Long Island is rich in diverse histories, and archaeology is one way those histories can be explored. Long Islanders understand that their life experiences are shaped by the region in which they live, and that their communities are often defined in relation to each other. In a sense, their identity is tied up within a series of boundaries and relationships—through municipal boundaries like town and village limits; school district boundary lines that sometimes transcend town and village borders; the environment; transportation routes; and other factors. As a result, they have developed bounded senses of community that are not so easily understood by outsiders.

Long Island Dirt is about exploring what we can learn from micro-histories or place-based narratives, investigating how those local narratives might be connected to other sites. This project seeks to develop a macro or regional understanding of Long Islanders’ pasts by connecting people and places though time and space. The exhibit begins with a contextual statement about Long Island’s geography, ecology, and history, provided below as background to the exhibit. Four archaeological sites are then spotlighted: a Montaukett Indian home in East Hampton, an African American home in Huntington, the home of a White, working-class family in Manorville, and the home of an elite White family in Yaphank. These sites were chosen because they represent the lesser-known stories of nineteenth century Long Island. Each provides a glimpse into the lived experience of various Long Islanders before the expansion of its railroad, the marketing of summer resort areas, and the eventual development of the modern suburban landscape. The exhibit ends with a review of archaeological methodology and how this work makes a significant contribution to documenting our past.

Long Island: Understanding the Place and its People

Situated east of New York City, Long Island is an island rich in history, ecology, and culture. Over the last several thousand years, Long Island’s ever-changing landscape has been home to many diverse peoples and communities whose identities have been defined in relation to the landscape. Read more

Outlining the Method

Archaeology is an important process for documenting our past. Historical archaeology, a specialized field of the discipline, relies on multiple resources, researched and interpreted together, to build a narrative of past activity at a site. These include artifacts, features, and data about site formation that are recovered and recorded through excavation (i.e., digging with shovels and trowels). Archaeologists also refer to historic maps for documentation of past land use, like evidence of historic buildings, structures, and roadways. Some illustrate property ownership, or the name of a resident associated with a structure, which can then be referenced against Federal Census data and other documents to reveal of how many people lived at a site, what people did for work, and how they were identified by government officials. For more specific economic information, account books or diaries may be available in the Special Collections sections of local libraries. These resources provide a range of historical information, personal and public, from economic activities to personal family accounts. Interviews and conversations with descendants and local residents are also extremely useful when researching a site. Conversations with various stakeholders can often provide undocumented information about the people who lived at the site. Through archaeology, we can learn about aspects of past lived experiences that might not be readily available through other historical accounts, such as economic strategies; labor strategies; and different attributes of ethnicity, race, class, and gender.

In the United States, most archaeological work is done for compliance purposes, often as part of a series of environmental reviews. It is quite common for archaeology to be done early in the planning of infrastructure projects—such as road construction, new energy initiatives (such as wind or solar farms), or new development projects that involve state or federal review—to determine if proposed development will impact known or potential archaeological sites. Federal, state, and local laws determine and guide the process of reviewing proposed projects and their potential impacts to archaeological sites. This work—referred to as contract archaeology, or cultural resource management (CRM)—often does not mirror the public’s impression of archaeology. However, most archaeologists in the United States are employed in this kind of archaeological work.

Archaeological sites are considered important resources for understanding our past because they reveal information about how humans relate(d) to their environment over time. But while archaeologists are working throughout the country on local and regional sites of all time periods and contexts, most of that research gets buried in what’s called “grey literature”: reports and documents that are reviewed by agency officials, but rarely shared with public audiences. Many recognize that the broader public may be interested in learning more about the work of contract archaeologists and the research generated by it, however. Long Island Dirt is written to share research with the public. It draws connections between local histories through archaeological investigations, providing a more regional approach to understanding Long Island's history.

I would like to thank the Gardiner Writing Fellowship for the opportunity to curate this digital exhibit at the Gotham Center. The exhibit showcases several historic sites and themes that are presented in my forthcoming book Long Island Dirt, which will be published by SUNY Press. The resources presented here are the result of more than a decade of collaboration and research with several organizations, including Preservation Long Island, Yaphank Historical Society, Longwood Library Local History Room, East Hampton Library Long Island Collection, Huntington Historical Society, East Hampton Historical Farm Museum, the Historic Services Division of Suffolk County Parks, the Town of East Hampton, the Town of Huntington, and the Huntington Town Historian. Many thanks to Melissa Jun for this beautifully designed exhibit. And sincerest thanks are owed to the Gotham Center, especially Peter-Christian Aigner, for the continued support and promotion of this work. 

– Allison McGovern is an anthropological archaeologist and independent researcher in the greater New York City area. Her work integrates archaeology with historical research methods, public engagement, planning, and historic preservation advocacy.

This digital exhibit was made possible by the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation, as part of "Writing the History of Greater New York." This program, established by The Gotham Center for New York City History, at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), supports independent and professionals scholars whose research advances our collective knowledge of the history of the "outer boroughs" (Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx), and work that integrates the history of the wider region with the inner core, approaching the fields of urban or suburban history with a metropolitan lens. Learn more here.