it into a historical site and renovate the ship. I don't know what happened to that plan, I do know that they did turn the whole area into Levi Plaza and the ship remains buried beneath it. I do not recall anyone suggesting that it was there serving as landfill, but that part of town is built on landfill, so maybe that is what it was.