Months after ground-penetrating radar and historic 1775 maps first pointed to potential buried history at the Bunker Hill Monument, those high-tech clues have resulted in tangible discoveries right beneath our feet. Back in June, the Charlestown Patriot Bridge reported on the initial stages of this groundbreaking archaeological effort to map out the battle’s original footprint.
Now, the City of Boston Archaeology Program has released the highly anticipated findings from its summer excavations. Moving beyond preliminary X-ray scans, archaeologists successfully unearthed sections of the original earthen redoubt dug by Provincial soldiers, along with musket balls, gunflints, and everyday artifacts left behind during the subsequent British occupation. The city’s full report detailing the historic finds is below.
Working in collaboration with the Northeast Archeological Resources Program (NARP), American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), Bob Chartrand from Chartrand Geoarchaeological Solutions, LLC, Joel Bohy, the Legacy Fund for Boston, the Charlestown Impact Fund, Friends of Boston Archaeology, the National Parks of Boston, and the Boston National Historical Park, archaeologists conducted excavations on the monument’s southwest and northwest quadrants as part of an ongoing attempt to better understand the Battle of Bunker Hill and the people whose lives were changed by it.
This year (2026) marks the 251st anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, approximately 1,200 colonial militiamen worked through the night of June 16, 1775, constructing a hastily-built earthen fortification, known as a redoubt, across the Charles River from Boston proper. Although the Americans were forced to retreat in the end,, the battle proved that these colonial townsfolk, including farmers, blacksmiths, hatmakers, and candlemakers, could stand against one of the world’s most powerful armies…