Lecture: Conflict Archaeology and the Battle of Rhode Island with Public Archaeology Lab’s Jay Waller

Thursday April 24, 2025 7:00 P.M.

Peace Dale Museum of Art & Culture

1058 Kingstown Road, Peace Dale, RI 02879

Joseph P. Waller, Presenter

In August of 1778, British troops had been in control of Newport and the rest of Aquidneck Island for nineteen months. The Rhode Island Campaign, the first joint French and American campaign of the Revolutionary War, was aimed at taking back the island.

Butts Hill Fort, the American command center during the battle and the largest Revolutionary War earthwork in southern New England, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is maintained by the nonprofit Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA). But many locations in Portsmouth where fighting took place have never been studied.

In 2022, a group of volunteers began preliminary archaeological investigations at two privately-owned properties in Portsmouth. The battle-related items discovered during four days of metal detecting include a British coin, musket balls, a coat button, knee buckles, and shoe buckles.

Jay Waller, a Senior Archaeologist and Principal at The Public Archaeologist Laboratory, Inc., was one of the volunteers who investigated the two Portsmouth properties. Please join us on Thursday, April 24, Jay will be in the Museum Gallery to talk about what has been discovered, why it’s important, and what may yet be found.

The program will take place in the Museum Gallery and will be livestreamed on their YouTube channel. Watch Live Stream on the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/live/TBA