The Archaeology of Boston’s Revolutionary Past

Join Boston City Archaeologist Joe Bagley for a presentation on archaeological research that is deepening our understanding of Boston’s role in the American Revolution. Bagley will share new findings on the impact of the Siege of Boston and the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill—the first major battle of the war—on the people of Boston.

Although named for Bunker Hill, the highest hill in Charlestown, north of Boston, the battle actually took place on Breed’s Hill, located closer to the Charles River. Bagley will outline plans to pinpoint the exact location of the Breed’s Hill redoubt and to search for more than 200 unmarked graves of fallen soldiers. He will also discuss forthcoming investigations of the “lost forts” of Roxbury, once positioned on a hill overlooking Roxbury Neck, the only land route out of Boston in the late eighteenth century. Explore the hidden Revolutionary War landscape beneath modern Boston and Charlestown with the city’s lead archaeologist as your guide.

Free admission. Presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.

Photo © City of Boston Archaeology Program