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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 22h

We have been actively assembling a team of experts who will spend the next 3 years studying the building, making plans for its reconstruction in Boston, and raising the funds necessary to complete the project ahead of the city’s 400th anniversary in 2030. (2/3)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 22h

We bought a house! Well, a timber house frame. We’ve been waiting to share this huge news with you all! We are finally the proud owners of the frame of the c. 1675 Capen House, originally built in Dorchester. (1/3)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 08/10/2026

Nope, just this one. You can set up an appointment to visit any of Boston's historic burying grounds for free if you call the Cemetery Division of the Parks Dept: 617-635-7361.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 07/10/2026

Join the City of the Boston Archaeology Program and the Brighton-Allston Historical Society on Saturday, October 17th from 11am-2pm and take a stroll around this incredible historic resource established in 1764. Admission is free. (2/2) #Boston #archaeology #cemetery #Allston #Brighton

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 07/10/2026

Is it spooky season already? That means it's time once again to open the cemetery gates to explore one of our many beautiful and fascinating historic burying grounds! Established in 1764, the Market Street Burying Ground in Brighton will be open for one day only!🪦(1/2)

Photo of an angel's head gravestone with text advertising a free opening of the Market Street Burying Ground in Brighton, Boston on October 17, 2026 from 11AM-2PM.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

Do you recognize the brooch? 👀 If you have seen a similar piece (or have an idea who the figure might be), we’d love to hear from you!

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

We scoured books and the internet looking for a match, but we haven’t been able to identify an exact example.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

A gilded pin-back brooch.The glass front contains a printed image of a seated boy (or perhaps a saint or scholar?) with his hands crossed in front of him and a small strip of text beneath the image.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

A monogrammed 3-piece coat button, marked BSR (Boston School Regiment), with a stamped back reading “John R. Farrell, Boston.” Originally gilded, this button is missing its shank. The Boston School Regiment was a 19th-century military training program for students in Boston’s public high schools.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

Pictured here: An iron button, likely a shank button, and unfortunately one that is quickly corroding thanks to the acidic soils of New England. 🥲

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

We’ve been making our way through the collection, identifying the material we recovered and entering it into our database. We’re finding an assortment of buttons and personal adornment objects, including a few pieces from the same context, all in varying degrees of condition and preservation.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/09/2026

Still thinking about our excavation at Bunker Hill? We are, too! 😊

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 09/09/2026

We're lucky enough to share space with our colleagues at @archives.boston.gov who kindly located some 18th-century Charlestown documents for us. Highlights include expert-level sass regarding tea & John Hancock's version of "sorry not sorry." #Boston #archaeology #Boston250 #RevolutionaryWar

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 26/08/2026

This June, the City of Boston Archaeology Program conducted an archaeological investigation next to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown to investigate one of the first & bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. Read More: ow.ly/2LwY50ZyGBc #boston #archaeology #charlestown #bunkerhill

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/08/2026

Can you identify some of the artifacts or material types in our tableau? Bonus points if you can pick out the reproductions versus the antiques from our personal collections. (4/4) #Boston #Dorchester #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/08/2026

In fact, the pear originated in England around 1765 and is commonly referred to as the Williams pear outside of the U.S. and Canada. A little embarrassing, but we still call them Bartletts here, so it looks like old Enoch got the last laugh. Would we call this failing upward? (3/4)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/08/2026

It was believed that Bartlett had “discovered” a new type of pear on his property until the realization in 1828 that they, uh…were already a thing. (2/4)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/08/2026

What do you do when it’s time to harvest your Bartlett pears? Arrange a still life, duh! The Bartlett was introduced to the U.S. by James Carter in 1799, who planted them in Dorchester on farmland that would later be purchased by Enoch Bartlett, a VP of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society (1/4)

An image showing a platter of green pears surrounded by a small creamer, a pitcher, a dark glass bottle, a wine glass, and a smoking pipe.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 30/07/2026

We needed a little boost on this gloomy day so we decided to bust open some notes from our lab visitors! Turns out they are big fans 🪭 Thanks for the kind words and support! #boston #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 27/07/2026

We’ve developed a new section of our website to help interested folks understand exactly how an archaeological excavation works & how we can work together to learn as much as possible about our city’s past as we move forward into the future. What are you waiting for? Dig in! #boston #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 27/07/2026

Do you own property in a Landmark/Architectural Conservation District with archaeology protections? Are you a developer wanting to help preserve our irreplaceable cultural resources as our city grows? Read about our process, methods, the public benefits of archaeology, & more. tinyurl.com/552fw9dk

Grid of images showing archaeological excavations, artifacts, and handwritten historic documents over a cell reading “Dig into History with the City of Boston Archaeology Program”

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 08/07/2026

Join City Archaeologist Joe on a guided walking tour of 1783 Boston as imagined by the makers of Assassin's Creed III! Favorite quote: "we've dug right where he's standing & there's no well there." Did your favorite Boston archaeological site get mentioned? 🪏 #boston #archaeology #assassinscreed

youtu.be

Assassin's Creed III Guided Tour: Historian Explores Revolutionary Boston (USA 250th Anniversary)

YouTube video by Assassin's Creed

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 06/07/2026

Archaeology Magazine ✅ Smithsonian Magazine ✅ Scientific American ✅ Forgive us for geeking out, but this feels like some kind of nerd hat trick! We're thrilled and honored that our research is reaching so many people as we work to tell the hard histories and untold stories of everyday Bostonians!

scientificamerican.com

250 years later, new history is uncovered from the first major battle of the American Revolution

New archaeology has uncovered everything from musket balls to wig curlers at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major clash of the American Revolution

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 02/07/2026

It's hot out and we don't like it! We're holed up in the lab today, but for those days when you gotta get out there we've got some pro tips to get you through. 😎 #Boston #archaeology #heat

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 26/06/2026

And of course big thanks to all of you who supported us over the past 2+ years as we researched, planned, unplanned, and finally excavated! We'll be posting more about the dig and our findings as we process everything from the field. Stay tuned! (4/4) #digbos250 #digbunkerhill #legacyfundforboston

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 26/06/2026

And thanks to our amazing collaborators at Northeast Archeological Resources Program, Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown Historical Society, and Charlestown Preservation Society for sharing your knowledge and resources! (3/4)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 26/06/2026

Thanks to American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, Friends of Boston Archaeology (+1 for the timelapse!), Bob Chartrand, Joel Bohy, and the Legacy Fund for Boston for making it all possible! (2/4)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 26/06/2026

We are back in the lab and have just about recovered from backfilling all of our trenches up at the Battle of Bunker Hill redoubt excavation! 💪 This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (1/4)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 18/06/2026

These will be taken back to the City lab and can be processed in the future to look for small finds, botanicals, or even parasites, though we usually save that one for privy soils 💩 (3/3) #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 18/06/2026

We are collecting a sample from each of the separate soil strata that make up the fills as well as the intact 1775 soils beneath. (2/3)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 18/06/2026

Final step before we backfill the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill redoubt: soil samples! Because archaeology is an inherently destructive process, archaeologists sometimes take soil samples from important features. 🧵(1/3)

Overhead view of two archaeologists side by side in a deep trench using trowels to collect soil samples from the trench walls

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/06/2026

Come by the Bunker Hill Monument today before 4:30 to say hi and view the 1775 redoubt! (2/2) #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 17/06/2026

Today marks the 251st anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the first & the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. It’s also your last chance to see the excavated 1775 earthwork fortifications constructed by the provincials the night before the battle before we backfill it! (1/2)

View of an archaeological trench containing the remains of the redoubt visible in the wall

An overview of the City of Boston Archaeology excavation at the Bunker Hill Monument

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 16/06/2026

The British ones tend to be larger (this one is a .69 caliber) and the provincial ones are smaller and often have sprue remaining from the molding process. (2/2) #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 16/06/2026

We are wrapping it up in Trench 3 today and getting ready to cheer for everyone at their naturalization ceremony here at the Bunker Hill monument! Congrats to all! Our buried 1775 surface has yielded another British and another provincial musket ball. (1/2)

Two musketballs, one smaller and one larger, in a person’s palm

Overhead view of two archaeologists digging in a trench

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

You'll have to ask them! We would happily support.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

Was it accidental or deliberate that Gridley & Prescott fortified the eastern hilltop? We still can’t say. But we can say the battle did in fact happen on Bunker’s Hill, & the hill was later renamed Breed's Hill. So there you have it. (7/7) #digBOS #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

Even the maps that label both hills (sometimes swapped) depict the events of June 1775, but were drawn later. If you asked the people of Charlestown on the day of the battle where it took place, they'd have said Bunker’s Hill. A few may have said Charlestown Hill, another name sometimes used. (6/7)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

So when did it become Breed’s Hill? It’s possible some may have called it Breed's at the time, but deeds & other official documents do not start using that name until the 1790s, long after the battle. (5/7)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

Samuel Swan, who owned the pasture where the battle took place, wrote in his claim for damages, “the Pasture where the fight was in June & pasture on Bunker’s Hill, breastwork on it & the ground almost all cut up within the breastwork.” The actual owner of the hill calls it Bunker’s Hill. (4/7)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

Our research shows that in 1775, both of these hills were experienced together as one landform called Bunker’s Hill. Here’s our proof: (3/7)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

There they could defend “the neck,” the land bridge connecting the town to the mainland. But Prescott instead fortified the more confrontational eastern hilltop, today called Breed’s Hill, triggering the Battle. (2/7)

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 15/06/2026

Breed’s Hill or Bunker Hill? The answer is…yes. Gen. Artemas Ward & the Mass. Committee of Safety ordered Cols. Richard Gridley & William Prescott to fortify Bunker Hill in Charlestown. It’s clear that Ward meant the fortifications to be built on the hill at the west end of the peninsula. 🧵(1/7)

A collage of images showing the handwritten document and an inset of the words “Bunker Hill” highlighted, and a map showing the location of the redoubt on the recreated 1775 property map.

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 12/06/2026

This redware was made here in Charlestown likely at the Parker-Harris pottery where enslaved potters Jack and Acton worked. Check our website for more on them! (2/2) #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill #archaeology

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 12/06/2026

Some Charlestownware just popped out of Trench 3! Nice to see some of this home-thrown pottery up by the Bunker Hill redoubt. (1/2)

A fragment of redware pottery with a greenish glaze and yellow slip decoration

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City of Boston Archaeology @archaeology.boston.gov · 12/06/2026

Special thanks to Stacey who came back out on this scorcher of a day to help! We are here today (6/12) and will be out Monday-Wednesday next week. #digBOS250 #digBunkerHill #archaeology

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