dig it: archaeologists scour woodstock '69 concert field - metal plaque

BETHEL, N. Y. —
During the 1969 Woodstock music festival, archaeologists searched the grassy slopes for the famous trampling, carefully screened out from the soil of the era of peace, love, protest and good atmosphere.
Maybe they will find an ancient symbol of peace?
Or a string of hippie beads?
Or Jimmy Hendricks's guitar dial? The five-
The excavation of the day did reveal some non-
Exciting artifacts: the parts of the old aluminum can pull the label and break the pieces of the bottle glass.
But the main task of the Binghamton University Public Archaeological facility is to help plan more accurately the World Health Organization, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Joe Cork in the crowd 49 years ago
"The overall purpose of this survey is to determine the stage space," said project director Josh Anderson . " Kneeling next to a hole, there is evidence that there is a fence that keeps 400,000 fans away from the stage.
"We can use it as a reference point," Anderson said . ".
"People can stand on it and look up at the Hill and say, 'Oh, the performer is here.
Jimmy Hendricks stood here and played guitar at 8: 30 a. m.
"As the age grows, the baby boomers may feel dazed by archaeologists sorting out this place that has given their generation a name --
It's like a Civil War battlefield.
But Max Yasgur's old farm is 80 miles (128 kilometres)
Northern New York City is on the national list of historic places of interest.
Since 90, the hillside has been a no-for-
Operating profit of adjacent 60 seconds-themed museum (
With psychedelic bus).
Wade Lawrence, director of the Bethel Woods Museum, said: "This is an important historical site in American culture and one of the few peace events that have been commemorated since the 1960 s . ".
He said that the work of archaeologists will help the museum to plan explanatory walking routes in time for the 50 th anniversary of next year's concert.
Lawrence said that aerial photographs taken on the weekend of August could not be relied on to show the exact location of the stage, lights and speaker towers for 69 years. On-
Although the bottom of the hillside is re-covered, site data helps
Grading after 90 to accommodate the temporary stage of the anniversary show.
The position of the original stage is under a layer of compacted filler.
But archaeologists think they have found a chain.
The link fence on one side of the stage area meets the wooden "peace fence" running in front of the stage.
Now they can match concert photos to specific locations on site.
This can help them estimate where the corner of the stage was 49 years ago.
During the excavation, archaeologists, looking for clues to the long grass, rolled the square meters of the long grass back and carefully scraped away a few inches of soil. ago layout.
"This is science.
"This is some speculation," said archaeologist Paul Brown, who worked on the square . ".
"You wish you luck.
"The artifacts they find along the way will be analyzed and mapped to depth and location.
Anderson says outdated artifacts like pull tag parts are useful because they show the surface level at the time of the concert.
When museum officials consider restoring the grade of the original stage area, the archaeologist's report will also be used, Lawrence said.
Given the importance of the museum to many, it is carefully weighing any changes to the site.
On a recent sunny day, a group of tourists visited the corner of the venue with a large metal plaque commemorating the concert.
Some people made signs of peace when they took pictures with a smile, while others quietly stopped and stared at the grass.
"There's something in this place --
I'm not the only one-
Attracted people here, "67-year-
Old Woodstock veteran Charles Maloney stood by the plaque and said.
"I mean, there are 200 people here.
You can still hear the silence.