Roads, Rails, and Trails - Secretary of the Commonwealth

THE BIG DIG SITES, BOSTON
No book about transportation in Massachusetts could be
complete without some mention of the Big Dig. And no book
about Massachusetts archaeology would be complete without
mention of the archaeological studies that were done in
advance of that massive undertaking. As anyone who has lived
in the Boston area for the past decade or so well knows, the Big
Dig (the burying of the Central Artery in Boston) is the largest,
most complex, and in many ways the most innovative road
construction project ever completed. Before the construction
began, though, there were a series of archaeological digs in
Boston and Charlestown. Not only did archaeologists probe the
areas within the planned route of the new underground
highway, they also studied areas that would be indirectly
impacted by the project, like Spectacle Island in Boston
Harbor, where material excavated for the tunnels was to be
placed.
Boston, Massachusetts
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The results were beyond anyone's expectations. The
information from the Big Dig archaeology changed and
deepened our understanding of Boston's ancient, colonial, and
industrial past. Sites that were discovered and excavated
included ancient Native American settlements on Spectacle
Island and in Charlestown on what was the water's edge
thousands of years ago when sea levels were lower. Also in
Charlestown, archaeologists discovered the site of the home of
Massachusetts' first governor, John Winthrop, and the Three
Cranes Tavern, an establishment that opened in 1635 and lasted
for 140 years, until it was burned in the aftermath of the Battle
of Bunker Hill.
Excavation of the Three Cranes Tavern site in Charlestown.