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 Necostin 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].

The theme for the 2024 DC Archaeology Month poster and postcard is Kalorama Park, a place in the Adams Morgan neighborhood related to enslavement in the nation’s capital. From its history, we get the story of Hortense Prout, who was one of the last people to try to escape slavery in DC during the Civil War. Archaeologists excavated in the park in 1986 and 2009. The neighborhood has preserved and recognized the history through nominations, interpretive signage, and brochures available in the park. The site has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places and is a DC Landmark. It is listed on the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Students in grades 3 and 5 can learn more about the park’s history with a series of lesson plans developed by Archaeology in the Community.

The ground under our feet contains our history, and it is important that we all protect it. With many people walking, playing, and enjoying our city as well as rain washing away the dirt, there is the possibility of history being damaged or lost. If you see a possible artifact on the ground, please leave it where it is and contact an archaeologist near you. In the United States, states each have a State Archaeologist, State Historic Preservation Office, and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. Depending on where you are, you can start there to find someone to help you protect the past for future generations.

The poster artwork was created by Ambria Safford for her 2023 Cultural Heritage Management internship with Archaeology in the Community. She developed the poster in consultation with local archaeologists, teachers, and community members. The design reflects communities coming together to preserve local history, featuring an artifact from Kalorama Park. The small broken piece of pottery recovered from the site looks a little like the shape of the present-day park, reflected in the map in the background.