Archaeology

EXPERIENCE PROFILE

 UPDATE

Robert K. Fitts is the President and Principal Archaeologist at Gotham Archaeology, LLC.  Prior to founding Gotham Archaeology, LLC, Dr. Fitts was a principal investigator at John Milner Associates, Inc. after earning his Ph.D. at Brown University in 1995.  He has extensive experience in documentary research and field investigations in New York City having directed projects in all five boroughs.  Dr. Fitts has special expertise in urban archaeology, nineteenth-century New York, and African-American studies.   He has numerous professional publications including a book on slavery in eighteenth-century Rhode Island, and an edited volume entitled “Confronting Class.”  Dr. Fitts is a Registered Professional Archeologist (RPA).

ARCHAEOLOGY PUBLICATIONS AND MAJOR PAPERS

2002                 Becoming American: The Archaeology of an Italian Immigrant.  Historical Archaeology 35 (4).

2001                 The Rhetoric of Reform: The Five Points Missions and the Cult of Domesticity.  Historical Archaeology 35 (3).

2000                 Michael Pette and the Assimilation Process. Paper presented at the 33rd annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Quebec, Canada.

1999                 The Archaeology of Domesticity. Historical Archaeology 33(1).

1999                 Confronting Class. Historical Archaeology 33(1) (co-editor with LouAnn Wurst).

1999                 Introduction. Historical Archaeology 33(1) (with LouAnn Wurst).

1998                 Inventing New England’s Slave Paradise: Master/Slave Relations in Eighteenth-Century Narragansett, Rhode Island. Garland Publishing, New York.

1998               Tales from the Toy Box. Paper presented at the 31st annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, Georgia. (with Heather Griggs and Gary McGowan).

1997               Domesticity and Gentility in Victorian Brooklyn. Paper presented at the 30th annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Corpus Christi, Texas.

1997               Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Narragansett, Rhode Island. Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society 16(1):1-20.

1996               From Tanning to Tea: The Evolution of a Neighborhood. Paper presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society of Historical Archaeology, Cincinnati, Ohio (with Rebecca Yamin, Reginald H. Pitts, and Claudia Milne).

1996               The Landscapes of Northern Bondage. Historical Archaeology 30(2):54-73.

1994               Baseball Cards and Race Relations. Journal of American Culture 17(3):75-85.

1994               The Landscapes of Northern Bondage. Paper presented at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Vancouver, British Columbia.

1993               The Archaeology of Baseball Cards and Race Relations. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Kansas City, Missouri.

1992               A Comparative Approach to African-American Ethnicity and Slave Culture. Paper presented at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Kingston, Jamaica.

1991               Gravestone Inscriptions as a Source for Colonial History: A Case Study on the Transition from Puritan to Yankee New England. Man in the Northeast 41:65-83.

1990               Puritans, Yankees and Gravestones. Volumes in Historical Archaeology XV, edited by Stanley South. South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology.

1989               A Linguistic Analysis of New England Gravestones. Paper presented at the 22nd annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Baltimore, Maryland.

KEY PROJECTS

1999                      Phase IC archeological investigation, Saugatucket River Walkway, South Kingstown, Rhode Island.  Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

1999               Phase IC archeological investigation, Route 108 Highway Improvements, South Kingstown, Rhode Island.  Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

1998               Phase II and III archeological investigations, Queens Family Court and Family Court Agencies Facility, Jamaica, Queens. Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc.

1998              Phase IA archeological documentary investigations, Queens Hospital Center. Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc.

1997-1998    Phase III Historical Research. Foley Square: Broadway Block, Manhattan, New York. Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc.

1997              Phase II archeological investigations, Bernard M. Baruch College Site B (89PRO746), New York. Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc.

1997              Phase I archeological investigations, proposed William Tieck Apartments, The Bronx, New York. Related Capital Company.

1995-1996    Phase III Historical Research, Five Points: Court House Block, Foley Square, New York. Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc. and the General Services Administration 

1995              Phase II and III archeological investigations, Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, Brooklyn, New York. Atlantic Housing Corporation. Atlantic Housing Corporation.

1995              Phase IA Historical Research, Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, Brooklyn, New York. Hudson Residential Services, Inc. Atlantic Housing Corporation.

1989-1992    Principal Investigator, Site Supervisor, and Laboratory Supervisor. Cocumscussoc project (RI 375), Brown University.

1988              Historical Research, Roy Avenue Mill Complex, Attleboro, MA. Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc.

1988              Historical Research, Fairhaven, Charlestown, RI. Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc.

1988              Historical Research, Eastover, Portsmouth, RI. Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc.

1987              Archeological Data Recovery, Valley Forge Project. Valley Forge, PA. National Park Service.

1986              Field Staff. Pluckemin Archeological Project, NJ. Rutgers University.

1986              Phase II Archeological Investigation, Addison Plantation, Prince Georges County, MD. James T. Lewis Enterprises, Inc.