The team’s methods revealed that remnants of buried structures – including a "bombproof" earthwork traverse along with its underlying vaulted brick masonry tunnel and ventilation ducts – ran east to west beneath the prison recreation yard.
"The remains of these historical archaeology features were just a few centimetres beneath the surface and they were miraculously and impeccably preserved," said Binghamton University archaeologist Timothy de Smet. "The concrete veneer of the recreation yard floor is incredibly thin and, in fact, in places sitting directly atop the architecture from the 1860s. We also learned that some of the earthwork traverses were covered over with thin concrete layers through time, likely to decrease erosion on the rainy windy island. It was wonderful to find the history just beneath our feet that we can visualise for the public."
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