{"id":7066,"date":"2025-04-24T08:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T08:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/?page_id=7066"},"modified":"2025-04-25T03:53:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T03:53:50","slug":"t25-s01-papers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/t25-s01-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"T25\/S01: Historical Archaeology in and of Urban Landscapes in Global Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Format: Paper presentations with discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convenors:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katharine Watson, Christchurch Archaeology Project, Christchurch, AotearoaNew Zealand,\u00a0katharine.watson@christchurcharchaeology.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alanna Warner-Smith, American University, USA, awarnersmith@american.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The urban site has long been part of archaeological inquiry, as archaeologists have sought to understand settlement patterns, political economic structures, and lifeways in the deep past, as well as the process of urbanisation. Urban archaeology has also long been integral to historical archaeology. As many scholars have outlined, the passing of heritage legislation and urban development resulted in an increase in archaeological excavations at urban sites, especially in North American contexts. While archaeology in and of the city has never faded from view, the theoretical and methodological terrain of doing urban archaeology is re-emerging as an important conversation in historical archaeology. For example, within the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA), the work of urban archaeologists has led to the revitalisation of the Urban Archaeology Network and the Urban Archaeology Working Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This session promotes further conversations between urban archaeologists working across various geographic and temporal contexts. Contributors are invited to consider the methodological and theoretical challenges of working in urban spaces; the challenges of recognising a plurality\/multiplicity of voices, some of which may not be well-represented in the archaeological (or historical) record; both the frictions and generative collaborations afforded when archaeology at urban sites involves academic archaeologists, cultural resource management professionals, heritage practitioners, public historians, and descendant and community stakeholders; the interface between preservation and heritage legislation and archaeology; and the study of urban sites through collections-based methods. Topics may also include (but are certainly not limited to) the lived experience of life in cities; public memory, heritage, and identity; historical bioarchaeology in and of urban spaces; urban-rural relations; migration and immigration; labour; infrastructure, foodways and consumption; city landscapes and climate change; and gentrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Papers:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Callao Historical Archaeology: Values from the Past, Resilience for the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hugo Benavides, Callao Municipality, Peru<\/em>
Gianella Pacheco, Peruvian Ministry of Culture, Peru<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Callao city is one of the most dangerous areas in Peru, with lack of job opportunities and high rate of criminality; nevertheless, two recent historic archaeological discoveries have enriched the Callao city history with evidence of its importance as a commercial port and its role during the Peruvian independence processes. This research aims to strengthen the values and identity of the local people through their heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the excavations in the Real Felipe Fortress have proven there was an ancient city buried, 3m under the actual surface, this city was one of the most important Spaniards ports during the viceroyalty and its destruction and disappearance was due to the 1746 earthquake and tsunami. Remains of the city demonstrates the importance of this city and the resilience of its people, who along the years built another city and recovered its economic activities and its independence from Spaniards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, another important discovery was carried out in the site Inca Palace Oquendo, a pre-Hispanic site containing the body of a soldier who bravely fought in the Chile and Peru War in 1879. This corresponds to a mixed-race man, that was mortally wounded during a battle and was carried till this pre-Hispanic place to be buried intrusively, probably by their battle companions who were Andean people due to the offerings they included with the body. In conclusion, these two archaeological discoveries contribute to recovering the history and values from Callao people and contribute to enriching local identity through references of resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sludge in the City: Urban Transformation and Archaeology in Ballarat and Bendigo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laura Campbell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1850s marked a period of profound transformation across Victoria\u2019s gold rich towns and landscapes. The impact of mining in regional urban centres such as Ballarat and Bendigo created rich and complex layers of goldrush-related archaeology. The vast amounts of displaced mining-related sediment influenced the development of Victoria\u2019s regional urban environments as waterways were rerouted and streets were raised to prevent property damage from inundation and burial beneath sludge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2023, the Heritage Council Victoria commissioned Heritage Victoria\u2019s archaeology team to develop an Archaeology Management Plan for Ballarat and Bendigo. The aim of the study was to identify historical archaeological sites likely to be preserved beneath the modern townships. A combination of GIS-based spatial analysis and a detailed review of historical source material suggests that large numbers of significant historical archaeological sites survive beneath metres of accumulated sludge and fill. This paper discusses the project methodology, key outcomes and mechanisms used to ensure that the identified sites receive statutory protection under the state\u2019s Heritage Act. The findings contribute to broader discussions on urban archaeology, heritage management, and the enduring impact of mining on both historical and contemporary landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories as Method: Telling Tales of Urban Marginalised and Excluded Communities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanna Steyne, Wessex Archaeology, UK<\/em>
Milica Rajic<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archaeological interpretation is inherently creative. We can hypothesise on what we term facts based on data, but in reality, many of our \u2018facts\u2019 about the past are interpretation dressed in the scientific drag of Processual Archaeology. When Joan Gero called for us to honour the ambiguity in archaeological interpretation as part of a feminist movement to view the past through different lenses, she highlighted the problematic nature of a white male dominated version of the past we have all become familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this paper we propose that story telling is not just for interpretation, but it is also, and must be, method. By explicitly embracing the ambiguity and creativity of archaeological interpretation we are free to explore the unknown, the othered, the marginalised and historically excluded communities. We then begin to question, and simultaneously to dismantle, the white, male, heteronormative dominated narratives of the past. Further, in turning our focus of creative interpretation specifically on the gaps between and beyond the archaeological objects and historical source, we explore, interrogate, and refine our understanding of the entangled and complex relationships between people, places, things, and ideas in the past in a better, democratic and truthful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masculinity in the Mining Industry of Tarapac\u00e1: An Archaeology of the \u2018Saltpetre Man\u2019 in the Company Town of Dolores During the 19th and 20th Centuries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando Castro Aguilera, Universidad de Tarapac\u00e1, Chile<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is an introduction to the study of gender construction in the nitrate industry of Tarapac\u00e1 (1830\u20131930). Given the lack of an archaeology on the subject, we approach the figure of the \u2018saltpetre man from a posthumanist perspective. Masculinity is understood as a material state in constant becoming, shaped by dynamic material relations in different cultural and social contexts. Our study focuses on the clothing recorded at the Dolores office, the former centre of the industry in what is now northern Chile. The description of textile ligaments, patches on clothing, and footwear repairs evidences how precarious conditions, performatively inscribed in the body and attire, imposed endurance to suffering as a natural masculine condition. This research aims to contribute to the archaeological study of gender in Latin American industrial contexts and to broaden the understanding of masculinity in past labour environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ancestry, Kinship and Health in Medieval Urban Cemeteries of the North Sea Region<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owyn Beneker and Ludovica Molinaro, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Meriam Guellil, Dept for Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria<\/em>
Stefania Sasso and Helja Kabral, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/em>
Noah Gaens, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Biancamaria Bonucci, Anu Solnik and Samuel J. Griffith, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/em>
Eugenia D’Atanasio, Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, CNR, Rome, Italy<\/em>
Massimo Mezzavilla and H\u00e9lios Delbrassine, Dept of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy<\/em>
Linde Braet, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Bart Lambert, SHOC Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium<\/em>
Pieterjan Deckers, Archaeology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Simone Andrea Biagini, Dept of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; Centre of Molecular Medicine, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic<\/em>
Ruoyun Hui, Alan Turing Institute, London, UK<\/em>
Sara Becelaere, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Jan Geypen, Histories vzw, Brussels, Belgium<\/em>
Maxim Hoebreckx, Aron bv, Bilzen, Belgium<\/em>
Birgit Berk, Birgit Berk Fysische Anthropologie, Meerssen, Netherlands<\/em>
Petra Driesen, Aron bv, Bilzen, Belgium<\/em>
April Pijpelink, Crematie en Inhumatie Analyse (CRINA) Fysische Antropologie’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands<\/em>
Philip van Damme, Dept of Neurology, University Hospitals Leuven; Dept of Neuroscience, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Sofie Vanhoutte and Natasja De Winter, Aron bv, Bilzen, Belgium<\/em>
Lehti Saag, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/em>
Luca Pagani, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia; Dept of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy<\/em>
Kristiina Tambets, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/em>
Alice K. Rose, Sarah Inskip, Tamsin C. O\u2019Connell, Craig Cessford, John Robb and Christiana L. Scheib, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK<\/em>
Maarten H.D. Larmuseau, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium<\/em>
Toomas Kivisild, Dept of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last millennium, the population of Europe grew almost 20x because of the expansion of cities, enlargement of steady food production and improvements in healthcare. Not everyone benefited equally. Despite the profoundly improved understanding of genetic prehistory of Europe in recent years, major knowledge gaps still exist in the historic period. We still do not know what role health differences between social groups in the past had in the formation of the genetic make-up of present-day populations. The impact of plague pandemics and famines on health and mobility in medieval communities can now be measured with large sample sizes thanks to the recent advances in ancient DNA methods. This presentation will compare the medieval genomes from urban cemeteries around the North Sea coast, including East England and Flanders to see how kinship, mobility and social background influenced the make-up of communities and their health during the process of intensive urbanization. We find differences in health measures, kinship and infectious disease probabilities in cemeteries attributed to distinct social groups. While detecting long-term shifts in local genetic ancestries in Flanders and in Cambridgeshire, we find the demographic impact of the second pandemic to be regionally varied and spread out over centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disentangling Urban Itineraries: Making Samples and Belonging in an Urban, Industrial Skeletal \u2018Population\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alanna L. Warner-Smith, Dept of Anthropology, American University, USA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban skeletal assemblages have been intensely studied, as bioarchaeologists examine the relations between the environment and health. At the same time, urban sites pose significant challenges, as traditional bioarchaeological methods require that peoples with diverse itineraries be \u2018pinned down\u2019 for analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Huntington Anatomical Collection (1893-1921) is composed of immigrants, migrants, and life-long New York City residents, many of whom shared space and time in the city. Yet, they are often sorted into categories for analysis\u2014countries of origin, assigned race and gender, and age\u2014flattening complex movements and social relations and occluding a view of the city as it was lived. Drawing upon archival evidence, I argue that such separation practices have profound implications for how we consider kinship and social relations in the past. These concerns extend into current questions regarding descendant engagement, as practitioners and institutions engage communities of care and navigate future stewardship and\/or repatriation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic Architecture and the Development of the City<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katharine Watson, Christchurch Archaeology Project, New Zealand<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with any form of material culture, our buildings say much about us, our desires and our aspirations. In a colonial setting, the decisions people make about what houses to build are particularly telling, as they seek to establish new lives in a new place. Some people might deliberately leave their past behind and seek out the new, while others may just as deliberately look to and reference that past. These individual decisions tell us about a particular person, but when examined at the city-wide level, they reveal important details about the development of a city\u2019s identity and the social, economic and cultural forces that have shaped that. This paper presents the results of the buildings archaeology analysis of 101 19th century houses from Christchurch, exploring what this reveals about the development of domestic architecture in the city and the development of the city itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Art of the Ones Left Over: Discourses in the Graphic Landscape of Arica<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rocio Ignacia Fuenzalida C\u00e1ceres, Estudiante Universidad de Tarapac\u00e1, Departamento de Antropolog\u00eda<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city is a public space where various landscapes coexist, between them, the graphic landscape. Archaeology has studied its elements, from rock art to symbols on different objects. In recent times, contemporary archaeology has focused its interest on graffiti, an art form with a communicative nature, both within its specific communities and towards the general public. Its study allows for an understanding of the society in which it exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research characterises the official and unofficial discourses present in the graphic elements of the urban landscape of Arica, Chile, from 1985 to the present (2024), with an emphasis on urban art, to understand it from an archaeological perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theoretically, the graphic landscape is conceived as an essential element of the urban public space, the public space as a place that enables discursivity, and graphic expressions as a discursive element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methodologically, pedestrian survey in two different ways (by sites and in a radial grid in the city) and archival review (historical records, social media, and online pages) were used, allowing for the analysis of both what is present (and absent) in the urban landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding How the Industrial Revolution Reshaped the Global Oral Microbiome<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sterling L. Wright, Dept of Anthropology, Penn State University, University Park, USA<\/em>
Emily Skelly, Raphael Eisenhofer, Andrew G. Farrer and Matilda Handsley-Davis, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia<\/em>
Gerhard Hotz, Natural History Museum Basel, Basel, Switzerland<\/em>
Kurt Alt, Danube Private University, Krems an der Donau, Austria<\/em>
John Kaidonis, School of Dentistry, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia<\/em>
F. Donald Pate, Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia<\/em>
Christine Ta, Crystal L. Crabb, Iyunoluwa Ademola-Popoola and Abigail Gancz, Dept of Anthropology, Penn State University, University Park, USA<\/em>
Keith Dobney, Dept of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK; Dept of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK; Dept of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada<\/em>
Daniel Huson, Algorithms in Bioinformatics, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany; International Max Planck Research School \u201cFrom Molecules to Organisms\u201d, Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tubingen, Germany<\/em>
Laura S. Weyrich, Dept of Anthropology, Penn State University, University Park, USA; Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaid , Australia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution (IR) spurred population growth, catalysed the mechanisation of numerous industries, and led to heightened levels of pollution. The IR also precipitated a notable decline in human health across many populations. Exploring the oral microbiome of this critical juncture offers a promising avenue to mechanistically examine the effects of the IR on human health. Here, we compare the ancient oral microbiomes of 134 individuals living before and after the IR (c. 1770) in England, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. While confounding factors prevented us from testing the effects of the IR across Europe, we were able to detect a significant association between the IR and shifts in the oral microbiome in England\u2014the birthplace of the IR. These effects associated with the IR were also maintained into the late 19th and early 20th centuries in a British colony in Australia. However, these IR associated changes were not found in modern populations, suggesting the oral microbiome has shifted since IR and highlight how historical ancient DNA projects can shape our understanding of the origins of disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd the Last Vestige of Division will Disappear\u201d: Redlining and the Ravages of the Erie Canal in Syracuse, New York, United States (1825-1960)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dana Olesch, Syracuse University, USA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism and festivals ramping up to the bicentennial of the Erie Canal in the 2020s run parallel without intersecting to nationwide grappling with mechanisms of systemic racism such as redlining and mass eviction. Using Sanborn Insurance and Homeowner\u2019s Loan Corporation maps, census records, and other historical documents, this presentation will recognise the ways national and state representatives used the Erie Canal to racially and economically divide urban centres using the historic Fifteenth Ward of Syracuse, New York as a case study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Erie Canal was routed away from the city in 1924 in one of many municipal efforts to revitalise the downtown area. Nevertheless, the pollution and environmental degradation tied to the waterway persisted as industries functionality intertwined with the canal continued to operate from the 1930s to the 1950s. Even after its removal, the Erie Canal continued to impact the reputation and social standing of populations who lived along the historic towpath, specifically middle and lower-income Asian, Black, Indigenous, Middle Eastern, and white residents of the Fifteenth Ward. Mass evictions of the 1950s were fuelled by social and spatial divisions that originated with and were built from the rhetoric and built landscapes of the historic and enlarged Erie Canal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Format: Paper presentations with discussion Convenors:\u00a0 Katharine Watson, Christchurch Archaeology Project, Christchurch, AotearoaNew Zealand,\u00a0katharine.watson@christchurcharchaeology.org Alanna Warner-Smith, American University, USA, awarnersmith@american.edu The urban site has long been part of archaeological inquiry, as archaeologists have sought to understand settlement patterns, political economic structures, and lifeways in the deep past, as well as the process of urbanisation. Urban archaeology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1157,"featured_media":276,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-7066","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"pmpro-has-access","7":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7580,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7066\/revisions\/7580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac10\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}