“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2025
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces," at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
This session offers presentations on several recent burial projects associated with the American War for Independence. All of these projects have uncovered the remains of soldiers whose lives were lost through battlefield death or disease. The project teams are conducting skeletal analyses, artifact analyses, and historical research. The results of this work offers new insights and interpretations of the lives of these individuals, their military and battlefield experiences, and burial practices. Some of these battle spaces are still contested spaces, raising issues of jurisdictional authority, possible government overreach, the significant role of descendant communities and the local community in decision making, commemoration, preservation and memorialization.
Other Keywords
bioarchaeology •
Trauma •
Revolutionary War •
American Revolution •
Burials •
Material Culture •
Interpretation •
Fort George •
Osteoarchaeology •
Cemetery
Geographic Keywords
Northeast •
Northeastern North America •
Midwest •
MIDDLE ATLANTIC •
Mid-Atlantic •
New Jersey •
Northeastern US
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
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Ambush at Fort Laurens: Consequences of the American Colonial Western Expansion in Ohio (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In the summer of 1778, the British garrison of Detroit prevented western expansion of the fledgling republic that was established two years prior. On October 23, 1778 an expedition of 1,200 men consisting of Continentals and others led by General...
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Bioarchaeology of a Hospital Cemetery from the American Revolution: The Courtland Street Burying Ground, Lake George, New York (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 1776, at the end of the failed campaign to take Quebec, the greatest threat to the Continental Army was not battlefield trauma but disease. The retreat from Canada to New York was marred by an epidemic of smallpox and thousands were sent to a...
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"The campaign in Canada has been, beyond a doubt, exceedingly severe; the retreat from thence distressful, and attended with a variety of calamitous circumstances" * The Courtland Street Burying Ground. Lake George, NY, the General Hospital at Fort George, and the Quebec Campaign of 1775-1776.* Major General Horatio Gates to General George Washington, 7 August 1776 (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In February of 2019 a cemetery was discovered during apartment building construction in Lake George, in Warren County, New York. Archaeological research and primary source historic documentation attribute this cemetery to the American Army of Quebec...
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Conflict Bioarchaeology: Analysis of Probable Hessian Soldiers’ Remains from the Revolutionary War Battlefield at Red Bank, New Jersey (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The first conference on “conflict archaeology” was held 25 years ago. Since then, the study of battlefields has provided unique but incomplete insights into the nature of large-scale violence and warfare technology. Bioarchaeology helps to complete...
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"Death Rode on Every Volley": How the Discovery of a Mass Hessian Burial Offers Interpretive Opportunities and Challenges at Red Bank Battlefield Park (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Red Bank Battlefield Park, located in Gloucester County, New Jersey, is best remembered for the upset victory over attacking Hessian forces in October of 1777. In 2022, with the addition of a new parcel, the New Jersey Historical Commission awarded...
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"Living Their Enemies; Dying Their Guests": Four Potential Revolutionary War burials from Ridgefield, CT (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Construction activities to lower the soil grade of a 1790 house basement in 2019 uncovered human skeletal remains in Ridgefield, CT. In compliance with state statutes, the state archaeologist was notified to assume the investigation. Subsequent...
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"The Next Day The Whole Regiment Was Employed … In Digging A Trench And Burying The Dead": Historical Archaeology Of A Burial Space At Red Bank Battlefield, Gloucester County, New Jersey (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In the summer of 2022, as part of a public archaeology program at Red Bank Battlefield Park (where Fort Mercer was situated), a mass burial space dating from the Revolutionary War was uncovered. Based on context and artifacts, the burial space is...
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The Role(s) of Bioarchaeology in Connecting Biology, Life History, Context, and Narrative: a Case Study from 18th Century Ridgefield, Connecticut (2025)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. A series of human skeletal remains and associated artifacts were recovered during salvage archaeology efforts in Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA. This area is rich in history, with well-documented timelines of agency, conflict, and aftermath. However,...