In Baltimore a mikvah, or Jewish ritual bath, dating from 1845 has been found by archaeologists. This is the oldest known mikvah in the United States.
From an archaeological standpoint, the trash that was thrown in the mikvah when it was filled in in 1860 might well prove to be more important than the bath itself. Trash reveals a great deal about the ways in which people live. And in this case, it has the advantage of all having been deposited in a very short period of time and at a known date.
One more interesting detail is that after the building was used as a synagogue, it became a Catholic church for a while, and then was turned back into a synagogue again. That’s a very American pattern of religious building use, and not at all what you would be likely to find in many other parts of the world.
