Archaeology In Our Own Backyards: Hoboken Resident and Archaeologist Brock Giordano on Revealing New Jersey’s Past Through Objects Left Behind As The Non-Profit Hudson School’s Think Thursdays Series Returns On February 9, 2012
Archaeology often brings to mind the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome,Pompeii, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, or the Mayan and Inca civilizations of Central and
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South America. according to Hoboken resident and archaeologist Brock A. Giordano, New Jersey residents do not have to look too far to discover the impressive and fascinating history of America’s past located within their own backyards.
Archaeology, he says, is the systematic study of past cultures and societies
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“An underlying premise in the study of material culture is that human-made objects express the beliefs of the individuals who commissioned, fabricated, purchased or used them, and by extension, the beliefs of the larger society to which these individuals belonged," Giordano says. “As such, you can argue that the study of archaeology is study of the material world all around us.It is the material expressions of the human past that is represented in the present.”
New Jersey has a long and exciting past dating from its first Native American inhabitants who occupied the area thousands of years ago, to the first Dutch settlers arriving and settling in the area in the early 1600s. New Jersey is home to thousands of archaeological sites from Native American habitations, 17th -19th century farmsteads and urban houses, revolutionary war battlefields, and impressive canals and railroads, just to name a few.
The rapid modern development of New Jersey places archaeological site preservation in constant jeopardy. While this is the case, various Federal, state, and local ordinances provide a way to document pieces of past under the forum of cultural resources management.
The February 9th Think Thursday discussion will provide not only an list of various archaeological sites in New Jersey, but an analysis of material culture from several archaeological sites, and an overview of Federal and state environmental regulations that help protect New Jersey's archeological heritage.
