The New Jersey State Museum presents “History Beneath Our Feet: Archaeology of a Capital City,” a new exhibition focusing on the long history of human activity in Trenton, N.J., as told through the lens of archaeology.
The exhibition opened June 3, in the museum’s main floor gallery and will remain on view through Dec. 31.
“History Beneath Our Feet” discusses the importance of archaeology to preserving the past and how excavations at 10 locations within Trenton have helped inform knowledge of human occupation and activities in the area, going back to prehistoric times.
Stories that have been lost to time reemerge through artifacts on view, including pottery shards that illuminated the existence of a long-forgotten local potter; thousands of artifacts that marked a previously unknown Indigenous people’s site; beads that may have belonged to enslaved people; a hollowed-out wooden log that served as Trenton’s water system in the 19th century, and more.
Among the archaeological sites explored are the New Jersey State House, Petty’s Run, the Trent House and the Old Barracks Museum.
The New Jersey State Museum, 205 W. State St., Trenton, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.; closed on all state holidays. General admission is free. For information visit www.statemuseum.nj.gov, or the museum’s social media pages.
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