New Content Added!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update: New content has been added to the site (accessible via the menus on the right hand side of the page) including:

  • The 2011-2012 Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project Progress Report
  • Technical Reports focusing on: 1) analysis of animal bone and foodways, 2) a pilot study of the urban environment of the Market Street Chinatown and 3) a pilot study of microbotanical plant residues remaining on pottery and in soil samples.

All are accessible as PDF documents, and contain some great information that highlights the exciting research currently underway on the Market Street Chinatown collection.

Happy reading!

Sunday, November 4th; FREE Public Archaeology Event for Children and Families

Hi everyone!

Sunday, November 4th, Stanford University, History San José, and the Chinese Historicaland Cultural Project will be hosting another Public Archaeology Event that is FREE and open to the general public. This hands-on event is designed to introduce children from age 4 to 12 and their families to archaeology. Children will participate in “mock” excavations and study authentic archaeological artifacts to learn about San Jose’s hidden history. It is a fun and educational event for the entire family!

The event is part of an ongoing series of programs organized by the Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project, a research and education partnership among the Stanford Archaeology Center, History San José, and the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project. This event is sponsored by the Stanford Archaeology Center, the Department of Anthropology, the Haas Center for Public Service and Asian American Studies at Stanford University, as well as History San José.

Public Archaeology Event
When:  Sunday, November 4th, 2012, 11:00PM to 3:00PM
Where:  History Park at Kelley Park
         1650 Senter Road
         San Jose, CA 95110

In addition to the Public Archaeology Event, there will be live music and a craft activity for children at History San Jose’s History Park on November 4th.

Please, help us spread the word about this event to anyone that might be interested! Should you have any questions about the event or about the Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project and the work that we do, you are welcome to contact me (mskane@stanford.edu).

We have additional Public Archaeology Events scheduled in the winter, on Sunday, January 27, 2013 and Sunday, February 24, 2013, if you are unable to attend this event. If you would like additional information about these events, please contact me (mskane@stanford.edu).

Thanks for your time and we hope to see you at our event on the 4th!

Megan S. Kane

Oct. 13 Public Archaeology Event at History San Jose

This past Saturday Oct. 13 2012, Stanford undergraduates and graduate students from a variety of different departments and volunteers from San Jose State came together for the first Public Archaeology Day of the year at History Park in History San Jose. Coinciding with the Filipino American History Day celebrations at History Park, our Public Archaeology program drew plenty of attention from kids, their parents and various other revelers in attendance!

The whole family is getting into pottery reconstruction!

Within range of the tempting aromas of the Filipino food trucks and music from the main stage in History Park, our Public Archaeology program consisted of 5 different stations providing a comprehensive “tour” of the methods archaeologists use to dig, identify, reconstruct and interpret artifacts. All of the stations incorporated some of the real artifacts from the Market Street Chinatown collection. The presence of these artifacts proved an important detail that helped facilitate discussions about the artifacts themselves (leading to such questions as: what are they made of? where did they come from? how are they made? if they are so old, why are they still intact?). In addition, the artifacts prompted discussion of their uses and roles in the daily lives of the inhabitants of the Market Street Chinatown, including questions about what were they used for, why were they thrown away, who was using them? etc.

     That plate looks like it’s almost complete!

As expected, the excavation activity was a big hit among the visiting kids…and the Stanford archaeologists, who (clearly!) have yet to outgrow their love of playing digging in the dirt!

Never too early to learn proper excavation technique!

Thanks to all the participants, volunteers and our hosts at History San Jose for a successful and incredibly fun day at History Park!

Stay tuned for our next Public Archaeology event in November:

Dig Up San Jose’s Past
November 4th, 2012 – History San Jose, 11-3pm

Don’t forget to check out History San Jose’s website for more info on these and other great events: (http://www.historysanjose.org/)