Infrastructure

Archaeologists have been able to make important contributions to the documentation of the infrastructure of cities by recording the sewers and water pipes, landfill, wharves and piers, and other features that make cities work (Figure 2). This topic is particularly important because most of the infrastructure was constructed using vernacular traditions, which were not recorded but rather were handed down orally from master craftsman to apprentice. Therefore the only way that we have to learn about these construction techniques is through archaeological study.

For example, from the seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, the port of New York was located along the East River, a location where much urban development occurred in the 1980s; there were several archaeological projects done there recording the landfill and waterfront structures such as wharves and piers. One of the most spectacular of these sites was 175 Water Street, where a ship was discovered that had been sunk in position to hold the mideighteenth-century landfill in place. The ship was a merchant vessel which had been stripped of all of its hardware, floated out into the river, and tied into a bulkhead line. Then, its hull was filled with ballast and it was sunk in place. Archaeologists have also excavated the waterfront in many other cities, including Philadelphia, Boston, and London.