Archaeological dig at Battle of Bunker Hill site uncovers Revolutionary War artifacts

Artifacts that haven't seen the light of day in 251 years are being discovered at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown, Massachusetts – just in time for the nation's 250th birthday.

The project is one of the first archaeological digs at the site of the battle fought on June 17, 1775.

Crews are wanting to learn more about the earthen fortification, known as the redoubt, which is essentially a dirt fort colonial soldiers built by hand overnight before fighting began.

"We know that the fortification was up here, but nobody has been able to identify where specifically it is after all of these years," said Project Archaeologist for the City of Boston, Lauryn Sharp. "Even with the monument being built, there wasn't any evidence of where the actual redoubt was, so this is kind of the first hand that we are adding this information back into the story."

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Through the dig, crews are hoping they will find more clues about the Battle of Bunker Hill, known as the bloodiest single day of the Revolutionary War. On the search for the redoubt, archaeologists have found artifacts from 251 years ago. 

"We found two English gun flints, a French gun flint, and then two musket balls that are consistent with being British," said Joel Bohy, a historian and material culture specialist. "This project has been extremely successful and we're learning new things about the battle that we didn't know before."

Bohy was examining a musket ball archaeologists found in one of two trenches. 

"I haven't weighed yet, but it is possibly from a provincial gun. So we've got materials used from both sides, it seems, all in this one trench," said Bohy. "You can see it struck the ground at medium velocity, but it's also got what's called a sprue, and it sticks up a lot more than a normal sprue would and that would be how it was molded."

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The City of Boston archaeology program and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR) are leading the dig. AVAR helps veterans transition into careers in professional archeology. The non-profit specializes in battlefields and conflict sites, both in America and abroad.

 "Just being a veteran, just having served, it does give you more emotional understanding of real lived experience and what conflict is like and combat is like and taking orders is like," said Dr. Stephen Humphreys, CEO of American Veterans Archaeological Recovery.

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Humphreys said this work is an important project from a military and historical standpoint.

"But what archeology can do is it can give you more insight into the very real experiences of those typical soldiers on the ground. And of course, that's what my crew knows already from having served," said Humphreys. "So for a lot these individuals, a lot of people who fought in this battle, there really isn't anything left of them except for maybe a musket ball or a gun flint or a button."

The crews said while the artifacts are fascinating and exciting to find, it's important to remember real families have been impacted by the history at Bunker Hill. 

"251 years ago, next week, there were a lot of men who fought and died here from both sides. So as much as we get excited about these finds, we need to remember the human side of this also," said Bohy. 

The artifacts discovered during the dig will be examined in a lab and eventually added to a digital database. 

"We think we know a lot about history, and we read books and things like that, but when we dig into the ground like this and we can possibly identify where the redoubt walls were, and we find objects coming out of the hole, it makes history more three-dimensional," said Bohy. 

The City of Boston was initially set to end the project after two weeks, but may extend. As for AVAR, some of the group is heading abroad.

"We're really honored to be taking some of these same veterans and some of our crew over to Sicily to work on a bomber from World War II to see if we can give resolution to some family members," Humphreys said. "This is just part of a larger line up for us of conflict sites where we hope to bring some closure to families and let more Americans know about our military history."