Excavating Beekman	January 18, 2008
by Courtney Scott

Area 5. Barrel Vaults (Beekman Street North, between Pearl Street and Water Street)

The interior of a barrel vault (Chrysalis Archaeological Consultants)

Excavation along the north side of Beekman Street discovered four barrel vaults. These were supports for the nineteenth-century buildings along Beekman Street. Two of the vaults had been destroyed during previous construction episodes. The two intact vaults were made of red nineteenth-century brick and were approximately 11 feet wide with an interior height of four to five feet. No archaeological materials relating to the nineteenth-century buildings that once stood on the site were found in the vaults. Instead, they were filled with the discarded material from the twentieth-century demolition of the buildings.

© 2008 by the Archaeological Institute of America
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