Archaeologists Discover Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried at Camden Battlefield
Clip: Season 23 Episode 8 | 1m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
A metal detector survey reveals long-lost soldiers at Camden Battlefield.
A deep metal detector reading at a site in Camden, South Carolina, led archaeologists to the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers who had been buried for centuries. After identifying six burial sites, researchers launched a full effort to recover, study, and honor the fallen with a proper military reburial.
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SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Archaeologists Discover Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried at Camden Battlefield
Clip: Season 23 Episode 8 | 1m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
A deep metal detector reading at a site in Camden, South Carolina, led archaeologists to the remains of Revolutionary War soldiers who had been buried for centuries. After identifying six burial sites, researchers launched a full effort to recover, study, and honor the fallen with a proper military reburial.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipJim Legg: I was the first person to investigate Camden as an archaeologist.
Narrator: Jim Legg, from the South Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, has been interested in the site since the early 1980s.
Well, I did have specific information that there were human remains on the site from collectors that I spoke with.
In 2020, during my COVID vacation, I got a very deep metal detector reading, so that made me suspicious that it might be a burial.
And I cleaned the bottom of my little metal detector hole, and there was a-- there was a human femur running through the bottom of the hole.
So that was indeed a burial.
Ever since I knew that there were burials out there, I-- I thought it might be a good idea to have a-- a substantial professional project to investigate these burials.
Narrator: A total of six burial sites were identified, and in 2022, a project was launched to recover the remains.
We were asked by the South Carolina Battleground Trust to recover the burials we knew about.
Rick Wise: We're the only nonprofit in South Carolina, that preserves South Carolina's battlegrounds and military sites.
Smith: The goal being to get them out of the ground, do a quick scientific investigation, and rebury them properly with full military honors.
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Preview: S23 Ep8 | 30s | Explore the site of the Battle of Camden and its importance to the American Revolution. (30s)
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SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.