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Karl Reinhard Papers/Publications Natural Resources, School of
2006 Privies and Parasites: The Archaeology of Health Conditions in Albany, New York Charles L. Fisher New York State Museum
Karl Reinhard University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]
Matthew Kirk Hartgen Archaeological Associate, Inc.
Justin DiVirgilo Hartgen Archaeological Associate, Inc.
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Fisher, Charles L.; Reinhard, Karl; Kirk, Matthew; and DiVirgilo, Justin, "Privies and Parasites: The Archaeology of Health Conditions in Albany, New York" (2006). Karl Reinhard Papers/Publications. 5. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natresreinhard/5
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Charles L. Fisher groups alter their environments, both consciously Karl J. Reinhard and unconsciously. The instability of this rela- Matthew Kirk tionship causes change. The range of choices Justin DiVirgilio provided by the natural setting is limited by the selections made by people that reshape their envi- ronments and create new choices. Recent archae- Privies and Parasites: The ological work in the city of Albany, New York, Archaeology of Health has employed interdisciplinary research methods suggested by Karl Reinhard, Adauto Araújo, and Conditions in Albany, New York colleagues (1986), John Duffy (1993), Stephen Mrozowski (1993), and others to explore this ABSTRACT adaptive process relative to the general health of the historical period residents. Large numbers of parasites were identifi ed in archaeological Archaeologists have reported the analysis of samples collected from privies and other features in excava- only three colonial human burials from Albany, tions in Albany, New York. This information provides the which has limited the potential of skeletal stud- largest database available for the study of parasite infections ies in understanding the health conditions in this in historical period American cities. The greatest numbers city during the colonial and early federal peri- of parasites were in contexts related to the expansion of the city in the late-18th century. Parasites remained, but their ods (Philips 2003). Analysis of individuals from quantities decreased in the 19th century during another period the Albany County Almshouse that operated of rapid population growth. The city was able to control from 1825 to 1925 has been reported, although parasite infection during this period through several means, the relationship between the occupants of this including new techniques of privy construction, new water institution that was established as a farm in a supply systems, and medical treatments. Use of medical treatments against parasites varied among residents of the rural setting and the residents of the city must city and was evident in the archaeological record. be considered in the application of this infor- mation to problems of urban health conditions Introduction (LoRusso and Van Wagenen 1990). Recently, a larger cemetery was excavated on the grounds Cities were the focal points of commerce of this site, and analysis is currently underway and culture in early America, where informa- (Lain and Solano 2003). tion and ideas were rapidly exchanged along Assessment of the local environment of with the goods that were bought and sold. The Albany is in very preliminary stages, although it vast quantities of artifacts and the complexities appears to be a productive direction for research of urban settlement, development, and expansion (Kelso 1999; Sidell 1999; Hartgen Archeological have become popular subjects for archaeological Associates, Inc. [HAA] 2002a; Davis 2003). study. The rapidly expanding cities of the histor- Analyses of medical equipment and medicines ical period Northeast created health problems for have been successful in other locations (Howson many citizens, although the relationship was not 1992–1993; Veit 1996) and may be expected to understood in modern terms of a germ theory of provide important information for the study of disease. Despite the lack of a scientifi c under- Albany (Arnason et al. 2003). Water supply standing of their problems, archaeological stud- and waste disposal systems are frequently ies summarized here demonstrated that residents encountered in archaeological excavations and of Albany took actions that provided some relief relate directly to ideas of sanitation and health from illnesses. (Bell 1987; Rosenswig 1999; HAA 2002a, The relationship between people and their 2002b, 2002c; Huey 2003; Fisher 2004). Future environments is not fi xed or constant. All human integration of information from these sources
Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(4):172–197. Permission to reprint required. Accepted for publication 22 March 2006. CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 173 will be essential to a picture of health status archaeological literature for North America. He in this city. noted that the sources for archaeoparasitology Archaeological study of human parasites in were coprolites, mummies, skeletons, and latrine Albany has provided new information that has soils. The reported successes in North America contributed to the description of health status resulted primarily from analysis of prehistoric in the past and the social dimensions of health human coprolites that were preserved in dry conditions. Results of the investigation of parasites caves. The potential for the preservation of from sites in Albany provide the largest archaeo- parasite eggs in latrine soils was untapped by logical collection from a North American city in American archaeologists at that time, although it terms of variety of features sampled and range was exploited by European archaeologists, such of socioeconomic classes represented. In addition, as A. W. Pike (1975) and P. D. Moore (1981). parasite infection rates are documented for more American scientists had demonstrated that the than a 200-year period within this city. Results of prehistoric inhabitants of North America suffered these studies are presented here as a contribution from a variety of parasitic diseases. to the growing body of data on the history of Only two archaeological collections from health and sanitation in Albany and other cities. latrine soils at urban sites in the Northeast The archaeological literature relevant to the were included in that review. One was the 1986 study of parasites in Albany is briefl y discussed. study, directed by Mrozowski, of Queen Anne One of the authors of this paper has docu- Square in Providence, Rhode Island. This is the mented the study of parasites in North Ameri- fi rst example of a parasite analysis included in can archaeology and the use of parasitology in the research design of an historical archaeolo- North American archaeology at historic period gist in North America, and Reinhard conducted sites (Reinhard 1990, 2000d). A summary of the the analysis (Reinhard, Mrozowski et al. 1986). history of Albany is presented that emphasizes The second urban archaeological site referred to the supply of water and the disposal of waste by Reinhard (1990) that dated to the historical there. Historians and archaeologists recognize period, 1830–1850, was the analysis he carried the relationship between these systems and ideas out in 1989 on sediment samples collected by about health and sanitation (Duffy 1968; Roberts Joan Geismar (1993) in Greenwich Village, New and Barrett 1984). In addition, this background York City. establishes the historical context of the archaeo- More recently, Reinhard (2000d:391–392) logical sites and sediment samples. reviewed the history of archaeoparasitology on Archaeological sites and features that were historical period sites in eastern North America investigated are described in relation to the in the archaeological report on Five Points in sediment samples collected and found to contain New York City (Yamin 2000). He concluded parasite eggs (Reinhard 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, that North American historical archaeologists 2001, 2002a, 2002b). The methods used in the have applied this technique with increasing parasite examination are outlined prior to the frequency, yet it remains underutilized with description of those identifi ed in Albany. few large-scale urban case studies. Since 1986, The results of the parasite investigation Reinhard and his colleagues have shown that include a summary of the changing relation- parasites were present throughout the region ship of parasites to their human hosts over a during the colonial period at sites such as Wil- 200-year period. Variation in the parasite eggs liamsburg, Virginia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylva- counts is considered in terms of medical treat- nia, and during the 19th and early-20th centuries ments and differences in the socioeconomic at sites in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Wilmington, groups that may have been the sources of the Delaware; and Harpers Ferry, Virginia. At Harp- differences observed. ers Ferry, parasites were found in archaeological contexts dating as recently as the 1930s (Rein- Parasite Investigations in Northeastern hard 1994). The results have revealed a wide North America range in the quantities present among the sites investigated (Reinhard 2000d:392). In general, An important paper in the archaeological use roundworm and whipworm eggs were identifi ed of parasites was Reinhard’s (1990) review of the at these sites, with the addition of a tapeworm 174 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) related to the fi sh-based diet of the Norwegian Archaeological investigations to date have residents of the Minneapolis site. demonstrated that parasites were present and In addition to the discovery of parasite con- that they constituted a health threat to the urban tamination on urban sites, the social dimensions residents, regardless of their socioeconomic posi- of health conditions were described in several tion. The specifi c parasites present may refl ect studies. Analysis from three privies excavated by ethnic identity through diet or food-prepara- Mrozowski at Queen Anne Square indicated both tion techniques. In addition, parasites were not artisan and merchant households during the Rev- reduced by improved sanitation in many cases. olutionary War were subject to parasite infections The 26 samples examined from Five Points (Reinhard, Mrozowski et al. 1986). Research in represent the largest number reported from a Philadelphia demonstrated that different construc- city outside of Albany. The samples from Five tion techniques for privies did not aid in the Points differ from those from Albany because control of parasites (Reinhard 2000d). they represent multiple samples from different Archaeologists have reported parasites in vari- stratigraphic levels within just seven features. ous features, usually in relationship to discus- An important result of the Five Points analysis sions of sanitary improvements. John McCarthy for the study reported here was that the parasite and Jeanne Ward (2000:126) interpreted the eggs were distributed fairly consistently through- presence of parasites in cisterns in Minneapolis out the night soil deposits, despite the observa- as evidence of general contamination of the tion of different strata. Parasite eggs appear to water supply but were puzzled by the absence diffuse throughout a privy. They are not isolated of parasite eggs in a workers’ privy from the on the top or bottom of a privy content but 19th century. They concluded that roundworm may concentrate on the bottom in some cases and tapeworm infections resulted from resistance (Reinhard 2000a). As a result, a sample taken to sanitary reform by some workers, following from the night soil deposit near the base of a the earlier analysis of Harpers Ferry parasites privy appears to represent the parasite content (Reinhard 1994). of the feature. This is supported by the samples Samples that contained parasite eggs from from the same privies reported here from the other urban archaeological projects include Quackenbush Parking Garage and 40 Howard Greenwich Village and Five Points in New Street, although additional research is needed York City and Mugavero in Brooklyn (Reinhard on this topic. 2000d:392). Five Points is the most relevant to Another result from the earlier studies was the archaeological study of Albany, New York, that sanitary improvements in privy construc- in terms of geographic and chronological simi- tion did not eliminate the parasite eggs from larity, as well as the number of samples and the the environment. The change from 17th-century, attempt to understand the health conditions of a barrel-style privies to 19th-century, cistern-style densely populated urban area. privies in urban Philadelphia did not reduce Rebecca Yamin (2000) included parasite exam- the number of parasite eggs per gram of soil ination in the research design for the archae- (Reinhard 2000d). This study found an increase ology at Five Points and obtained numerous in the number of parasite eggs in the later priv- samples from several features within a densely ies, despite the effort to improve the sanitary settled urban area. The absence of tapeworm conditions. This is one of the topics that relates eggs associated with beef or pork indicates that directly to the study of the Albany samples, residents cooked these meats and did not suffer where parasites in the privies and overall envi- from diseases such as trichinosis. Parasite eggs ronment remained, but their numbers decreased resulting from fecal contamination were identi- with improved privy-construction techniques. fi ed, although the residents reduced roundworm The difficulty of discovering archaeologi- infection through some type of treatment. In cal deposits of night soil in privies and the general, the tenement inhabitants at Five Points associated parasite evidence was the subject of suffered from parasites but not to the extent analysis by Geismar (1993). The combination expected from the literature on urban parasit- of disinfecting, deodorizing, and cleaning priv- ism or the historical descriptions of the site ies reduced the formation of night soil in many (Reinhard 2000d:391–392). urban privies. Even when privies were thought CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 175 to have been totally cleaned, such as a privy establishing the city as a crucial link between at Greenwich Mews, New York City, Reinhard the eastern seaboard and the interior during the found evidence of whipworms in the sediment 19th century. (Geismar 1993). Albany did not begin a large-scale sanitary sewer system until the 1850s, and this was Background not in widespread use throughout the city until the 1880s. Archaeologists have reported similar Albany is one of the oldest, continuously developments in other New York cities during occupied European cities in the United States. this period as well as limited access to these The Dutch West India Company established Fort facilities. For example, Elizabeth Peña and Jac- Nassau in the southern portion of the present queline Denmon (2000) note that Buffalo began city in 1614 and built Fort Orange in 1624 on sewer construction in the early 1850s, but 40 the site of the present city (Huey 2003). Alba- years later required a law to regulate methods ny’s position as an inland port at the gateway of privy construction. In 1880, three-quarters of to the natural western transportation corridor of the households in Buffalo still relied on privies the Mohawk Valley enabled the Dutch and their (Tarr et al. 1984). Iroquois allies to control much of the fur trade In Albany, sewage was limited initially to (Kammen 1975). During the 18th century, this drainage ditches, as indicated by regulations strategic location turned Albany into military like the 1721 ordinance that required residents headquarters for numerous British expeditions to “ditch and drain ye water to give it passage” against the French in Canada (Kammen 1975). (Howell and Tenney 1886:503). Problems in The military buildup included construction of a waste disposal in the colonial city are revealed new city wall and numerous buildings, includ- in actions similar to one in 1773, when the ing guardhouses, barracks, a hospital, stables, Common Council prohibited the “cast[ing of]. magazines, and storehouses. These buildings . . . Tubs or Pots of Ordure any where but in were placed on public land within the streets the River” (City of Albany 1773:9–10). The to minimize conflicts with the townspeople. drainage ditches were not adequate to remove Numerous problems developed as a result of the quantity of human waste and rubbish that the military presence, the increased population accumulated, as noted by visitors such as density in the city, and the tensions over com- Warren Johnson (1996:269) who described the munity security during the war. streets of Albany in 1760 as “the Dirtiest I ever Saw.” The presence of cows and pigs in As many as 1400 offi cers and soldiers were moved the city was noted as another reason for the into the already doubly occupied Dutch homes. During muddy streets of Albany (Kalm 1773; Howell the winter of 1756, Albany’s tightly circumscribed and Tenney 1886). world was composed of seventy-fi ve acres fi lled with 335 households and a teeming population of more Beginning in the 1790s, Albany began enclos- than 4000 natives, refugees, and soldiers (Hackett ing the streams, or “kills,” that flowed down 1991:33). through the city into the Hudson River. The Rutten Kill, which crossed Pearl Street south of After the American Revolution, Albany expe- State Street, was channeled into a stone-arched rienced the rapid development and population culvert beneath the street by the early 1790s increase that occurred in many cities of the new (Fisher 2004). Archaeological deposits along this nation. The population of Albany increased from ravine indicate that it was the location of large 3,500 people in the 1790 census to more than trash deposits by the early-18th century. Although 50,000 by 1850 and more than 90,000 in 1880. the culvert was constructed primarily to eliminate Albany’s importance grew with the opening up a bridge, it served to prevent additional sewage of the western lands and the development of and trash from accumulating in the ravine. About the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company’s the same time, the Fox Kill was enclosed in a canal in the 1790s (Lord 2003), which was fol- stone-arched culvert on the north side of the city lowed by the phenomenal successes of the Erie (Rosenswig 1999; HAA 2002b), and the Maiden and Champlain canals. These canals joined and Lane culvert was constructed in 1788 in the cen- entered the Hudson River in north Albany, tral portion of the city (HAA 2002c). 176 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4)
Brick-lined and stone capped drains an electric line installation beneath State Street constructed in the late-18th and early-19th and suggested it may be one of the earliest centuries that carried waste beneath Pearl American water-supply systems. Street into the Rutten Kill culvert were At the same time that the city was actively discovered archaeologically (Fisher 2004). The removing wastewater in enclosed culverts and relationship between these efforts to remove brick drains, new methods of providing clean waste from the street surface and the health water to the residents were designed. In the of the city’s residents is a topic that requires early 1790s, Albany requested proposals for additional investigation. The spread of disease designing and building gravity-fed systems of and its connection to polluted water were not wooden pipes and small reservoirs that would scientifically established in the 18th century, bring water into the city and distribute it to although a correlation was vaguely recognized in the residents (Liebs 1971). This appears to have observations regarding foul tasting and noxious been an elaboration of the earlier system, pos- smelling water. Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist, sibly infl uenced by developments in other New visited Albany in 1749 and noted that the England cities. Albany well water contained an abundance of During this period, the water supply was little insects and “perhaps many of our diseases regarded as essential for public safety, rather arise from water of this kind” (Kalm 1773: than necessary to improve public health. The 91). Both Kalm and his servant experienced experience of large urban fi res and the associ- a swelling in their throats after drinking this ated loss in lives and property were the prime water, “but whether the insects occasioned it, motivation for constructing water systems in or whether it came from some other” source, the city. Two major fi res occurred in Albany he could not determine (Kalm 1773:93). during the last decade of the 18th century in The belief that bad odors and fi lth caused dis- 1793 and 1797 (AlbanyAlbany G Gazetteazette 1793; Albany ease may have resulted in actions that improved Centinel 1797; Munsell 1871). Following the health conditions, such as cleaning or avoiding 1793 fire, when 26 dwellings, stores, and a dirty places, even though the science was in printing offi ce were lost, the Common Coun- error. A widely distributed medical text from cil set out to determine how additional water the 18th century summarized the professional could be brought into the city. In August 1795, opinion that the city contracted with Benjamin Prescott of Massachusetts to build a system of bored pitch- One common cause of putrid and malignant fevers is pine logs that would carry water from springs the want of cleanliness. ... Hence cleanliness may be about 4 mi. (6.4 km) east to the city at a cost considered as an object of public attention. ... If dirty of about $4.00 per year to the residents (Liebs people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they ought at least to be avoided as infectious. ... In 1971). places where great numbers of people are collected, By 1850, the city owned the pipes and res- cleanliness becomes of the utmost importance. It is ervoirs of the water system and constructed well known, that infectious diseases are communicated additional reservoirs to meet public demands. by tainted air. ... For this reason, in great towns, no This proved insuffi cient to meet the increased filth, of any kind, should be permitted to lie upon the streets. Nothing is more apt to convey infection needs of the rapidly expanding population. In than the excrements of the diseased (Buchan 1785, 1875 the city decided to take water from the ch. 8:n.p.). Hudson River and constructed a pump station (City of Albany 1876). This station consisted Albany constructed a variety of water-supply of twin pumps that brought 45 million liters systems beginning in the 17th century. In 1680, (10 million gal.) of water into the city every Jasper Danckaerts (1996:205) described water 24 hours. The water was considerably different brought from “a spring or fountain ... and in 1875 when the cities of Troy, West Troy, under ground into the town.” These conduits and Cohoes were dumping their waste into the are evident on the 17th-century Plan of Albany river north of Albany than it was in 1749 when (Römer 1698). Archaeologist Paul Huey (2003) the residents of Albany “for tea, brewing and recorded one of these wooden, board-covered washing ... commonly take the water of the troughs in the early 1970s while monitoring river Hudson” (Kalm 1773:95). The 1875 pump CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 177 station screened the water through copper mesh, Parasite Analysis which eliminated the large chunks of waste but did not prevent dangerous microorganisms from The methods used in this analysis were entering the water supply. derived from several years of experimentation The paucity of archaeological evidence for and are described in Warnock and Reinhard privies during the 18th century in Albany, (1992). This process was refi ned over almost despite extensive excavations, suggests that 20 years of research and is essentially a residents ignored the prohibition against cast- palynological technique for digesting sediment ing waste anywhere but in the river. The need and quantifying microfossils in sediments, for the prohibition indicates that people were minus the final stage of acetolysis treatment discarding waste in other places around the in palynological processing that would destroy city, probably on ground surfaces. The number the parasite eggs (Reinhard, Mrozowski et al. of privies increased in the late-18th and early- 1986). 19th centuries, creating other problems for the Gallon-sized soil samples were collected from city. For example, regular maintenance of privies archaeological deposits where parasites were was required: to clean them out as they fi lled, anticipated, such as privies, features converted move them, or build new ones when the sur- into privies, and former ground surfaces that rounding soil became saturated. Albany passed could be temporally identifi ed. The ground sur- a law that restricted the hours when the priv- faces were used to investigate the possibility that ies could be cleaned to between 11 P.M. and waste may have been distributed around dwell- 3 A.M. (Albany 1829:49). ings and to examine the relationship between Development of the water supply increased the privy content and the general environment. household water consumption in the early-19th Similarly, samples were collected from drains, century, although the city lacked a system for culverts, and other features that could be used removing the large quantity of wastewater until to assess the urban environment. construction of a public sewer system began in From these samples, soil (30 ml) from each the 1850s. As a result, privies became saturated, context was selected for analysis, based on the and their content seeped into the surrounding protocol established by Warnock and Reinhard soil. This waste blocked existing culverts and (1992). Three Lycopodium spore tablets, each permeated the city with the stench of sewage containing approximately 12,432 ± 400 spores, gas (City of Albany 1859, 1860). Seepage were added to each sample. This addition of a provided optimal conditions for the spread of known number of identifi able spores is used to disease in the city (Tarr et al. 1984). In 1832, determine the ratio of eggs to known spores, a cholera epidemic in Albany was attributed to which results in an accurate calculation of the the impurity of the water, although two doctors parasite eggs per milliliter of soil. The number appointed by the board of health to inspect the of parasite eggs per gram of coprolite was cal- water from 14 wells “pronounced them all free culated using the pollen concentration formula from any impurities which could be injurious to of Louis J. Mahar (1981), where health” (Munsell 1858:225). Although the sewer system was under con- parasite eggs/g dry sediment=([eggs counted/ struction in the 1850s, it is not known when Lycopodium counted] x 12,432)/sediment weight the existing privies were connected to this system. The business of cleaning out the night Samples were washed in hydrochloric and soil from privies continued and was advertised hydrofl uoric acids and then cleaned with dis- in the city directory into the 1870s (City of tilled water. These acid baths remove unwanted Albany 1874). These services, however, may organic material such as calcium carbonate that have been needed to remove the debris from often forms from lime added to the latrines. The privies that were connected to sewers. The resilience and toughness of these parasite eggs former practice of discarding trash into priv- is demonstrated by their tolerance of these acids. ies clogged the sewers and was prohibited by Unlike the process described by Warnock and 1872 but probably continued in practice (City Reinhard (1992), sonication was not used. Over of Albany 1872:95). the past 15 years, sonication has been found to 178 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) damage pollen grains. Finally, samples were excavated by HAA and the New York State prepared on slides and microscopically exam- Museum since 1998 (Figure 1). The samples ined by Reinhard for the presence of parasite were collected for a variety of cultural eggs. Help in identifi cation of acanthocephalan and environmental analyses, with parasite eggs was sought from Brent Nickol of the identifi cation as one of these objectives. These School of Biological Sciences at University of sites included the State University Construction Nebraska, Lincoln. All parasite eggs and added Fund Parking Garage (SUCF) (Reinhard 2000c; Lycopodium spores were counted on a minimum HAA 2002a), Picotte-DEC Headquarters Site of six microscope slides, with three cover slips (Reinhard 2000b; HAA 2002b), the nearby per slide. This procedure resulted in a minimum Maiden Lane Pedestrian Bridge (HAA 2002c; of 18 microscopic preparations (18 x 18 mm) Reinhard 2002a), 40 Howard Street (Reinhard that were examined for each sample. 2000a), Quackenbush Square Parking Garage The results of the examination of samples and the Court of Appeals Building (Reinhard from Albany, presented in Table 1, represents 2002b). In addition, the New York State Museum the largest dataset collected up to this time Cultural Resource Survey Program collected from an urban context anywhere in the United samples from two 18th-century barrel privies on States. This collection covers a period of more Pearl Street at the site of the Lutheran Church than 200 years and represents a variety of loca- Lot, and another was processed from an 18th- tions and social classes. century ground surface excavated on North Pearl Street (Reinhard 2001; Fisher 2004). Descriptions of the Sites and Samples In general, excavation revealed night soil deposits in the lower portion of the privies that Hundreds of gallons of soil samples were were the source of the samples examined for retained from dozens of different contexts parasites. This soil was covered with fi ll after on eight large archaeological sites in Albany abandonment of the features. Artifacts found in these deposits were employed to date the last use of the features. The sites, sample context, estimated date of the sample, and results of the parasite study are presented in Table 1. Dates were determined from documentary, stratigraphic, and artifact analyses of the features. Despite the archaeological evidence that urban privies were frequently cleaned as prescribed by local law (Roberts and Barrett 1984; Duffy 1993; Geismar 1993), many of those examined archaeologically in Albany contained extensive deposits of night soil. The various reasons for these deposits in abandoned urban privies are a subject of ongoing investigation. Almost every privy excavated in Albany provided enough night soil for study because only very small samples are needed for parasite analysis and, apparently, removing night soil from the priv- ies was never complete. The Albany samples represent parasite infec- tion rates over a period of 200 years and pro- vide a source to investigate chronological trends in parasite infections. The historical and archae- ological contexts of these sites indicate that the samples represented a broad range of economic FIGURE 1. Albany, New York, with site locations referred and social classes in historical period Albany, to in the text. (Map by Lihua Shi, 2006). including laborers, wealthy ship captains, CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 179 Hymenolepiasis nana (pinworm) (dwarf tapeworm), Strongyle eggs (louse nits) (horse pinworm) Other Finds ber and maize starchPlant fi Strongyle eggs, horse/rodent Strongyle eggs Hymenolepiasis nana Enterobius vermicularis (dwarf tapeworm), Strongyle eggs Pediculus humanus Oxyuris equi
2 3 4 4 4 2 3 8 — — — — — — — — — — 25 24 24 14 20 10 %Trichuris
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 104 355 678 621 250 314 114 Trichuris 1,598 3,763 2,508 3,763 2,090 1,243 12,181 No. TABLE 1 TABLE
0 0 0 75 70 219 251 448 228 Ascaris 4,972 1,065 2,260 5,150 2,019 1,505 1,254 1,026 25,199 89,675 62,710 60,202 14,918 310,999 223,248 No. PARASITE EGGS PER MILLILITER OF SEDIMENT PARASITE Date 1800s 1760s 1810s 1780s 1800 1860s 1800s 1760s 1780s 1790s 1850s 1760s 1800s 1830s 1780s 1740s 1860s 1860s 1850s 1850s 1800s 1800s 1790s 1790s Description stonePrivy, Dog burial stonePrivy, Log drain, cleaned reusedWell, as privy Privy wood Privy wood Surface near stockade Surface along wharf Privy 1, wood Privy 2, stone, drained Privy 4, wood Privy 6, wood & stone Privy 3, wood Privy 5, wood Privy 7, barrel Privy 9, brick & stone Privy 10, wood, drained Privy 11, wood, drained Privy 12, stone, drained Surface, in stone culvert Beneath 59 Beneath 60 Surface, outside culvert Sample/Feature 1/20 2/93 3 4/62 5/9 6/31 7/38 8 9 1/96 2/108 3/112 4/148 5/113 6/126 7/42 8/40 9/122 10/97 11/147 59/ 11 60/ 11 61/ 11 71/ 16 Site State University Parking Garage Picotte DEC Maiden Lane Pedestrian Bridge 180 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) Other Finds Toxocara Toxocara 8 9 1 4 6 9 2 2 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 24 18 33 %Trichuris 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 62 444 155 178 178 888 829 765 Trichuris 1,119 1,243 No. 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 TABLE 1 (CONTINUED) TABLE 10 60 113 799 249 124 155 179 Ascaris 1,249 1,420 1,709 11,311 19,000 33,561 13,851 38,947 31,607 No. PARASITE EGGS PER MILLILITER OF SEDIMENT PARASITE Date 1760s 1750s 1830s 1830s 1830s 1850s 1850s 1850s 1850s 1830s 1830s 1820s 1780s 1780s 1640–1700 1830s 1830s 1820s 1880s 1650–1670 1640–1700 1640–1700 1600s 1750–1800 1750–1800 Description Beneath 71 Beneath 72 Privy 2, wood Privy 2, wood Privy 3, wood Privy 5, stone Privy 5, stone Privy 5, stone Privy 10, wood, drained Drain, brick Drain, brick Surface Surface Surface Surface barrelPrivy, barrelPrivy, Drain, wood wood Privy, Surface Surface Surface Surface Sediment in vat Sediment in vat Sample/Feature 72/ 16 73/ 16 1/2 2/2 3/3 4/5 5/5 6/5 7/10 8/6 9/8 10/Surface 1 11/Surface 2 12/Surface 3 2/Outside house 3/Upper stratum 4/Lower stratum 5 6 7/Near house 8/Near house 9/South yard 10/Brickyard 11/Distillery 12/Distillery Site Maiden Lane Pedestrian Bridge 40 Howard Street Quackenbush Square Garage CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 181 (thorny-headed worm) Other Finds Macracanthorhynchus Hirudinaceus
0 — — — 88 63 34 %Trichuris
0 0 0 0 0 0 444 Trichuris 2,900 6,145 No. 0 0 0 0 TABLE 1 (CONTINUED) TABLE 37 497 207 266 Ascaris 12,153 No. PARASITE EGGS PER MILLILITER OF SEDIMENT PARASITE Date 1640–1700 1750–1800 1600s 1820s 1820s 1800–1830 1780s 1780s 1750s Description Surface Sediment in vat Surface Midden Midden wood Privy, barrelPrivy, barrelPrivy, Surface Sample/Feature 16/Outside house 17/Distillery 18/Brickyard 13 14 15 Pearl St. 1 Pearl St. 3 Pearl St. 2 Site Quackenbush Square Garage CourtAppeals of Pearl St. Lutheran Church Lot North Pearl St. 182 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) politicians, merchants, and even boardinghouse Dean’s neighbor was another merchant and residents. Results suggest that parasite infections a sail maker, Abraham Eights, who resided on were not restricted to any particular segment of his lot with a wife, 11 children, and slaves. the population or location but, instead, affected Sediment from the base of their wooden privy, anyone in the city who was exposed to contami- sample 7, revealed parasites were present but nated water or food. not in the quantity found in Dean’s privy. The different quantities of parasites in these fea- State University Parking Garage tures may be a result of a severe uncontrolled infestation among a few residents in Dean’s Archaeological investigations for the pro- household. posed parking garage for the State University In the southern portion of this site, three Headquarters revealed the city’s riverfront con- privies were constructed in the fi rst half of the struction of the 1700s and 1800s in the block 19th century on lots occupied by boardinghouses east of Dock (later Dean) Street and south of and warehouses. Sample 3 was from the night Maiden Lane (Figure 1). Four samples from soil recovered from a small stone-lined privy 18th-century contexts were examined, and para- in use about 1810. The privy was on the lot sites were identifi ed (Table 1). These included owned by the Uriah Benedict’s widow, who a ground surface that was associated with the operated a boardinghouse at this location. This British soldiers in Albany during the 1750s sample yielded the second greatest concentration (sample 8), sediments associated with a dog of parasite eggs at the site. burial about the same time (sample 2), river Two large common privies were also dis- sediments adjacent to the front of the 1760s covered in this portion of the site. They were bulkhead (sample 9), and sediment from the probably associated with boardinghouses but inside of a hollowed timber drain with plank straddled lot lines of several commercial and caps (sample 4). Joined saplings formed a 50 residential properties. The common stone privy ft. pole that was left inside the drain. It was was connected to a stone drain that carried used to clean out obstructions or sediments waste into the street. The sediment at the base that accumulated in the drain. No privies were of the privy (sample 1) was deposited in the discovered on the site during this period, and fi rst decade of the 19th century and contained these samples indicate that human and animal a large number of parasite eggs. Sample 6 was waste was dispersed on the ground surface and obtained from a large wood-lined privy that dumped into the river. was associated with several adjacent properties, Archaeological evidence of formal privies was housing warehouses, storefronts, and a boarding- found in contexts dating from the late-18th and house on the riverfront during the 1860s. The 19th centuries at the site. This block was inhab- rate of parasite infection at this location appears ited by some of Albany’s leading merchants, but to have been relatively low, possibly due to dockworkers, servants, and slaves were present improvements in Albany’s sanitary conditions as well. The largest number of parasite eggs by the middle of the 19th century. was found in sample 5, which was obtained on All of the 18th-century samples from the the lot owned by the merchant-captain Stewart waterfront contained some parasite eggs, which Dean from a well that silted in and had been suggests that the waterfront environment during converted into a privy. Dean had a number of this period was highly contaminated with children and three slaves in his household in parasites. Archaeologists did not locate privies 1790, according to the census. The well lacked here from this period, which suggests that other, a builders’ trench because it was constructed at less-sanitary waste-management strategies were the time the fi ll was added to the lot behind in use. The early-19th-century privies at the his 1780s waterfront bulkhead. Dean was known site, despite the increased number of parasite locally for his successful 1785 trip to Canton, eggs they contained, may indicate a more China, and his return with a wealth of trade effective waste-management system. Because the goods on his ship. Dean developed this lot privies concentrated human waste, they may be after the Revolutionary War and abandoned it expected to have greater quantities of parasites. by 1810. The extent of the residents’ success at containing CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 183 parasites within these structures is still unknown, wealthy merchants and tradesmen on the edge as is whether parasites also increased in the of the city to workers and riverfront boarders at general environment. It is known that privies the core. The earliest privy (7) discovered and seeped, people handled chamber pots, cleaned investigated was a wooden barrel used before privies, and spread night soil as fertilizer, thus the French and Indian War. Soil recovered from continuing the life cycle of the parasites. within the barrel did not contain any parasite eggs. The late-18th-century privies (4 and 5) Picotte DEC are diffi cult to assign to specifi c owner-occu- pants, although members of the DeFreest family The Picotte DEC site in Albany was inves- owned the lots at 633, 635, and 637 Broadway. tigated by archaeologists prior to the construc- They were successful tradesmen, merchants, and tion of a new offi ce building for the New York farmers who had large agricultural holdings out- State Department of Environmental Conserva- side the city by the time these features were tion. The site, encompassing approximately two constructed. city blocks of almost one acre each (Figure 1), Privies 1, 3, and 6 contained evidence of was a surface parking lot at the time of the parasites during the late-18th and early-19th investigations. It was located along the Hudson centuries. Privy 1 was a wooden structure with River at the northern limits of the colonial spaces about 0.79 cm (2 in.) wide between boundary of the city and situated approximately the planks for drainage. It was located on the one block north of the SUCF site and south of property of John Bogart, a sailor and soldier the Quackenbush Parking Garage site. Eleven during the Revolutionary War, who later became samples from privy sediments were collected a merchant. Improvements to Bogart’s property and processed for identification of parasites. at 611–613 Broadway included a dwelling, Samples 7 (privy 7), 3 (privy 4), and 6 (privy storehouse, and stable. He lived there with his 5) were from features used between 1740 and wife, four children, and four slaves until the the 1780s. Samples 1 (privy 1), 4 (privy 6), fi re of 1797 destroyed his house. The privy was and 5 (privy 3) were collected from privy soils located in the rear of the lot and contained a deposited between 1790 and 1840. Samples 2 very large number of parasite eggs. Bogart and (privy 2), 10 (privy 11), 11 (privy 12), 8 (privy his household were concerned about their health 9), and 9 (privy 10) were obtained from privy and could afford popular medicines such as a soils that were deposited between 1850 and bottle of Robert Turlington’s Balsam of Life 1870 (Table 1). and another unmarked medicine bottle recov- Although this portion of the city was ered from a pit at the site. No evidence shows the location of a few early settlements and the effectiveness of these treatments on intes- industries, urban development began at the close tinal worms, nor the identity of the medicines of the 18th century when the city expanded the bottles contained, but the presence of these beyond the former limits of the protective bottles shows Bogart had a perceived need for stockade wall. This was prime real estate medicines and access to apothecaries. near the riverfront and north dock for wealthy In contrast to the Bogart’s privy, Henry merchants, professionals, and tradesmen. After Abeel’s privy on the lot at 30 Orange Street the opening of the Erie and Champlain canals had a very small number of parasite eggs. Privy in the 1820s, the increased commercial traffi c 3 was another wooden structure with spaces brought large numbers of laborers and new between the planks that enabled liquid waste immigrants to this neighborhood, while the to seep out of the privy. Abeel was the city’s wealthier residents moved uptown. By the fi re inspector in 1823. 1850s, this location was the scene of increased Privy 6 was wooden with one stone wall, industrial activity, including a lumberyard and probably the remains of an earlier foundation. coalhouse. Construction of railroad tracks The property at 637 Broadway was owned by through this area in the 1860s effectively ended the DeFreests and had a number of occupants the residential use of this site. during the period the night soil containing Parasite samples obtained from privies docu- parasites was deposited in the privy. In the mented the change in the neighborhood from early 1800s when the privy 6 structure was 184 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) in use, the neighborhood contained shops and 20th century in the former Albany Basin. The dwellings. western portion included the original river shore Five sediment samples were obtained from of the colonial city and the intentionally created privy night soil deposited in the 1850s and land deposited along the river in the 18th and 1860s. Privies 2, 11, and 12 were in use during 19th centuries. the 1850s, while samples from privies 9 and 10 Six soil samples from 18th-century contexts were acquired from deposits that formed in the associated with feature 11 and feature 16 were 1860s. subjected to parasitological analysis. The Maiden In the 1850s, William Keyser, a physician Lane Culvert, feature 11, was constructed in and apothecary, rented the dwelling at 633–635 1788 beneath the street. The culvert consisted Broadway where privy 2 was located. This privy of a segmented arch against thick masonry was a cut stone structure with a brick drain. walls with an interior wooden plank fl oor. The Parasite infection was present with relatively lower levels of fi ll within the culvert contained low quantities of worms and provides ambiguous brick, burnt planks, and other building debris evidence of his professional abilities. Similarly, that may have resulted from the clean up and his status is difficult to assess since he was reconstruction after the large downtown fi res in a professional but did not own his residence. 1793 and 1797. Instead, he rented quarters in a commercial and The two samples from the lower levels within industrial section of the city. the culvert contained low numbers of parasite Thomas Higgins, a laborer, was the occupant eggs. This fi nding may be related to the suc- of 38 Water Street where privy 11 was encoun- cessful functioning of the culvert. Fast-moving tered. The privy was made of wood and had a water along the wooden plank fl oor and smooth wooden drain that contained a large number of sidewalls did not allow for signifi cant accumu- parasite eggs. Privy 12 was built of cut stone lation of sediment. Once the building debris on the lot of Aaron Griswold at 16 Orange from the 1790s fi res collected in the feature, Street. Griswold was a lumber merchant who the water fl ow was restricted, and parasite-con- experienced considerable economic success. As taminated sediments developed. More parasite expected within drained privies of this type, eggs were found within the culvert than in Griswold’s privy contained low quantities of the samples outside the feature. The quantity parasites. Privies 9 and 10 were associated of parasite eggs in the later culvert sample is with two different boardinghouses owned by comparable to many of the other privies in the Jacob Ten Eyck at 19 Columbia Street during city reported here. the 1860s. Privy 9 was a brick and stone The 1788 culvert construction cut into an structure with a stone fl oor and was used by earlier deposit, referred to as feature 16. It the laborers who resided at the Buffalo House. was a horizontal layer of logs, formerly used Workers and transients occupied the neighboring in the colonial stockade, which was dismantled American House and used privy 10, which was in the 1760s at the conclusion of the French made of wood with a cement drain. Both of and Indian War. These logs were reused in the these privies had a low number of parasite eggs development of the riverfront. Soil deposited in comparison to the earlier sediment samples upon the logs included a variety of mid-18th- from this site. century material, such as delft ceramic sherds, window leads, and numerous clamshell frag- Maiden Lane Pedestrian Bridge ments from wampum manufacturing. The logs found here in a horizontal position may have A pedestrian bridge was constructed within the served as a corduroy road or as a base for the present Maiden Lane to connect the modern city fi ll deposited to raise the elevation of the street of Albany with green space along the Hudson surface along the river. River that was separated by the construction Sample 71 was collected from the dark sandy of Interstate 787. Only the western piers and silt on the surface of the logs. The absence of landing of this new bridge were investigated parasite eggs from this sediment indicates that archaeologically because the remainder of the the logs were exposed for a brief time because bridge was built upon fill deposited in the other 18th-century ground surfaces from the CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 185 adjacent site, SUCF, were contaminated. Sample privy 10 may have resulted from the connection 72 was obtained from dark sandy silt directly to the brick vault, which served as a settling below the logs and had a quantity of eggs that tank that reduced the quantity of refuse in the is more consistent with the other 18th-cen- drains. tury ground surfaces in Albany. This suggests The two privies on Howard Street were large, that the silt below the logs was exposed as a wooden, rectangular structures lacking drains. ground surface for a period suffi cient to accu- Privy 2 (samples 1 and 2) was associated with mulate parasite eggs. The deeper sample 73 was a boardinghouse at 34 Howard Street and privy obtained from light brown sand beneath sample 3 (sample 3) was related to the boardinghouse 72. Parasite eggs were present in this sample at 32 Howard Street. These were among the and indicate the contamination of ground sur- first buildings in the 40 Howard Street site, faces in the colonial city. and the privies were used during the 1830s. The small number of parasite eggs in privy 2 40 Howard Street was not anticipated in a structure that lacked a drain. The low incidence of parasites may be Additional samples for parasite analysis were a result of disinfecting or cleaning this privy, obtained from the proposed site of the New or a result of medical practices to control the York State Comptrollers Offi ce building at 40 number of parasites. Howard Street in Albany, currently including The samples from the ground surfaces at this two city blocks between State Street and Beaver site contained relatively few parasite eggs and Street on the west side of Pearl Street. This area provide evidence for the general absence of was created by the completion of the Rutten settlement in the area before the creation of the Kill culvert and the fi lling in of the associated urban lots. During the 1820s, the city market ravine by about 1830 to provide enough land stood on the corner of Howard Street and Pearl for the development of approximately 20 urban Street and may account for the low quantity of lots. The boardinghouses located on lots fronting parasite eggs present at that time. An important Howard Street and Beaver Street were the focus discovery in these samples (10 and 12) is the of the archaeoparasitological study. parasite Toxocara canis, a roundworm of dogs Privy 5 was a substantial, rectangular stone that is in the same family (Ascaridae) as the feature that was associated with a boardinghouse human parasite Ascaris lumbricoides and the located at 73 Beaver Street between 1832 and pig parasite A. suum. Eggs of this parasite 1860. Level 1 (sample 4) contained dense are passed in dog feces and can be passed to yellow brown clay that sealed the last period humans if ingested. These worms can cause of use and resulted in a lower quantity of para- blindness and problems in the central nervous site eggs than the night soil deposits below it. systems of humans, especially children. An 1819 Level 4 (sample 6) was the earliest deposit of drawing of the market depicts dogs scavenging night soil but was sealed from level 3 (sample through the waste that surrounded the market 5) by a layer of lime, apparently employed as on the 40 Howard Street site was included in a a catalyst for anaerobic decomposition as well pamphlet opposing this location for the market as a deodorizing agent. (Davis 1820). Privy 10 (sample 7) was a drained privy that was made of wood and associated with a Quackenbush Square Parking Garage boardinghouse at 75 Beaver Street. The sample from this privy contained parasite eggs, but Archaeological investigation at the proposed not in the quantity found in privy 5. Privy 10 parking garage at Quackenbush Square revealed drained into Beaver Street, where a large brick deposits from a 17th-century brickyard, the vault beneath the street served as a septic tank remains of the brick maker’s house, and a rum in the 1850s. Archaeologists hypothesized that distillery, initially constructed in the 1750s and this system worked better than a simple drain in operation until approximately 1800. This where the refuse discarded in the privies had distillery was situated along the Hudson River to be removed regularly to maintain the fl ow of shore, just north of the city’s north dock that liquids. The lower number of parasite eggs in existed during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 186 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) excavations did not locate a privy associated was on the hill on the west edge of the city with the brick maker’s house, but samples were during the middle of the 18th century and within collected from 17th-century ground surfaces the downtown section of the expanding city by around the house. Samples 2, 7, 8, 9, and 16 the early-19th century (Figure 1). Two samples, were obtained from surface middens adjacent 13 and 14, from shallow middens deposited to the house that were deposited between 1640 during the 1820s were examined. At that time, and 1700. Samples 2 and 8 contained parasite Frederic Wormer, who kept a tavern nearby, eggs. Samples 10 and 18 were collected from owned the lot. He may have had a tenant in the surface of the brickyard and did not evi- a small, undocumented building on this lot. dence parasite eggs. These samples did not produce evidence of Samples 11, 12, and 17 were sediments col- parasite eggs. lected from the bottoms of two wooden fermen- Sample 15, from a wood-lined privy in use tation vats in the distillery that operated from during the 1830s, contained a deposit of night 1750 to 1800. These vats were routinely fi lled soil with parasite eggs. The privy had a metal with water, probably drawn from the Hudson grate in one wall where it connected to a River. No evidence of parasites was found in brick drain. Workers used this feature during these samples. The greatest number of parasite the construction of the New York State Court eggs at the site was obtained from samples 3 of Appeals building from 1834 to 1842. There and 4, collected from a stratifi ed deposit in a were no previous residents at this site, and only wooden barrel privy in use until the 1830s. The the builders were present during the construc- iron-banded barrel had a capacity of about 84 tion period. gallons, which corresponds with the standard size of a puncheon. The samples were drawn Pearl Street from two night soil layers separated by a deposit of lime. Archaeologists from the New York State The privy was located on one of several lots Museum developed a plan to monitor and along Montgomery Street and south of Quacken- recover archaeological information from Pearl bush Street that were owned by Hugh Bradford, Street in Albany during the street reconstruc- a builder. He managed construction projects and tion project sponsored by the New York State hired masons, carpenters, joiners, and other Department of Transportation. Samples for para- tradesman as needed, similar to a modern gen- site identifi cation from the Lutheran Church Lot eral contractor. These lots may have been under and North Pearl Street sites were collected and development at the time the privy was used. examined. Samples 1 and 3 were collected from A wood-lined privy from the 1880s was the the organic deposits at the base of white oak source of sample 6, which was almost devoid wooden barrels buried beneath the center of the of parasite eggs. This privy was constructed modern Pearl Street. These privies were along of horizontal planks supported by posts in the the property line between a narrow lane to the corners and was associated with a warehouse Church Lot deeded in 1680 and the Schuyler owned by the New York Central and Hudson house. River Railroad at that time and, most likely, Philip Pietersen Schuyler, a very successful used by a number of laborers. fur trader and the fi rst mayor of Albany, built Sample 5, which contained few parasite eggs, the Schuyler house by 1667 (Huey 1993). His was collected from a wooden drain in use in the descendents, including the Revolutionary War 1820s. The source and function of the drain has General Philip Schuyler, lived in this house not been determined. until 1782 when it became the City Tavern. Both of these privies may have been used until Court of Appeals the early 1790s when Pearl Street was expanded over these features and the City Tavern was The Court of Appeals excavations were car- demolished. The privies contained numerous ried out during the proposed expansion of the seeds of berries and fruits and small pieces of present building onto the land occupied by a burned limestone, along with other 18th-century surface parking lot to the east. This location artifacts. The most recent artifact recovered was CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 187 a sherd of blue hand-painted pearlware in the the residential development of the lots. Eggs fi ll above sample 1, suggesting the night soil of this parasite can be passed from dogs to was deposited during the Schuyler’s residency. humans. In addition to these parasites, analysis Sample 2 was obtained from buried mid-18th- of sediment samples from the Picotte-DEC site century deposits beneath North Pearl Street that revealed evidence of pinworm (Enterobius ver- was outside of the north gate of the early city micularis) and louse nits (Pediculus humanus). stockade wall. This low-lying portion of the The presence of lice is relevant to the health street was filled during the Seven Years War conditions in the city because they can transmit to incorporate it into the expanded city, to typhus. accommodate the increased urban population of Ascaris (roundworm) is the most common soldiers and refugees (Fisher 2004). Taken from of all parasitic worms worldwide. Roundworm a street context instead of a specifi c urban lot, adults live up to two years in humans and can this sample contributes to the understanding of grow to a length of 30.5 cm (12 in.) with a general parasite contamination in the city. diameter of 0.1 cm (0.25 in.). The female can The presence of parasite eggs in these sam- produce up to 200,000 eggs per day. The eggs ples was expected because the previous studies are passed with the feces, eventually ending carried out by Reinhard on Albany archaeologi- up in the soil where they can remain viable cal sediments consistently demonstrated parasite for more than 14 years (Stephenson 1987:89). contamination. The discovery of differences in Humans ingest eggs from contaminated soils the relative amounts of specifi c parasites in the by eating contaminated, unwashed food, eating Lutheran Church Lot barrel privies from other without washing contaminated soil from their Albany sites was not anticipated and is further hands, or drinking contaminated water. The eggs discussed here. hatch into larvae in the small intestine, burrow through the intestine walls, and enter into the Archaeologically Identifi ed Parasites blood system. The larvae migrate to the lungs where they mature, penetrate the lung walls, The population density within Albany and the ascend to the throat, and are fi nally swallowed absence of both a supply of clean water and to the stomach. The worms grow into adulthood a sanitary system of waste removal are largely in the small intestine. In two to three months, responsible for the poor health conditions found the female produces more eggs, and the cycle in this urban environment. The cultural resource is repeated (Figure 2) (CDC 2006a). management studies cited here have archaeologi- In adults, roundworm infection is more of a cally documented the rise of parasite infections nuisance than a major health threat. The pathol- among the residents of Albany during the 17th ogy of infection can be viewed in three stages: and 18th centuries. The description of the migration of larvae, presence of adults in the parasites and their respective life cycles cre- intestine, and movement of adults outside of the ates a new perspective on the historical living intestine. Migration of the larvae through the conditions in this city. Five different human lungs can cause severe pathology (hemorrhagic parasites were identifi ed in the archaeological pneumonia) if many larvae emerge at once. samples collected from Albany. They include More commonly, smaller worm burdens cause the Ascaris (roundworm), Trichuris (whipworm), breathing diffi culties, pneumonia, and fever. The Taenia (tapeworm), Hymenolepiasis nana (dwarf larvae are very allergenic and can cause allergic tapeworm), and the fi rst archaeological observa- hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma. Once tion of the parasite Macracanthorhynchus hirudi- the adults become established in the intestine, naceus (thorny-headed worm). Other eggs were the most common pathology includes vague observed as oval, transparent, and embryonate digestive disorders. In large infections, malnu- eggs that contained a small worm that could trition can occur. In very heavy infections, fatal be from a number of species. These eggs were blockage can occur. classifi ed as strongylates. Ascarids are the most active parasites and A roundworm of dogs, Toxocara canis, was freequently move outside of the intestine. In discovered from 40 Howard Street during the reaction to variation in food, or overcrowding, period the city market was located here, before or the presence of only one sex in the intestine, 188 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4)
the parasites, as indicated in the recipe collection of an Albany family. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, who recorded recipes between 1799 and 1835 that are included in this collection, suggested a sage tea with molasses as a “cure for worms” in a young child (Kellar et al. 1986:79). The Van Rensselaer family, among the richest people in New York State in the early 1800s, had a man- sion in Albany and extensive landholdings in the surrounding area. Medical books from the 18th century contained numerous remedies for expel- ling worms that are strong purgatives, including rhubarb, calomel, jalap, and salad oil (Buchan 1785). These continued in use in the 19th cen- tury, as evidenced by an early patent medicine manufacturer who claimed his pills for worms were different from his competitors because they FIGUREFIGURE 2.2. LifeLife cyclecycle ofof thethe intestinalintestinal roundwormroundworm AscarisAscaris lumbricoides in a human host, 1982; after Public Health “contained no mercury” (Young 1961). Image Library, No. 5231
by a physician in the late-19th century defi ned the pathology (Reinhard 2001). He reported intestinal pain, diarrhea, and malaise before eggs began to pass in his stools and he recovered. The pathology is caused partly by the “thorny head” of the parasite. This organ protrudes from the anterior of the parasite and is coated with tiny hooks. It punctures the intestinal wall and serves to anchor the parasite. Thorny-headed worms, like tapeworms, are “gutless wonders” that lack a mouth or intestinal track.
Parasite Contamination in Albany
The sediment samples from Albany can be divided into two principal types: 29 were col- lected from nonprivy contexts, including ground surfaces, drains, and culverts, and the remainder from privies where human waste was concen- FIGURE 3. Life cycle of the intestinal whipworm Trichuris trated. Generally, archaeologists in Albany have trichiura in a human host, 2002; after Public Health Image not been successful in locating or identifying Library, No. 3424
Residents’ Responses to Parasite host. Roundworms live freely in the lumen of Contamination the intestine, which makes them susceptible to a variety of chemotherapies. Drugs that even tem- Both the presence and quantities of parasite porarily paralyzed the roundworms would result eggs have yielded new information about the in their removal from the intestine through peri- health conditions in the city. In modern popu- staltic contractions of the intestine. lations, there appears to be a strong correlation Whipworms, in contrast, burrow almost between heavy roundworm infection and heavy entirely into the intestinal wall and are protected whipworm infection as evident in egg counts from drugs that affect roundworms. This cre- in the feces (Crompton 1994). This is gener- ates a major obstacle to the medical treatment ally true of the archaeological evidence from of whipworm infections in both medical and Albany. veterinary parasitology (Reinhard 2001). Relative amounts of the specific parasites The 18th-century medical profession, along provided evidence of additional efforts on the with the occupants of Albany, was not aware of part of residents to control the contamination. the relatively tiny (less than 1 in.) whipworms Results from the two samples from the Pearl until their discovery in the early-19th century Street privies were quite different in compari- (Reinhard, Araújo et al. 1986). European son to the others reported here. Specifically, investigators documented Trichurids in the the proportion of roundworm eggs to the total 1840s. Professionals in New York acknowledged parasite egg count is lower than in the other them by the mid-19th century, for example, locations within the city. Whipworm eggs were Levi Shafer (1849) lists them among the fi ve 88% (privy 1) and 56% (privy 3) of the parasite known species of intestinal worms. Most likely, eggs identifi ed from the Lutheran Church Lot whipworms were not well known earlier due to privies (Table 1). In contrast, the highest per- their small size of only a few centimeters in centage of whipworm eggs in the other Albany length, almost necessitating a microscope to privy samples was only 24% of the identifi ed observe them. The roundworm, in contrast, can parasite eggs in sample 7 from feature 38 at exceed 30.5 cm (12 in.) in length and may be SUCF and 24% of the sample from privy 2 at 0.1 cm (0.25 in.) in cross section. Their size 40 Howard Street. Whipworm eggs were less makes them hard for their hosts to ignore them, than 10% of the estimated eggs from 17 of the and early Europeans had varieties of treatments privy samples. for roundworm infections (Buchan 1785). When the actual egg production of these The absence of medical knowledge regard- parasites is considered, the Pearl Street samples ing the life cycle of parasites and how these are even more significant. Greater quantities worms infected people, their small size, and of roundworms may be expected, since each the prevalent theory that worms developed from female produces 20 times more eggs than each spontaneous generation combined to reduce the whipworm female. The Pearl Street samples, possibility that whipworm infections would be however, indicate the opposite relationship, or treated. An alternative hypothesis proposing that an infection rate due to about 20 whipworm worms developed from eggs that infested the females to each roundworm female. human body began appearing in the professional This drop can only be a result of medical literature in the mid-19th century, although the treatment by the residents of Pearl Street. The common belief that worms resulted from spon- wealthy, educated Schuyler family, along with taneous generation remained (Shafer 1849). their servants and slaves, probably used medi- Despite the lack of necessary knowledge and cines that affected roundworm infection to a sanitary conditions to combat parasites, the greater degree than whipworm infection. Fecal inhabitants of Pearl Street managed to control contamination was a problem for all of the their roundworm infections. Relative to the Albany sites studied, as indicated by the similar samples from other parts of the city, appar- whipworm egg counts. Once the worms reached ently the residents of Pearl Street reduced their maturity and move into the intestine, the identi- Ascarid worm burdens by more than 80% in fi ed parasites have different adaptations to their relation to their Trichurid wormworm burdens.burdens. This,This, 192 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4) in turn, resulted in lowered risk of appendicitis, stances that were useful as purgatives. Later intestinal blockage, and other complaints related treatments continued to prescribe these medi- to Ascarid infection. cines for treatment of worms. Shafer (1849) The most obvious differences among the recommended antihelmintics, medications used sites studied appear to be their location and to remove worms from the stomach and intes- the wealth of the occupants. Modern studies of tines and purgatives for effective treatment. The public health have demonstrated a relationship antihelmintics served to weaken the parasites, among poverty, poor sanitation, and greater while the purgatives increased peristaltic action parasite infections (CDC 2006a). Pearl Street of the intestines to expel them. Wormseed (che- was situated on the State Street hill, well above nopodium), calomel, fern root, tin powder, bark the Hudson River waterfront where the major of pomegranate root, and others are included in archaeological excavations at SUCF, Picotte- Shafer’s treatments. Documentary evidence sug- DEC, Maiden Lane, and Quackenbush Square gests that massive doses of cathartics and laxa- took place. Wealthy merchant families were tives served to eliminate roundworms from some resident on the waterfront, but large numbers of the Pearl Street residents. This may have of workers, sailors, slaves, and immigrants occurred among wealthy individuals in other were also present. Wealthy, well-connected, parts of the city, but the current archaeological and established Albany families that included evidence does not support this conclusion. The the Staats, Livingstons, and Schuylers lived mixture of economic and occupational classes along Pearl Street during the colonial period along the waterfront may have obscured medical (Munsell 1871, 1876). They owned large houses treatments used by a minority of wealthy indi- and numerous parcels of land, held powerful viduals in the area. Clearly, this is a problem political positions, and were wealthy enough for future research. to have their portraits painted. If medical treatments were known, these families would Summary have had access to them. Jack Larkin (1988:88) has described physi- Large numbers of parasites were found in the cians’ treatments of the time as “bleeding and archaeological samples from Albany, New York. blistering, purging and puking.” Mercury and Parasites were discovered on the ground surface lead, along with other dangerous elements, were adjacent to a house occupied in the 1600s and used regularly in these medical procedures, and the mid-18th-century riverfront and streets. The both were evident in greater amounts in the greatest number of parasite eggs was found in trace elements found in the skeletal remains of soils and privy fi ll associated with the expansion a wealthy individual buried in the cemetery near of the city during the late-18th century. During the Pearl Street privies (Emsley 1986; Fisher the colonial period, the residents of Pearl Street 2003). As noted earlier, a recipe for a sage tea had a better health outlook than other areas of to remove worms was known to the Van Rens- Albany, but it was not a result of better sanita- selaer family, among the wealthiest people in tion. They controlled Ascarid infection through New York State in the early 1800s (Kellar et al. medicinal treatment. Parasites were present 1986:79). Medical books from the 18th century, throughout the city, regardless of the distance such as one published by physician William from the Hudson River or elevation relative to Buchan (1785), contained numerous remedies the water table. for expelling worms, including red wine, rhu- By 1830, the number of eggs in privy samples barb, calomel (chloride of mercury), and salad dropped well below that seen in the earlier oil. The latter, Buchan recommended, was most period. The average estimate of eggs in 1830 effective when administered in an enema. A was less than one-half the 1810 quantity, and New York Doctor, Robert Thomas, published only about 15% of the 1800 average. During this a medical manual for home use in 1829 that time, the Erie and Champlain canals opened with listed typical treatments for many known prob- Albany as the eastern terminus. Furthermore, lems (Hanson 2004). He included calomel, fern between 1800 and 1830, the population of the root, and tin fi lings among the medicines for city increased more than four times. Samples expelling worms, along with dozens of sub- after the mid-19th century contained greatly CHARLES L. FISHER, KARL J. REINHARD, MATTHEW KIRK, AND JUSTIN DiVIRGILIO—Privies and Parasites 193 reduced numbers of parasite eggs. Remarkably, et al. 2002, 2004). These methods should be Albany controlled the parasite infestation while applied to latrine sediments in the future. Bac- the city population almost doubled from 53,000 terial diseases are indicated by these parasites in 1830 to 90,000 in 1880. Successful control of as well, including cholera, Salmonella, respon- parasites was related to several factors, including sible for salmonella poisoning, and typhoid prohibitions on open-air dumping of waste in that posed a real risk for the residents of the the city, new technologies of privy construction city. In addition, these studies demonstrate the that included wooden box and stone-lined vaults, persistent discomfort of living with the parasite drains from the privies that controlled seepage, infections that undoubtedly affected the quality new water supply and sewage disposal systems, of daily life. and dangerous medical treatments. Preliminary studies of soil chemistry in the privies and the ground surfaces around them indicate that Acknowledgments the presence of some heavy metals is limited to the night soil in the privies and not a These excavations were carried out within the result of modern contamination of the general framework of cultural resource management environment (Arnason et al. 2003). These metals projects by archaeologists working for Hartgen appear to have been used in medicines intended Archeological Associates, Inc. (HAA) and the to purge infected residents. New York State Museum. We thank the large Despite these efforts, the lack of a scientifi c crews of dedicated and energetic people who understanding of the problem prevented the worked on these challenging projects in both the elimination of the parasites. Not all privies lab and fi eld. We are grateful for the support of were successfully drained, people handled dirty John P. Hart, director of Research and Collec- chamber pots, the privies were cleaned by tions at the New York State Museum, and Karen hand, and the night soil was often distributed S. Hartgen, president of HAA. We also thank on ground surfaces or used as fertilizer on gar- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dens. In 1854, the city began construction of a for allowing us to illustrate the article with their public sewer system that was not widely acces- diagrams of parasite life cycles. George Hamel sible until the 1880s. All of the waste from directed us to several useful sources. We are this system drained into the Hudson River. grateful to Lihua Shi for preparing Figure 1 Unfortunately, by the time this sanitary system and to Statistical Research, Inc., (SRI) and was in use, the city was forced to obtain larger Margaret Robbins of SRI for refi ning the fi g- quantities of water from the river to meet the ures for publication. The comments of Richard needs of the residents. By pumping the polluted Veit, Kathleen Wheeler, Terry Majewski, and an river water back into the city, another cycle of anonymous reader are appreciated. Any errors in health problems was initiated with more than this text, of course, are the responsibility of the 1,000 cases of typhoid reported in 1891 and authors. 1892 in Albany (City of Albany 1997). In the future, additional archaeological samples from the late-19th century may shed light on the References rates of parasitic infections following the city’s conversion to the Hudson River for drinking ALBANY CENTINEL 1797 Dreadful Confl agration. Albany Centinel 8 August. water. Albany, NY. Although the parasites found in large numbers in the archaeological sites studied in Albany ALBANY, CITY OF were not a major threat to public health, 1773 Laws and Ordinances of the Mayor, Recorder, Alderman and Commonalty of the City of Albany. they are indicators of other more dangerous, Alexander and James Robertson, Albany, NY. fecal-borne diseases that were present, such as 1829 Laws and Ordinances of the Common Council of the parasitic protozoa, including Giardia lamblia and City of Albany. D. M’Glashan, Albany, NY. Entamoeba histolytica. Only recently have meth- 1859 Minutes of August 9, City Common Council. Albany ods been developed for testing archaeological County Hall of Records, Albany, NY. soils for residues of these parasites (Gonçalves 194 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(4)
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HARTGEN ARCHEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATES, INC. (HAA) KELLAR, JANE CARPENTER, ELLEN MILLER, AND PAUL 2002a At the River’s Edge: Two-Hundred-Fifty Years of STAMBACH (COMPILERS AND EDITORS) Albany History. Data Retrieval, SUCF Parking 1986 Cure for Worms of Van Rensselaer, Elizabeth Structure, Maiden Lane, Albany, New York. Report to (1799–1835). On the Score of Hospitality, Selected State University Construction Fund, State University Receipts of a Van Rensselaer Family Albany, New Plaza, Albany, NY, from Hartgen Archeological York 1785–1835, revised edition. Historic Cherry Associates, Rensselaer, NY. Hill, Albany, NY. 2002b On the Outside Looking in: Four Centuries of Change at 625 Broadway, Archeology at the DEC KELSO, GERALD K. Headquarters, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York. 1999 Report on Pollen Analysis of Soil Profi les at Howard Report to The Picotte Companies, Corporate Woods Street and Norton Street, Pearl Street Reconstruction Boulevard, Albany, NY, from Hartgen Archeological Project, Albany, NY. Manuscript, Cultural Resource Associates, Rensselaer, NY. Survey Program, New York State Museum, Albany, 2002c Phase IB/III Archeological Investigations Hudson NY. River Way Pedestrian Bridge, Maiden Lane, City of Albany, Albany County, New York, Volume I: LAIN, ANDREA, AND MARTIN SOLANO Archeology. Report to Harrison and Burrowes 2003 The People of the Albany Almshouse. Paper presented Bridge Constructors, Glenmont, NY, from Hartgen at the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology Archeological Associates, Rensselaer, NY. Annual Meeting, Lowell, MA.
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