AS YOU WERE: FINDING THE ISLAND AND THE PEOPLE IN GOVERNORS ISLAND

Governors Island in New York harbor has witnessed many significant events in American history, beginning with episodic settlement by Native Americans and their sale of the island to the Dutch in 1637. Prior to their abandonment of the island, the U. S. Coast Guard funded survey and testing of archaeological contexts on 93 acres which had been designated as a national historic landmark district. Stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochemical studies were specifically tailored for these contexts on a small harbor island in the heart of a metropolitan region.

The stratigraphy of Governors Island is quite complex, and at least half of the present island consists of landfill. The original core is formed of bedrock and glacial till, capped by sandy sediments which include the archaeological contexts. Grain size analyses identify glaciofluvial, fluviomarine, and shoreface depositional energies in these sheet sands as well as fines contributed by human activity. Cultural sediments are characterized by elevated levels of organic matter and phosphorous. Phosphate fractionation and the abundance of K, Mg, Ca, and Pb further help to identify specific deposits from late prehistoric through 19th century archaeological contexts.