Archaeology Program - College of Charleston

College of Charleston features archaeology alumna Molly VanOstran '17

Archaeology Alumna Digs Into the Historically Overlooked Molly Van Ostran ’17 landed at the College of Charleston for her undergraduate studies based on one simple email: She'd contacted quite a few anthropology programs with active archaeologists, but the College was the only one that responded. “That response really sold me on CofC,” says Van Ostr...

Fun for the whole family

CofC Archaeology Program, now on Insta...https://www.instagram.com/cofcarchaeology/

Matt Titzler '23 after a hard day at the Athenian Agora

https://today.cofc.edu/2023/05/30/anthropology-archeaology-students-assist-in-excavation-at-historic-home/

Anthropology, Archeaology Students Assist in Excavation at Historic Home With its abundant history, Charleston is the ideal place to study archaeology, and the Heyward-Washington House is one of the many Lowcountry sites worth exploring. Recently, College of Charleston students got to dig into that history firsthand, assisting Sarah Platt, assistant professor of anthropo...

Congratulations to our 2022-23 Archaeology graduates! We are excited to see where the world takes you, and where you take the world!

Majors:
Maddox Allen
Sarah Bruno
Sean Clausen
Lauren Curry
Sally Harris
Massey Jordan
Caleb Kelly
Antonia Lombardi
Elizabeth Parks
Matthew Titzler

Minors:
Jordan Cadiz
Robbie Ferrell

Congratulations to our graduating senior awardees!

Sarah Platt, Martha Zierden, and co. at the Heyward-Washington House.

Excavation resumes under historic Heyward-Washington house More than 40 years ago, archeological investigators began working on a Church Street mystery.The work was done to discover if there were multiple properties und

Classical Charleston: Environmental Change and Human Resiliency THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS, THEODORE B. GUÉRARD LECTURE SERIES This colloquium focuses upon the ways that archaeology opens a window into the long-term dynamics of how human and environmental systems adapt and change over the long duration of history.

From Artifacts to Avatars: Archaeology, Archives and Virtual Reconstructions in the Digital Age Nicholas Picardo, Harvard University, presents the work of the Giza Project, an international collaborative project to bring ancient Egyptian civilization alive via digital reconstructions.

Community-engaged ancient DNA project reveals diverse origins of 18th-century African descendants in Charleston, South Carolina | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences In this study, we present the results of community-engaged ancient DNA research initiated after the remains of 36 African-descended individuals dat...

On November 17, the Archaeology Program is pleased to host a talk by Dr. Alanna Warner-Smith from the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) entitled “Producing Domesticity: A bioarchaeology of domestic labor in Irish immigrants, 19th-century New York City.” The talk will be held at 6:00 in ECTR Room 118.

Co-sponsored by the Irish and Irish-American Studies, Public Health, and Women's and Gender Studies Programs; the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; and the South Carolina Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.

We hope to see you there!

Charlestowne Landing is hiring

Archaeologist Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site sits on a marshy point, located off the Ashley River, where a group of English settlers landed in 1670 and established what would become the birthplace of the Carolina colony. Charles Towne Landing introduces visitors to the earliest colonial history of Cha...

Nice piece about Scott Harris and his work on the Hunley. Congrats, Dr. Harris!

https://today.cofc.edu/2022/08/09/maritime-mystery-unearthing-the-fate-of-civil-war-submarine-h-l-hunley/amp/

Maritime Mystery: Unearthing the Fate of Civil War Submarine 'H.L. Hunley' For nearly 25 years, Scott Harris has sifted through more than a century’s worth of dirt and sand collected within the H.L Hunley in the hopes of helping answer the biggest question about the iconic Civil War-era submarine: How did it end up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean just off the

Congratulations, Martha!

The J.C. Harrington Medal in Historical Archaeology is presented for a lifetime of contributions to the discipline centered in scholarship. We are proud to present the 2022 Harrington Medal to Martha Zierden for her lifetime of scholarship and community engagement in Charleston, South Carolina.

Archaeological excavation makes it to the College's "Year in Review"

https://today.cofc.edu/2021/12/29/cofc-looks-back-on-2021/

CofC Looks Back on 2021 From launching two new majors to starting a new era in basketball, from welcoming the largest ever incoming freshman class to uncovering one of the top archaeological discoveries of the year, from creating more opportunities for equity and inclusion to building a new future for the School of the Art...

Students and faculty find artifact on campus that ranks in the top 10 for 2021. CofClcwa Archaeology Magazine

https://today.cofc.edu/2021/12/06/archaeology-magazine-cofc-slave-tag-top-10-discoveries-of-2021/

'Archaeology Magazine' Names Slave Tag Found at CofC Among Top 10 Discoveries of 2021 As soon as the cool metal of the dusty diamond shaped object hit his hand, College of Charleston classical archaeology professor Jim Newhard felt a tingle of excitement. “I knew what I had been handed pretty instantaneously and I went into a poker-face,” recalls Newhard, director of the

Solar Pavilion Unveiling Shines Light on Enslaved, Indigenous People The unveiling of a new solar shade pavilion at the College of Charleston on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, served as a platform to honor the Indigenous and enslaved people who labored and lived on and near the site throughout history. The event, titled “Uncovering History/Making History,” recognized

College of Charleston opens new pavilion where enslaved people once labored The new installation is part of a larger effort both to reduce the campus' carbon footprint and to better record and share its history, making the school a more welcoming

CofC to Pay Tribute to Enslaved and Indigenous People at Unveiling of New Solar Pavilion Above: A slave tag from 1853 (left) was found last spring during an excavation for the installation of a new solar pavilion (right) near Rivers Green. The College of Charleston campus community is invited to attend an unveiling for a new solar shade pavilion near Rivers

Starting today and continuing throughout October the , , and will undertake excavations at the remains of the USS Housatonic sunk by the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley on the night of 17 February 1864 during the American Civil War. Research will focus on the blast damage caused by the Hunley torpedo and life aboard the Union blockader. The investigation will build on earlier excavations undertaken by the Naval History and Heritage Command, National Park Service, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Friends of the Hunley in 1999. The project is partially funded by the Hunley Commission. Following posts will provide updates on project activities and results.

Image: Contemporary pencil drawing of the Hunley torpedo explosion under the Union blockader Housatonic off Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

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Metal badge found at College of Charleston illuminates history of urban slavery Archaeology students discovered a 19th-century kitchen and hearth, along with various objects such as pottery shards, food waste and a glass bottle. The prize discovery, though, was a slave badge

This Rare Copper Badge Tells a Story of Slavery in 19th-Century Charleston The South Carolina city used the metal tags to identify enslaved people hired out as part-time laborers by their enslavers

CofC Faculty, Students Discover Slave Badge on Campus The recent discovery of an 1853 slave badge on the College of Charleston campus has offered a profound opportunity to recognize the contributions of the enslaved people who were an integral part of the development of the institution. CofC students and faculty discovered the badge labeled "servant" d...

Experiential learning, between classes!

Archaeology Comes to Life at the College of Charleston It’s a beautiful spring day on campus as College of Charleston junior Robbie Ferrell carefully brushes away bits of dirt from some bricks. His work is revealing more and more of a mid-19th-century structure located just below the surface of the dirt at a site adjacent to Rivers Green. This anthrop...

Interesting stuff

Virtual Pompeii – Tesseract

“Who Were the Ancient Greek Sculptors in Clay? Insights from their Fingerprints.” AIA-SC lecture, 10/15/20, Dr. Julie Hruby Please join the AIA-South Carolina Society for a lecture by Dr. Julie Hruby, Dartmouth College, on 10/15/2020 at 7:00 pm. Dr. Hruby will share insights from fingerprint analysis on Greek ceramics: …

Dozens of curse tablets found down a 2,500-year-old well in Athens ***

Is human consciousness evolving? What about other species?

Recent news from Pylos.

Tombs at Ancient Greek Site Were Gold-Lined Chambers The burial structures were looted during antiquity, but beads and a pendant depicting Hathor, an Egyptian goddess, suggest earlier trade links between Pylos, Greece, and Egypt.

Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck ExcavationFor a complete list of INA projects > SEE MOREWHAT: BRONZE AGE INGOT CARRIER | WHERE: TURKEY | EXCAVATION: 2019-PRESENT | DATE OF WRECK: 16TH - 15TH (?) C. B.C. Virazon II at Cape Gelidonya During the summer of 2019, a small team of INA archaeologists directed....

Do I see CofC alumnus John Littlefield in the team photo? Why yes. Yes I do. Exciting stuff!

Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck Excavation Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck ExcavationFor a complete list of INA projects > SEE MOREWHAT: BRONZE AGE INGOT CARRIER | WHERE: TURKEY | EXCAVATION: 2019-PRESENT | DATE OF WRECK: 16TH - 15TH (?) C. B.C. Virazon II at Cape Gelidonya During the summer of 2019, a small team of INA archaeologists directed....

Congrats to Dr. Harris!

Sediment Cores from White Pond, South Carolina, contain a Platinum Anomaly, Pyrogenic Carbon Peak, and Coprophilous Spore Decline at 12.8 ka A widespread platinum (Pt) anomaly was recently documented in Greenland ice and 11 North American sedimentary sequences at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) event (~12,800 cal yr BP), consistent with the YD Impact Hypothesis. We report high-resolution analyses of a 1-meter section of a lake co...

Archaeology!

Archaeologist Ranks Among Best Jobs of 2019 See how archaeologist stacks up against other occupations.

This. It is not the first time that this issue has been raised...

Editorial: Before big digs, an archaeology ordinance could save Charleston's history With much of Charleston’s City Market about to be dug up, City Council needs to pass an archaeology ordinance to prevent the remains of the city’s past from being unceremoniously

The richly appointed grave of the so-called Griffin Warrior, discovered at the site of Pylos in Greece, is challenging archaeologists’ assumptions about interactions between the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean cultures.

archaeology.org/issues/352-september-october-2019/features/7900-greece-pylos-mycenaean-warrior-grave

(Chronis Papanikolopoulos/Courtesy of the Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati)

Fascinating indigo processing site on Johns Island.

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/indigo-is-long-gone-as-an-sc-cash-crop-but/article_395137ee-96af-11e9-ac0d-abac04e4e41e.html

We worked on the Yorktown many years ago as undergraduates. Great to see them back in the water!

Revolutionary War shipwrecks near Yorktown getting their first good look in years Last week, for the first time in nearly three decades, archaeologists slipped into the murky York to assess what’s left of the Lost Fleet at Yorktown, a British convoy sent