Notes from the trenches

Around the world, labs and digs have halted work, and museums and archives have closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the City of Boston’s Archaeology program has prioritized digital data collection to ensure we remain an accessible resource for residents and experts under any circumstance. In 2012, we began an initiative to digitally catalog all of our artifacts, and in 2015 we incorporated digital images in order to eventually digitize our entire 2,000,000 object catalog.

Despite the pandemic, our small but mighty team has been able to continue our work in the lab while adhering to public health best practices thanks to our large space and PPE. As of November 2020, our team has cataloged and photographed more than 100,000 artifacts. These artifacts come from our Brook Farm, Boston Common, and Paul Revere House collections. 

We are editing thousands of photos from earlier this year that include artifacts from our digs at the Dorchester Industrial School for Girls, Malcolm X House, Old City Hall, and other sites. Once they are included in our digital database, we will feature the different collections on our website so the public can learn more and see a complete picture of what the artifacts can tell us about each unique site. 

You can see more artifacts on our social media pages on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.