Alyssa Loorya: What Can A 300-Year Old Farmhouse Tell Us About Metropolitan New York?

By NPR/TED Staff

Published November 13, 2020 at 6:42 AM PST

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Life Cycles Of Cities.

In the heart of urban Brooklyn, a 300-year old farmhouse still stands. Archaeologist Alyssa Loorya explains how artifacts found at the site trace the life cycles of New York City--from 1720 to today.

About Alyssa Loorya

Alyssa Loorya is a New York City-based archaeologist and preservationist. She is the co-founder and president of Chrysalis Archaeology and serves as a board member for several preservation organizations, including the Hendrick I. Lott House and Historic Districts Council.

Loorya is also involved in archaeological and historic preservation educational programming. She has developed special content curricula in archaeology and historic preservation and architecture for the New York City Department of Education, several local museums, and nonprofits.

She received her M.A. at Hunter College in New York and her Ph.D. in Anthropology and Archeology from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

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