INSIDE THE ROCK'S SURPRISING HISTORY
Archaeology|September/October 2020
Before it was an infamous prison, Fort Alcatraz played a key role defending the West Coast
Matthew Brunwasser
INSIDE THE ROCK'S SURPRISING HISTORY

On the 8:20 a.m. boat to Alcatraz, no one gawks at the spectacular views of San Francisco along the shore of the bay. It’s cold and overcast, as is typical for late spring. The conversations are familiar and collegial—this ferry is limited to people who work on the island, including National Park Service rangers, volunteers, and maintenance personnel. The 22-acre rocky island of Alcatraz is less than two miles north of downtown San Francisco, so the journey lasts only about 10 minutes. Since the maximum security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed in 1963, after just under three decades of operation, the prison’s picturesque location and former celebrity inmates have generated reams of tourism-industry copy, inspired numerous Hollywood films, spawned urban legends, and made Alcatraz Island one of America’s most popular National Park Service sites. Yet few know about the island’s pre-prison history.

The first European to visit Alcatraz is thought to have been the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who sailed his ship San Carlos into San Francisco Bay in August 1775 and named one of its islands Isla de los Alcatraces, “Island of the Pelicans” or “Strange Birds.” In the mid-nineteenth century, the island became home to Fort Alcatraz, one of the first U.S. military fortifications constructed on the West Coast. It was also the site of the West Coast’s first lighthouse.

Esta historia es de la edición September/October 2020 de Archaeology.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición September/October 2020 de Archaeology.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE ARCHAEOLOGYVer todo
Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Friend For Hercules - Archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

While digging at the crossroads of the two main streets in the ancient city of Philippi in northern Greece, archaeologists discovered a finely carved head depicting Apollo, god of the sun, music, and poetry.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.
Archaeology

Digs & Discoveries - A Fortress Sanctuary - A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

A sprawling 2,000-year-old fortress in the Zagros Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have included a sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.
Archaeology

Like Cats And Dogs – Archeologist fund the skeleton of a male Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a notoriously shy creature.

Оn the periphery of Zamárdi, an ancient lakeshore settlement in west-central Hungary, archaeologists uncovered a nearly five-foot-deep beehive-shaped pit with the skeletons of four adult dogs buried in successive shallow layers.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos
Archaeology

A Dynasty Born In Fire- How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos

At the beginning of the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 810-1000), many of the great kingdoms of the southern Maya lowlands-among them Tikal, Palenque, and Calakmul-were being abandoned or collapsing. For many years, scholars have assumed that most, if not all, the other kingdoms across the Maya world must have also been in steep decline.

time-read
10 minutos  |
July/August 2024
Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.
Archaeology

Medical Malfeasance - Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy.

Archaeologists uncovered two coffins during excavations of a nineteenth-century cemetery in Quebec City that provide evidence of the illicit practice of diverting corpses for the study of human anatomy. Starting in 1847, medical students were required to have practical experience studying human anatomy, but legal options to procure cadavers were limited

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024
RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU
Archaeology

RISE AND FALL OF TIWANAKU

New dating techniques are unraveling the mystery of a sacred Andean city

time-read
10 minutos  |
July/August 2024
Making a Roman Emperor
Archaeology

Making a Roman Emperor

A newly discovered monumental arch in Serbia reveals a family's rise to power in the late second century A.D.

time-read
10 minutos  |
July/August 2024
The Assyrian Renaissance
Archaeology

The Assyrian Renaissance

Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world's grandest imperial capitals

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July/August 2024
Java's Megalithic Mountain
Archaeology

Java's Megalithic Mountain

Across the Indonesian archipelago, people raised immense stones to honor their ancestors

time-read
8 minutos  |
July/August 2024
THE SONG IN THE STONE
Archaeology

THE SONG IN THE STONE

Located in a desert gorge in southern Peru, Toro Muerto is one of the richest rock art sites in South America. It includes at least 2,600 boulders bearing petroglyphs, many featuring figures known as danzantes who appear to be dancing.

time-read
1 min  |
July/August 2024