The C-06 Site (named as such because it was the sixth site investigated by Plimoth Plantation’s archaeology department back in the 1960s and 70s) was investigated in 1966 by Dr. James Deetz. In fact, an educational film, shown in introductory anthropology classes for many years, also called C-06, was made during the excavations. The dig found a cellarhole, visible on the surface as a depression in the grass, filled with 19th century material at the top, then a layer of sterile sand, then about a foot of 17th to early 18th century refuse. Clearly the site dated to the late 17th century at least, but whose homesite was it? The land was owned by William Bradford, who was reported to have had a home on this side of the road leading to Duxbury within this general area, but was it his house that Deetz excavated? Based on the artifacts, I always assumed that it dated only to the late 17th to 18th century and that it may have been the homesite of William Bradford II or III and not the first William of Mayflower fame. In 2019, I was approached by Jack Berry of the Jones River Historical Society, who inquired about the site, whether it had ever been excavated, and what the likelihood was that it was the original William Bradford’s homesite. Working with the Society of Mayflower Descendants, who own the property, we began investigating the site, what the previous investigators had found, and what the potential was for further findings.
The two reports below document the start of our ongoing investigation. The next step, to be started on October 18, 2019, is limited archaeological testing of some of he anomalies found by the Ground Penetrating Radar survey.