Carol and Fellow HISTARCHER's:

The Exploritorium at Jamestown Virginia has an extensive area of open 
excavation under the building with a transparent cover.  They are in a VERY 
HUMID environment. You might want to contact them.

Rich Lundin, WRI
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carol McDavid" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 8:54 AM
Subject: Re: Urban Site Preservation


> The Franklin Court site in Philadelphia has transparent covers over 
> archaeological remains...I think they have had some issues with 
> humidity...maybe someone who's involved can write in about it...In the 
> Palacio National in Mexico City, they have a dig site open in the floor 
> exposing the archaeology below, but I gather that it's inside the Palace, 
> so humidity is controlled. I've also heard that the Desert Musuem in 
> Tucson, Ariz. has underground habitats that can be observed, but have also 
> heard that some of the prairie dogs find their way in and out, even with 
> some below ground walls installed.
>
> might be worth chatting with people at these sites...if you think they'd 
> be useful...
>
> carol
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bob Genheimer" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 8:24 AM
> Subject: Re: Urban Site Preservation
>
>
>> Jack
>>
>> There are a few issues worth considering.  Where I have seen similar 
>> attempts to expose with a transparent cover, humidity is always the 
>> biggest problem.  Depending on your climate, at many times of the year 
>> the cover tends to fog up.  This can be ameliorated through venting, but 
>> you may want to consider a design that allows for easy access to remove 
>> condensation, and often atttendant mold growth.  Another issue is 
>> burrowing critters.  They tend to find a way into the trench or pit, and 
>> then impact floors and baulks.  Anything you do will require maintenance.
>>
>> Bob Genheimer
>> George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology
>> Cincinnati Museum Center
>> 1301 Western Avenue
>> Cincinnati, Ohio 45203
>> 513-455-7161
>> 513-455-7169 fax
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
>> [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 2:44 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Urban Site Preservation
>>
>>
>> Posted for Jack McIlroy.
>>
>> We are planning to temporarily re-bury a recently excavated 1.4 metre 
>> deep
>> trench containing a cobbled stone floor and a solidly constructed 
>> dolerite
>> well in Fremantle, Western Australia. The trench will be about 3 metres
>> square amd 1.5 metres deep. Shoring the sides with treated wood and
>> burying with clean sand looks the best option to me but I'd like to hear
>> other suggestions.
>>
>> Fremantle Council wants to re-open the site in a couple of years for
>> public display with a perspex or similar transparent cover over it with
>> interpretive signs and lighting. I have seen this approach work well in
>> several European cities and I've had input from several archaeologists in
>> Australia. I'd like to get some successful examples from urban America.
>> Fremantle is a seaport, the ca. 1840s site is in a park, it has been 
>> covered with
>> demolition debris and sand fill since about 1919. The dolerite stone 
>> floor
>> is about 1 metre above sea level. Siltation layers show the site was
>> occasionally subject to flooding.
>>
>> I am looking for similar American examples of in situ preservation and 
>> display.
>>
>>
>> Jack Mc Ilroy
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>> BODIES DOUBLE FEATURE
>>
>> BODIES...The Exhibition, the blockbuster people can't stop talking about. 
>> See it with the companion OMNIMAX film,
>>
>> THE HUMAN BODY. You only have one body. Start taking better care of it, 
>> beginning with a visit to Cincinnati Museum Center.
>
>