Although written documents record more than 350 years of events in North America, they reveal little about what everyday life was like. The three segments of this magazine-format film explore the current work of historical archaeologists at three sites across the United States. Details of peoples' lives are revealed in excavations at slave quarters on St. Simon Island, slag heaps in northern California mining towns occupied between 1859-1902, and subway construction sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where urban archaeologists devise new methods to discover artifacts in land still used.
In an attempt to cut the often esoteric ice of anthropology, PBS released in 1980 the first season of ODYSSEY, a newly-created series of anthropological documentaries, with a second season in 1981. The entire series was produced by Public Broadcasting Associates of Boston, with major funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Polaroid. Michael Ambrosino is the Executive Producer of the series.