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Many states in the United States hold an archaeology month or week, celebrating local heritage with public tours, talks, and other events. DC Archaeology Month is in June. Read the announcement from DC Mayor Bowser officially proclaiming June 2025 DC Archaeology Month. If you are an educator in Washington, DC, you can receive a free poster for your classroom and free postcards for your students to participate in our Message to an Archaeologist program. Contact us for more information.
The 2025 DC Archaeology Month poster and postcard tells the story of an archaeological site along the Anacostia River in Washington, DC, the River Terrace Site. During construction at the River Terrace Education Campus in 2014, archaeologists uncovered stone tools, pottery, and evidence of structures that showed Native Americans were here as early as 5,000-3,000 years ago. They returned to the riverside to camp, hunt, make tools, and cook for thousands of years. |
Stone tools like arrowheads suggest toolmaking was a main activity for people at the site. Pottery, grinding stones, and fire-cracked rock show that people were cooking and preparing food, too. Those who lived along the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers were once called the Necostins. That is where we get the name for the Anacostia River. Some of the Necostins later merged with the nearby Piscataway Tribe.
While rebuilding the River Terrace Education Campus, the public charter school used the importance of the river and what had been learned from the archaeological excavations in their new design. The shape of the school's entrance reflects the curves of the Anacostia River and a bench outside the building is modeled after Nacostin structures. The school's mascot is a crane, a bird that once called the river home before European settlement.
Middle school students at the Columbia Heights Education Campus in DC developed the initial design for the poster while learning about the archaeological site. Working from their idea, local illustrator and animator Nabeeh Bilal brought the design to life. Learn more about Native peoples in the Chesapeake area from We Have a Story to Tell [PDF 5.3 MB]. Read more about the River Terrace Site from the company who excavated it in 2014, Stantec, with their informational poster [PDF 4.9 MB] and public report [PDF 775 KB].
While rebuilding the River Terrace Education Campus, the public charter school used the importance of the river and what had been learned from the archaeological excavations in their new design. The shape of the school's entrance reflects the curves of the Anacostia River and a bench outside the building is modeled after Nacostin structures. The school's mascot is a crane, a bird that once called the river home before European settlement.
Middle school students at the Columbia Heights Education Campus in DC developed the initial design for the poster while learning about the archaeological site. Working from their idea, local illustrator and animator Nabeeh Bilal brought the design to life. Learn more about Native peoples in the Chesapeake area from We Have a Story to Tell [PDF 5.3 MB]. Read more about the River Terrace Site from the company who excavated it in 2014, Stantec, with their informational poster [PDF 4.9 MB] and public report [PDF 775 KB].
2025 DC Archaeology Month Events
Sunday, June 1 |
Saturday, June 7 |
Sunday, June 8 |
Wednesday, June 11 |
Young Archaeologists' Club: Frauds and Fakes in Archaeology Zoom 10:00-11:30 AM ET Registration Required |
Saturday, June 14 |
Saturday, June 21 |
Sunday, June 22 |
Saturday, June 28 |
Summer Saturday: Archaeology at Tudor Place Tudor Place 10:00 AM-3:00 PM ET Cancelled |
Young Archaeologists' Club: Introducing Archaeology Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library 1:30-4:30 PM ET Registration Required |
Young Archaeologists' Club: What Happens to Artifacts? Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library 1:30-4:30 PM ET Registration Required |
The 2025 DC Archaeology Month is possible through support from New South Associates and the DC Historic Preservation Office.