Digging Veritas Gallery Exhibition

excavated sherds, glass, bottle.

Digging Veritas: The Archaeology & History of the Indian College and Student Life at Colonial Harvard

Ongoing Exhibition

Through archaeological finds from Harvard Yard, historic maps, and more, this ongoing exhibition reveals how students lived at colonial Harvard and the role of the Indian College in Harvard’s early years.

Enhance your gallery visit

Explore a day in the life of a colonial Harvard student,  meet Native American Harvard students then and now, and watch videos related to the excavation.

Take the mobile tour Visit the online exhibition
mobile tour menu on mobile phone.

Student archaeologists unearthed evidence of colonial Harvard as a landscape shaped by social and religious tensions, which affected everything from Native American and English settler relationships to the everyday routines of student life. As the students searched for meaning in the material remains of Harvard students of the past, three themes emerged: literacy and the Indian College; rule (breaking) and religion; and negotiations of social status. Who knew that small fragments buried below ground could reveal so much?

See a collection of items from the exhibition

See our student-curated project site

visitor opens stratigraphy drawer in exhibit.

Curated by  Danielle Charlap (Harvard College, Class of 2009), Rachel Sayet (Harvard Extension School, ALM Candidate), Nathaniel Amdur-Clark (Harvard College, Class of 2009), Caitlin Finch (Harvard College, Class of 2009), and Indira Phukan (Harvard College, Class of 2009), and the students of Anthropology 1130/1131: Archaeology of Harvard Yard (Fall 2005, 2007; Spring 2008).