Knee Deep in Paul Revere’s Privy(?): Archaeology of the Paul Revere Houselot, Boston, Massachusetts

Summary

The Paul Revere houselot is situated in the North End of Boston, one of the oldest English-settled areas of the city. Paul Revere purchased the property in 1770 and lived there with his family from 1770’1780, but his was not the first and certainly not the last family to occupy the parcel. Archaeological investigations within portions of the former Revere houselot resulted in the recovery of thousands of domestic, personal, and structural artifacts dating from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, and the identification of many features including privies, brick drainage channels, a cistern, cobblestone walkways, and relict yard surfaces. This paper will examine the functional and temporal relationships among the artifact and feature assemblages, and explore what those relationships tell us about household occupational sequences; changing social and economic dynamics in the North End; and the aesthetic or practical considerations that prompted landscape modifications to the houselot over time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Exploring the Evolving Urban Landscapes of Boston and Salem

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-68,02