Hidden Revolutionary War bake house is uncovered after spending centuries underground
Archaeologists who were excavating an historic Connecticut town green have uncovered the well-preserved remains of an 18th-century bake house — an unusual remnant of the Revolutionary War.
The structure, used to bake bread for French troops supporting the American Revolution, was found on the Lebanon Town Green in Lebanon, Connecticut.
Archaeologists digging in the New London County town uncovered the bake house earlier in June.
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Pictures from the excavation show the exposed bake house foundation, as well as various small artifacts.
Relatively few artifacts were found at the site, said Sarah P. Sportman, Connecticut state archaeologist — but one discovery in particular stood out.
Sportman told Fox News Digital that — on the last day of the excavation — archaeologists found a burned gunflint.
“Gunflints were chipped pieces of stone used in flintlock firearms, like the ones used during the Revolutionary War,” she said. “The stone is used to create the spark that ignites the powder and fires the weapon.”
Many of the excavation’s other finds were more routine and reflected different periods of the site’s history.
“In the top layers of [soil], we found some ceramic and glass fragments that date to the late 19th century,” she said, which suggested general landscaping work.
“As we got a little deeper, we found some older [pieces] … [plus] late 18th century ceramic fragments, a few pieces of animal bone, clay smoking pipe fragments and older bottle glass.”
She said that “overall, though, the number of artifacts was quite low.”
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Sportman said historians had long believed a French bake oven stood on the town green, with the suspected location marked by a commemorative plaque.
While an amateur excavation at the site in 1896 reportedly uncovered masonry and bricks, there were no maps, photographs or preserved artifacts documenting the dig, making this the first modern archaeological excavation of the bake house.
“As far as anyone knew, that 1896 exploration was the only excavation ever carried out at the site and our work bears that out,” she said.
“We were unsure if the 1890s dig might have damaged the foundation, but it appears largely intact and filled in with a great deal of stone rubble.”
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The structure was apparently meant to be “semi-permanent,” Sportman added, as the encampment in the area lasted several months.
“The foundation is not very robust and doesn’t exhibit tightly built stonework,” she said.
“However, it is certainly more permanent than the earth ovens that troops on the move used for a couple of days at a time … It looks as though it used stone as a base and brick for much of the actual oven portion.”
The oven’s discovery doesn’t mean the investigation is over. Sportman said researchers are still working to identify the structure’s style and better understand the surrounding site.
“A ground-penetrating radar survey carried out prior to the dig indicates that the stone and brick structure we excavated was part of a possible complex of structures in this part of the green,” she said.
“We hope that additional testing in the fall will clarify some of those features and help us better understand the site.”
Sportman emphasized that the bake house excavation is just part of a broader archaeological and historical project in Lebanon as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.
Experts have identified “numerous sites related to 18th-century militia training and the possible location of the French hospital, demonstrating the scale of Revolutionary War activities in Lebanon,” she said.
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“The project is also important because the Lebanon encampment was part of the route of French troops under General Rochambeau who came to help the American colonists overthrow British rule,” Sportman added.
“It is an important reminder that the American victory required significant help from our French allies — and such partnerships have always made us stronger.”
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