HISTORY IN THE DIRT
Bartram's Garden is possibly the best preserved archaeological site on Philadelphia history in one location, offering a fascinating, uninterrupted timeline of a slice of history that stretches back thousands of years to before the 1500s. At any given time, visitors to the site might come across an ongoing archaeological dig.
Excavations in the past have turned up artifacts ranging from jasper flakes (indicating the presence of prehistoric tool-making men) to intact flowerpots from the Bartram era to an 18th century pewter shoe buckle to a delicate cut-glass Victorian trinket to early 20th century fill from WPA projects at the Garden. You never know what will turn up next! (Photograph of 1997 dig at site of John Bartram's water garden, which was restored in Spring 1998).
