New York's mythic slum: digging lower Manhattan's infamous Five Points

Article Abstract:

Archaeological excavations in the Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan, New York City, give quite a different picture than the infamous slum described by authors such as Charles Dickens, George Foster and Herbert Asbury. The written descriptions reflect middle-class attitudes toward working-class districts, often equating poverty with low morals. The archaeological work gives a picture of immigrants who struggled to keep their respectability and maintain their ethnic heritage despite difficult living conditions and social stereotyping. The lives of Irish immigrants on Pearl Street contrast with those of German and Polish Jews on Baxter Street.

Antiquities, Manhattan, New York, New York, Working class, Irish (European people), Slums, Irish in New York, New York

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Mirrors to Japanese history

Article Abstract:

The discovery of bronze mirrors in Japan's Yamato region has initiated a controversy among Chinese and Japanese archaeologists. While some maintain the mirrors were a gift to Japan's legendary queen Himiko from the Chinese Wei Dynasty, others believe that they were made by Chinese artisans who fled to Japan for asylum. No similar mirrors have been discovered in China.

Japan, Tombs, Japanese history

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