Archaeology classes at the University of Chicago are getting some close to home practical experience as they did for remnants of the World's 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago's Jackson Park.
They're not finding Indiana Jones type stuff, but rusty nails, broken crockery, and pieces of glass bottles.
The fair lasted for 6 months in1893 and featured the stunning White City, mostly sculpted of plaster and attracted 27 million visitors. Only one building was constructed to be permanent, the Palace of Fine Arts, which is now the Museum of Science and Industry. Almost all of the rest of the fairgrounds was gone a few months after its close.
This is U of C's first attempt at using the city itself for urban archaeology.
Professor Rebecca Graff and 20 students have four different holes dug around the 633-acre site. Each is 6.6 feet square and just three feet deep. At that point they encounter a layer of sand dunes and marsh that existed before European settlement.
They've encountered old pipe at each excavation and believe it to ave been fair infrastructure used for water and sewage.
May 18th Chicago Tribune "Urban 'Indiana Jones' seek traces of 1893 World's Fair" by William Mullen.
Good Experience for the Students, Even Though I Doubt They'll Find Much. --Coot
THIS DATE IN HISTORY-- 1927--Lucky Lindy arrives in Paris, France, after completing his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. More press coverage on this even than anything in previous history.
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