Description

with Christa Beranek and Laura Paisley, Fiske Center for Archaeological Research, University of Massachusetts Boston  

Earlier this fall, archaeologists from UMass Boston conducted the first known excavations around the Babson House to learn more about the history of the house and the people who lived there, focusing on the out-building and the yard space around it.  This talk will present a first look at the results of their work and discuss the archaeological process and how archaeology can be used around historic houses. 

Christa M. Beranek is a historical archaeologist at the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at UMass Boston who works with historic properties and land trusts in the Northeast to discover, interpret, and manage their archaeological resources.? Her long-term research projects include work on the 17th-century Plymouth colony, on urban 18th-century Marblehead, and on the 19th-century landscape around Gore Place.? 

Laura Paisley is a graduate student in the Historical Archaeology MA program at UMass Boston. She has previously worked in cultural resource management, conducting archaeology across the United States. Her graduate work includes an analysis of the 19th?and 20th?century?cultural landscapes of Nantucket’s communities of color and a collections management project that reexamines the artifact assemblage from Sylvester Manor, a 17th-century plantation located on Shelter Island, New York.