Boylston Street Weir
The Boylston Street Weir is a historically significant series of ancient fishweirs located near the Back Bay shoreline of the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. First discovered during subway excavations in 1913, these structures were initially thought to be a single large construction. However, extensive research conducted over subsequent decades revealed that they comprise a series of smaller weirs built over a span of more than a thousand years, dating back to approximately 2500 BC. These weirs are constructed from vertical stakes, driven into the sediment near low tide marks, and are designed to trap small fish as the tide recedes.
The weirs utilized bundles of brush to create walls that effectively enclosed and trapped fish, which could then be harvested using various tools such as baskets and spears. This method provided a reliable protein source for the communities that built and maintained them, which required minimal effort from small groups. The complex of weirs was eventually abandoned around 1550 BC due to siltation in the Back Bay area, making them less efficient for fishing. The Boylston Street Weir serves as an important archaeological site, offering insights into the subsistence strategies of ancient populations in New England.
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Subject Terms
Boylston Street Weir
Related civilization: Archaic North American culture.
Date: c. 3050-1750 b.c.e.
Locale: Boston, Massachusetts
Boylston Street Weir
First encountered during subway excavations in Boston in 1913, the Boylston Street weirs were originally interpreted as a large single structure. Subsequent research in the 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1980’s, however, demonstrated that the weirs are instead a series of relatively small constructions built over more than a thousand years.
Erected near the Back Bay shore on the Charles River at points near or just below the low tidemark, the weirs are made of vertical stakes (about one to two meters, or three to seven feet, long and less than three centimeters, or about one and one-eighth inch, in diameter) driven into the subtidal sediments in a linear arrangement paralleling the shoreline. The posts were interspersed with bundles of brush that created a wall or enclosure, trapping small fish as the tide receded. The trapped fish were then secured by baskets, dip nets, leisters (pronged spears), or even by hand, providing a reliable source of protein.
These traps could be maintained through minimal effort by small groups, and after repairs were no longer practical, a new weir was constructed. This weir “complex” was abandoned by about 1550 b.c.e., when siltation in the Back Bay area rendered them no longer cost efficient.
Bibliography
Johnson, F., ed. The Boylston Street Fishweir. 4 vols. Andover, Mass.: Phillips Academy, 1942.
Levin, Mary Ann, Kenneth E. Sassaman, and Michael S. Nassaney, eds. The Archaeological Northeast. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey, 1999.