Maritime and Gold Rush Archaeology in Downtown San Francisco

Type: LECTURE
Date: 7/12/2011
Time: 7:00PM
Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
Address: 3200 California Street at Presidio Ave.
                San Francisco , California

Maritime and Gold Rush Archaeology in Downtown San Francisco

Tuesday, July 12 - 7:30 PM

Underneath our streets is a treasure trove of sunken 19th sunken ships, many of which have come to light during major construction projects.

Dr, Allen G. Pastron, who received his Ph.D in anthropology from the University of California in Berkeley and was an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Santa Clara University, has conducted anthropological and archaeological research in north Africa, Mexico and at numerous sites throughout the western United States.

In 1976, he founded Archeo-Tec Inc., an archaeological consulting firm based in Oakland, and began his foray into maritime archaeology shortly after with the accidental discovery of the whaler Lydia in 1977 Ð near what is now AT&T Park Ð during testing associated with an infrastructure project.

Since that time, he has investigated ships such as

,

, and

. He made great inroads into our understanding of commerce and shipping in Gold Rush San Francisco through his discovery of and work at Hoff's store in the mid-1980s, which contained a ship chandlery shop among other exciting finds.

Additionally, in the late 1980s he discovered and investigated Charles Hare's shipbreaking yard in Candlestick Cove, which had been engaged in breaking down abandoned ships and salvaging their materials.

In his talk, Dr. Pastron will discuss his most recent work with James Delgado on

, a Gold Rush storeship unearthed in 2001 on Battery Street. He will also discuss his studies at Hoff's store and Hare's shipbreaking yard as well as investigations at a Gold Rush-era Chinese store at 600 California Street.

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