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James Garrett House Site

This c. 1639-1656 collection represents the largest 17th century artifact assemblage in Boston, and one of the largest early domestic sites in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The collection was excavated ahead of the Big Dig in the Maudlin Archaeological District in Charlestown .

James Garrett was a wealthy merchant who moved from England to Maudlin Street in Charlestown in 1635 (right across the street from the USS Constitution today) to escape the conflicts of the English Civil War. He lived on the property with his family until leaving to return to England in 1656, selling his land and house to Samuel Beadle. Stone tool-making debitage was recovered as well, indicating the presence of Native Americans before, and possibly during, the time the Garrett family was there. 

The Project involved the reprocessing, re-cataloging, and digital photography of over 36,000 individual artifacts. Prior to processing, a massive organization effort was conducted to put the 1980s-pulled artifacts back into their original provenience bags so that the entire collection could be fully cataloged for the first time since they were excavated in the early 1980s.

Thanks to grant funding from the IMLS, artifacts from this collection are on display at the Mary C. Beaudry Community Archaeology Center in the Boston Archives Center at 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, MA 02132.

James Garrett House Site Artifact Catalog

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