Archeology

• NATIVE
• COLONIAL

Plimoth Plantation founder Harry Hornblower II was an avid amateur archaeologist. His interest in archaeology started in the 1930s, when, as a teenager, he accompanied Jesse Brewer on field trips to look at local Wampanoag sites in southeastern Massachusetts. Brewer was an amateur archaeologist and gardener for the Hornblower estate in Plymouth. Together, Jesse Brewer, Harry and his brother Ralph visited archaeological sites ranging from Scituate to Martha's Vineyard and gathered a significant collection of Wampanoag artifacts. Today Plimoth Plantation owns these collections, which are used in exhibits and as examples for tools and pottery recreated at the Wampanoag Homesite.

As a student at Harvard, Harry studied colonial history and became interested in colonial ruins in the Plymouth area. In 1941, Harry, along with the Harvard Excavators' Club, investigated the Clark Garrison "RM" Site in Plymouth (C-1), and the Winslow Site in Marshfield (C-2). After World War II, Harry began the kernel of what is now Plimoth Plantation, with the construction of "First House" at Plymouth's waterfront. He was interested in "cellar hole archaeology," investigating the ruins of colonial buildings, to provide information on 17th-century architecture. The variety of artifacts uncovered from the two sites, such as ceramics and spoons, guided the purchase of artifacts for use in the Plantation’s recreated buildings.

In the late 1950s, Harry approached Harvard University, looking for a young archaeologist to advise on the creation of a Native campsite. James Deetz joined the museum staff, and Harry soon encouraged him in his interest in "cellar hole archaeology." Over his long career at Plimoth Plantation, Deetz, along with his students from Brown University, excavated more than a dozen historic sites in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Deetz' excavations made significant contributions to the development of the field of historical archaeology as well as the study of 17th-century New England.

Today Plimoth Plantation serves as a state-recognized curation site for local archaeology from all over southeastern Massachusetts. Artifacts are used for study, reproduction and exhibition.

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