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Archaeology

The Central Artery/Tunnel Project has dug deep into Boston's rich history and the findings help paint a clearer picture of Native American culture and colonial New England. Before construction began on Boston's new underground expressway, a team of archaeologists conducted several excavations in areas to be affected by the project. The findings from these digs included a massive shell heap created by Native Americans on Spectacle Island and leather shoes, pottery and a colonial privy (outhouse) near the North End. 

An exhibit of Big Dig artifacts called "Highway to the Past, the Archaeology of the Central Artery" is on display at the Commonwealth Museum at the Massachusetts Archives.

Special Online Tour:

The Commonwealth Museum's:
Archaeology of the Central Artery Project: Highway to the Past


Overseen by the Office of the State Archaeologist, the CA/T archaeology program was developed in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 which requires that any federally funded project take measures to preserve cultural resources. Even the information hidden in trash piles can lead to significant discoveries about several centuries of New England life.

The first phase of the program began in 1987 when research and digital mapping was used to survey the project's 7.5 mile corridor and identify potential archaeological sites. Twelve of the 89 likely sites were determined to be worthy of further investigation. One site identified on Spectacle Island, a Boston Harbor island, is where the project placed excavated soil to create a park.

In the second phase of the program, further testing determined that four of the twelve sites were eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places: Spectacle Island, the Mill Pond site in the North End and the Paddy's Alley/Cross Street Back Lot site also in the North End. The third phase of the program, begun in 1992 and completed in 1995, consisted of full archaeological digs intended to recover data that has allowed archaeologists to determine the function and history of each site. During construction in late 1999, the Mill Creek site (see below) was discovered and excavated.

Spectacle Island
 
During the summer of 1992 archaeologists excavated a shell heap or midden on Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. From studying these remains it appears that Native Americans came to the island by canoe as early as 500 AD to spear fish, dig for clams and mussels, and gather other food.

A mound of debris was unearthed containing stone tools, bone harpoons, pottery sherds, and animal bones (such as deer) indicating that subsistence activities took place here. The discovery of bones of codfish which spawn in the fall along with hickory nuts suggests the island was visited in the fall season. Since the time of those early inhabitants, Spectacle Island has been home to a quarantine hospital, resort hotels, a horse rendering plant and, most recently, a landfill for the city of Boston.

Paddy's Alley/Cross Street

During the early excavation of the Paddy's Alley site, archaeologists discovered trash deposits that pre-date the American Revolution -- a time (like today) when the North End was a network of streets lined with small shops and homes. One of the most significant finds was the unearthing of what appears to be a colonial privy or outhouse. This structure was filled with trash and sealed with a layer of impervious clay. As a result, items that normally would have perished, such as food remains, have been preserved. These discoveries are helpful in learning about plant and insect life, revealing environmental conditions during colonial times.

Other items found at the Paddy's Alley site include tobacco pipe stems and bowls, tin-glazed cups and bowls made in Holland, and the remains of a mug bearing the seal of Queen Anne, which dates this portion of the site to the early 1700s.

Mill Pond Dig

The Mill Pond was an inlet to the Charles River until colonists built a dam to provide power for their mills. In 1804 the pond was filled and developed into a manufacturing and distribution district. When the current parking lot surface was removed archaeologists discovered the remains of a wharf and building including a wood plank floor and assorted trash deposits. The remains indicate that this area was an important commercial site associated with the wharf during the 17th and 18th centuries. The excavation also revealed helpful clues about construction techniques and local commerce of this time. Archaeologists also found cobble paving and five brick-lined drains with wood floors dating from the early 19th century. Later, during construction in November 1999, archaeologists discovered the remains of an early 18th century grist mill.

Commerce was the lifeblood of Boston's economy, although not all of it was within the law. A brass weight from around 1720 was labeled with a number higher than the actual weight. Another find was more intriguing. William Maycock, his son-in-law, and others in his circle are known to have been patriots who may have circumvented English trade regulations. During the course of the dig at Mill Pond an Irish half-penny dated 1783 was discovered. This coin is significant because there were no half-pennies made in 1783; therefore the coin must have been counterfeit. The finding raises the possibility of a colonial plan to sabotage the British economy or may simply reflect the ingenuity of a few early counterfeiters.

A Glimpse at Two Colonial Lives

Archaeologists found the remains of two house lots owned by men who shared the same profession but had very different lifestyles during the middle 1700s. John Carnes, who lived near the Paddy's Alley site, and William Maycock, whose home was next to the Mill Pond site, were both metalworkers. Mr. Carnes was a pewterer, meaning he worked primarily in tin, while Mr. Maycock was a brazier working mostly with brass. Both smelted metal in stone crucibles as well as purchased and resold hardware.

Carnes was an active member of the city's Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and was wealthy enough to order English wine bottles with his full name embossed on the seals, several of which were found in the dig. Maycock was apparently both a more modest and a more religious individual. The site of his house was devoid of any wine bottle glass even though he lived on the lot with tenants. His will attested to the importance he placed on a sober and virtuous life for he disinherited his two sons until they changed their own less staid lifestyles. Since his property later went to his son-in-law, we assume Maycock's sons failed to reform.

Mill Creek Archaeological Site

In November of 1999, a Big Dig bulldozer operator working in the I-93 South tunnel below Blackstone Street encountered an unusually large, round stone sitting upright in the soil. The Big Dig archaeologist was called in and identified the find as a millstone used for grinding grain. Further investigation of the excavation area, eventually learned to be from the bottom of Mill Creek, revealed an additional millstone and an assortment of historic artifacts including an abundance of broken pearlware ceramics suggesting a late 18th to early 19th century date for this archaeological deposit.

Mills, powered by water, were an important part of Boston's colonial landscape to grind corn, wheat and other grains into flour necessary for bread and other foodstuffs. Since there were no swift-flowing rivers on the Boston peninsula, millers had to take advantage of the natural rise and fall of the ocean tides. To this end, a millpond was created out of a tidal estuary of the Charles River by building a dam across its mouth. Gates in the dam allowed water to flow into the pond with the rise in tide. As the tide receded, water flowed out of the pond through narrow openings equipped with mill wheels that, when pushed by the current, turned grindstones or other tools through a carefully constructed set of wooden gears.

Two mills, known as the North Mills were located on the dam along the north side of the pond. A road constructed on top of the dam was roughly aligned with present day Causeway St. A third mill, known as the South Mills, was located at the south end of the pond where an existing tidal creek was modified to create an additional opening for water. Eventually known as Mill Creek, located where Blackstone Street lies today, it cut across the narrow neck of land that once separated the North End from the rest of Boston. Bridges were constructed at Hanover Street and Ann Street to allow passage of pedestrians and horses and wagons over the creek. As the ocean tides rose, water flowed from Boston Harbor up Mill Creek and into Mill Pond. The South Mills was constructed at the junction of Mill Creek and the Mill Pond around 1645. A series of mills operated here until around 1808 when the last mill was removed in preparation for the filling of Mill Pond and the subsequent filling of Mill Creek in the 1820s and 30s.

Archaeologists discovered wooden gearing from the mill, fragments of broken mill stones and a wide assortment of refuse that had been thrown into Mill Creek between 1792 and 1830 to 31 when the Creek was filled. The fragmented mill stones and wooden gears likely represented breakage from normal use and provided insight into the operation of late 18th century mill workings. The complete stones, on the other hand, were probably allowed to fall into the creek as the mill was demolished. Remains of the creek wall showed construction methods from that time period.

Since there was no trash collection or sewer system in early Boston, refuse removal was a burden to residents and resulted in common dumping places like Mill Pond and Creek. In time, laws enforced the dumping of debris in the Creek only when the tide was running to take it out into the harbor. The assortment of trash at the Creek bottom included broken pottery and glassware, architectural debris such as bricks and window glass, bones from the butchering of animals for food, and discarded shoes, possibly from a cobbler or cordwainer's shop. Large shiny pieces of unused ceramics, possibly broken in overseas transport to a Hanover Street crockery shop owned by Edward Paige and located immediately adjacent to Mill Creek, provided a rare record of items that were imported and sold in Boston in the early 19th century.

Artifacts and More

The excavation of the privy on the Paddy's Alley site marked the end of the planned data recovery. During construction an archaeology crew has been on call for any unexpected site discoveries such as Mill Creek.

The finds from all the excavations were first brought to the Central Artery/Tunnel Project's laboratory where they were cleaned, catalogued, and analyzed.

The collection is at the Massachusetts Historical Commission's State Archaeological Curation Center in the State Archives building at Columbia Point, Boston. The Curation Center continues to bar-code all 200,000 artifacts, and the University of Massachusetts/Boston will place images of selected artifacts on CD-ROM.

Also read "Digging and Dumping Dirt" in the Environmental section for more about discoveries.