Archaeologists have scoured the grounds where the 1969 Woodstock Festival was held. Iconic musicians such as Janis Joplin and The Who performed during the event.
The Bingham University's Public Archaeology Facility conducted a five-day excavation to find more information about the legendary music festival that took place almost 50 years ago. What they found, however, were a little underwhelming.
Archaeologists Excavate Woodstock Venue 59 Years Later
Instead of wonderful treasures, the team uncovered parts of aluminum cans, broken glass, and other trash.
"The overall point of this investigation is to kind of define the stage space," said Josh Anderson, project director.
The archaeologists found markings of were a fence might have been placed in order to separate the crowd from the stage.
"We can use this as a reference point," he added. "People can stand on that and look up at the hill and say, 'Oh, this is where the performers were. Jimi Hendrix stood here and played his guitar at 8:30 in the morning.'"
About 400,000 people were believed to have attended the massive musical festival, a celebration of peace, love, protests, and art. Joan Baez, Santana, The Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane were among the artists who played at the three-day event that took place in August 1969.
Aerial shots from the historic weekend alone could not be used as an accurate measure to preserve where exactly the stage was, said Wade Lawrence of The Museum of Bethel Woods. He said that the findings of the Bingham University this week will be a great help for when the museum plan out walking routes and other activities for next year's 50th anniversary of Woodstock.
The results will also be used for the planned restoration of the grades in the area where the stage was set up.
Woodstock In 2018
Every year, hundreds of music fans make a pilgrimage to the site in Bethel, New York. Because the same venue was once a battleground during the Civil War, the area was preserved and protected as a national historic site.
However, last year, Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo announced that Bethel Woods Center for the Arts has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The government official said in his speech that Woodstock was a "pivotal moment in both New York and American history."
In 1994 and in 1999, two more Woodstock music festivals were held in upstate New York. Both events tried to emulate the original 1969 event.
