ETERNALSOLDIER
Archaeology at Fort mifflin
FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS, Sept 26 — October 25, 2025
830am-400pm, Rain or Shine
6400 Hog Island Road, Phila PA 19153
Registration Required!
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Archaeology at Fort Mifflin, a community-based University of Pennsylvania project directed by the team at Eternal Soldier in collaboration with the Weitzman School of Design and the Penn Museum Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM), investigates the Revolutionary War fort described as "the most under-investigated, under-appreciated, forsaken site in our nation’s military history”: Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.
Veterans in Design Workshop discussion with Eternal Soldier
Archaeology at Fort Mifflin is a community-based project open to volunteers. Veterans were major partners in our research design. Through a series of design workshops, we learned what about Fort Mifflin was important to them and what features they felt would be most crucial to interpret from the viewpoint of the average soldier. Alongside possible remnants of the great 1777 Siege of Fort Mifflin, Veterans advised that we should investigate diet and medicine as these are critical to service members on active-duty.
As a result, our research design incorporates geophysics, history, historic preservation, archaeobotany and excavation to center the garrison---officers, enlisted soldiers and military families, civilians and community members---stationed at the site from the Revolutionary War through WWII.
Video - Geophysics of underground remains at Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin likely experienced the greatest artillery bombardment of the American Revolution. In later periods, it served as a military prison and as an artillery depot. To deliver greater detail about food and medicine, the project researches archaeobotanical remains---seeds, pollen, charcoal, etc.---that help us identify which plant taxa were present at the fort. Additionally, we investigate the archaeological connections to Fort Mifflin’s Revolutionary War sister site, Fort Mercer, located at Red Bank Battlefield and visible across the Delaware in National Park, New Jersey. Our design also emphasizes pressing questions of site conservation and preservation.
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We welcome all members of the public who wish to volunteer, especially Veterans. Though we have reached capacity for 2025, we will be back at work in Spring 2026. Send us an email at info@eternalsoldier.org to let us know you want to play a part in our future work.
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Archaeology at Fort Mifflin is a professional program of excavation investigating fort inhabitants, construction changes over time, post-Revolution use of the site, battle related artifacts and site preservation and conservation. Veterans and the public will help dig, work with specialists and process artifacts (screening, washing, cataloguing). Please note: Children under 11YO cannot participate in the dig. Children under 14YO will not be permitted to work in the excavation trenches or with heavy tools.
Come ready to get dirty.
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Archaeology at Fort Mifflin is funded by the American Battlefield Protection Program of the National Park Service.