We already know the Gowanus Canal has gonohorrea, can give you cancer, and has at least one boat in it, but what other secrets might its murky depths reveal once its Superfund-ed cleanup kicks in? That's what the Times wonders today and their speculation has us excited.
Things that might be in the canal besides trash and sludge include maybe some Indian arrowheads, fishing hooks and other artifacts, and possibly even some bones from the Battle of Brooklyn? “There’s always been this great mystery of where the Marylanders were buried,” Kimberly Maier of the Old Stone House museum told the paper regarding the remains of those lost in the battle. “Were they in one specific grave about 100 feet from the curb along Third Avenue between Seventh and Eighth Streets, or dumped into the Gowanus wetlands? What turns up would be amazing.”
Exciting, right? So poo on the Times for spoiling the fun at the end of the story with the acknowlegement that "expectations of major archaeological discoveries are low given how heavily the area has been developed over the centuries. Many residents...would be happy just improving the quality of water along the 1.8-mile-long canal, which was carved out of tidal wetlands and streams in the 1860s."
And yeah, clean water would be nice. But we're still going to hold out hope for some really old bones to go along with all that toxic sludge.
