UMVA has learned that long‑buried relics from the Battle of Bunker Hill are emerging from the earth beneath the iconic monument in Charlestown, just as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.
For the first time, archaeologists are tearing into the ground where colonial soldiers erected a makeshift earthwork fort—known as the redoubt—overnight before the June 17, 1775 clash. The exact location of that hurried fortification has remained a mystery, even as the towering monument rose above it.
Project archaeologist Lauryn Sharp explained that the dig aims to pinpoint the redoubt’s remnants and stitch them back into the story of America’s bloodiest single day of the Revolutionary War.
Excavators have already uncovered a trove of 251‑year‑old artifacts: two English gun flints, a French gun flint, and two musket balls matching British ammunition. Historian and material‑culture specialist Joel Bohy called the finds “extremely successful,” noting they reveal details of the battle previously hidden from history.
One musket ball, still warm from the moment it struck the ground, bears an unusually long sprue—a telltale sign of the casting technique used for provincial guns. Its presence alongside British‑style shot suggests soldiers from both sides fought and fell in the same trench.
The excavation is a joint effort by the City of Boston’s archaeology program and American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), a nonprofit that transforms veterans into professional archaeologists. Their unique perspective brings a visceral understanding of combat to the painstaking work of uncovering battlefield remnants.
Dr. Stephen Humphreys, AVAR’s CEO, emphasized that the project offers a rare window into the lived experiences of ordinary foot soldiers—people whose lives left behind only a few fragments of metal and wood.
While the discoveries spark excitement, the team reminds visitors that each artifact carries the weight of families who lost loved ones on that fateful hill. “We must honor the human side of this history,” Bohy urged.
Every recovered object will be cataloged in a digital database after careful laboratory analysis, turning static textbook pages into a three‑dimensional portrait of the past.
Initially slated to end after two weeks, the dig may now extend as the crew continues to chase clues about the redoubt’s walls and the soldiers who built them. Meanwhile, AVAR plans to send some of its veteran archaeologists overseas to a World War II bomber site in Sicily, hoping to bring closure to families still seeking answers.
