Colonial Archeology

• NATIVE
• COLONIAL

Sites with a 17th-century colonial component excavated and curated by Plimoth Plantation include:

• C-1, the “RM” Site, Plymouth, MA, excavated 1940, 1941 and 1968;
• C-2, the Winslow Site, Marshfield, MA, excavated 1941 and 1947;
• C-3, the John Howland Site, Kingston, MA, excavated 1937 and 1960;
• C-4, the Robert Bartlett Site, Plymouth, MA, excavated 1959;
• C-5, the Joseph Howland Site, Kingston, MA, excavated 1960, 1968;
• C-6, William Bradford II Site, Kingston, MA, excavated 1966;
• C-7, Harlow House, Plymouth, MA, excavated 1960s;
• C-14, Winslow Site, Marshfield, MA, excavated 1971;
• C-21, Allerton Site, Kingston, MA, excavated 1972;
• C-23, Major John Bradford Site, Kingston, MA, excavated 1973-1976;
• Sparrow House Site, excavated 1988

Finds from these sites include ceramics (stonewares such as Bellarmine and Westerwald, earthenwares such as Borderware, North Italian marbled slipware, North Devon fine and coarse wares and sgrafitto), pipes, metal tools, nails and other architectural fragments, personal items and weapons.

C-13a, a downtown Plymouth site excavated in the early 1970s, contains a rich assemblage from three 18th- and early 19th-century trash pits. The pits included ceramics forms like chamberpots, storage jars, plates, bowls, and teacups, made of tin-glazed earthenware, creamware, pearlware and Chinese export porcelain.

One of the most recently excavated sites is the Bradford Pottery Site in Kingston, MA. In 1996, under the guidance of archaeologist Stephen Pendery, Plimoth Plantation staff did a salvage dig of an early 19th-century pottery. Finds include kiln furniture such as saggers and tripods, as well as several types of redware vessels like bowls, milk pans and storage jars. Plimoth Plantation artisans use information from this site to inform the ceramic production program.

hours: Plimoth Plantation's Administrative offices, Education Department and Creative Gourmet are open 9 AM to 5 PM, M-F
address: 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360 USA
telephone: 1 + 508 746 1622