A treasure trove of artefacts dating back to the early 1600s has returned home to Bermuda for the first time in 20 years.

Thousands of archaeological finds were unearthed during the First Forts project, which ran from 1993 to 2003.

The 36 boxes of material were transferred to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, shortly after the project wrapped up so that they could be studied and used as research material.

Now they have returned to the island and are being stored at the National Museum of Bermuda’s archives to be managed, preserved and made available for further study.

Artefacts found on the digs reflect daily life at five forts built between 1612 and 1622 — King’s Castle and Devonshire Redoubt on Castle Island, Paget Fort and Peniston’s Redoubt on Paget Island, and Smith’s Fort on Governor’s Island.

Items included 19 pieces of rare Hogge money buried in a ditch at King’s Castle, more than 700 late-18th and early-19th-century military buttons at Paget Fort that may have originally fallen into a privy, and the bodies of two men at Smith’s Fort, dated to the late 1700s, who may have been stonecutters, masons or boatmen.

Other finds included pottery and tobacco pipe fragments, flat and bottle glass, copper and iron nails, musket balls and gun flints, buttons and coins.

A significant number of bones at King’s Castle — representing cahows, fish, turtles, domesticated animals, lobsters and crabs — shed light on diet and told the story of species exploitation in the 1600s and 1700s.

Deborah Atwood, a curator at NMB, said: “Archaeology in Bermuda transcends mere discovery; it is about deepening our understanding of our past.

“The artefacts unearthed are invaluable links to our past, serving as essential resources for education, research and public engagement.

“Through meticulous excavation and comprehensive research, we can unravel the social structures, technologies and cultures that have shaped Bermuda and its Atlantic connections.

“This knowledge is vital for appreciating the diversity and resilience of past societies and providing tools to learn from the past to guide the present and future.

“For over four decades, NMB has forged partnerships with local and international institutions to conduct archaeological research projects that uncover and safeguard Bermuda's cultural heritage.

“We appreciate our longstanding partnership with William and Mary and are pleased that the archaeological assemblage and records have returned home to be preserved for future generations.”

During the two decades that the artefacts were stored in Virginia, they were the subject of a number of important academic publications.

These included reports in the Bermuda Journal of Archaeology and Maritime History and several master’s dissertations at the College of William and Mary, and University College London.