Historical archaeology, community archaeology, preservation planning, urban development, African-American and Euro-American domestic life and material culture.

For many years the City Archaeologist for Alexandria, Virginia, Dr. Cressey has directed a variety of activities to study and preserve that city. This includes excavations at a plantation site on Shuter's Hill near the George Washington Masonic National Memorial and at the Alexandria Freedmen's Cemetery.

Ongoing Projects

• Continued excavation at Shuter's Hill. Analysis and publication of materials from that site and others.
• Work on the Alexandria Heritage Trail, the Alexandria Contrabands and Freedmen's Cemetery Memorial Project, and related initiatives.

Anth 3811/AmSt 3811: Historical Archaeology
Anth 3835/AmSt 3835: Historical Archaeology Field Program
Anth 6807: Public Archaeology

Books and Monographs

2009  Cressey, P.J. "The Archaeology of Alexandria." In Archaeology in America An Encyclopedia, Ed. F. P. McManamon. Vol. 1, p. 176-180. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

2005  Cressey, P.J., and M.J. Anderson. Alexandria, Virginia (Digging for the Past). New York: Oxford University Press.

2000  Bromberg, F.W., S.J. Shephard, B.H. Magid, P.J. Cressey, T. Dennee and B.K. Means. To Find Rest From All Trouble: The Archaeology of the Quaker Burying Ground, Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Archaeology Museum.

1993  Cressey, P.J. To Witness the Past: African American Archaeology in Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Archaeology Museum.

1989  Cressey, P.J. The Nineteenth-Century Transformation and Spatial Development of Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Archaeology Museum.

1985  Cressey, P.J. The Archaeology of Free Blacks in Alexandria, Virginia. Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Archaeology Museum.

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

2005  Cressey, P.J. "Community archaeology in Alexandria, Virginia." In L.A. De Cunzo and J.H. Jameson Jr., eds., Unlocking the Past: Celebrating Historical Archaeology in North America. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

Ph.D. 1985, University of Iowa
M.A. 1973, University of Iowa
B.A. 1968, UCLA