Volume 56: Number 2 Summer 2023 Page 27 Massachusetts Recent Archaeological Testing at the Alden House Historic Site, Duxbury (submitted by Daniel M. Zoto, M.A., RPA, archaeo- logical consultant) Abstract: The footprint of a proposed visitor center at the Alden House Historic Site in Massachusetts was recently subjected to an intensive (locational) archaeological survey. Subsurface testing was conducted to the east of a former barn, which was used as a refuse disposal area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The study identified a low-density field scatter of domestic and architectural debris and mostly nondiagnostic Native American artifacts. The results are consistent with previous archaeology on the property, confirming that the barn and later the barn depression were the primary rubbish disposal area of the 19th-century Aldens and that evidence of a 17th-century occupation has yet to materialize. Resumen: La huella de un centro de visitantes propuesto en el sitio histórico de Alden House en Massachusetts se sometió recientemente a un estudio arqueológico intensivo (de ubicación). Las pruebas del subsuelo se realizaron al este de un anti- guo granero, que se utilizó como área de eliminación de basura a fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX. El estudio identificó una dispersión de campo de baja densidad de escombros domésticos y arquitectónicos y, en su mayoría, artefactos nativos americanos que no son de diagnóstico. Los resultados son consistentes con la arqueología previa en la propiedad, lo que confirma que el granero y más tarde la depresión del granero fueron el área principal de eliminación de basura de los Al- dens del siglo XIX y que la evidencia de una ocupación del siglo XVII aún no se ha materializado. Résumé : L’empreinte d’un centre d’accueil proposé sur le site historique d’Alden House dans le Massachusetts a récemment fait l’objet d’une étude archéologique (localisée) intensive. Des essais souterrains ont été effectués à l’est d’une ancienne grange, qui a été utilisée comme zone d’élimination des déchets à la fin du XIXe et au début du XXe siècle. L’étude a identifié une dispersion sur le terrain à faible densité de débris domestiques et architecturaux et principalement d’artefacts amérindi- ens non diagnostiques. Les résultats sont cohérents avec l’archéologie précédente sur la propriété, confirmant que la grange et plus tard la dépression de la grange étaient la principale zone d’élimination des ordures des Aldens du XIXe siècle et que les preuves d’une occupation du XVIIe siècle ne se sont pas encore matérialisées. In November 2022 an intensive survey was conducted prior to a new visitor center and driveway reconfiguration at the Alden House Historic Site in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The site is associated with Mayflower passengers John and Priscilla Alden, who were among the first colonists to settle outside of Plymouth. The historic site, which covers 2.45 ac., includes the ca. “1653” Alden House, suggested to have been the second home of John and Priscilla. However, it is unclear whether the couple ever lived in the house. Architectural and archaeological evidence suggests a late 17th- or early 18th-century con- struction for the structure, likely by the Aldens’ son Jonathan (Mulholland 1999; McCarthy and Bell 2007). The parcel was part of John Alden’s 1627 land grant of 100 ac. in Duxbury and has remained in the Alden family since that year. The house was occupied by members of the Alden family until 1921, when it was transformed into a public museum (Baker 2014). The property is a National Historic Landmark and includes the Alden II (DUX.HA.4), Alden House Barn (DUX.HA.5), and John Alden Prehistoric Site 2 (19-PL-912) archaeological sites. The recent survey focused on an area immediately east of the reconstructed barn, which serves as an office and administra- tive building for the museum. The study adds to previous work by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Archaeological Services (UMAS), which identified and examined the archaeological sites on the property in 1995 and 1997 (Mullins and Mulholland 1996; Carlson and Largy 1998). UMAS recovered a low density of 18th- and 19th-century materials across the property and substantial refuse deposits containing 10,864 artifacts within and around the depression of the former barn. Most of the materials in the barn area consisted of kitchen and architectural debris dating from 1800 to 1920. It appears that after the Alden family stopped using the barn for agriculture, it was repurposed as a storage and a refuse disposal area. The barn depression continued to be used for disposal after the barn was razed in the 1890s. The 2022 testing included the excavation of 14 50 x 50 cm shovel test pits at 5 m intervals within the impact areas of the pro- posed visitor center and driveway reconfiguration. Historically, this area would have been the barnyard, specifically outside of the gable end of the structure, which was built into the side of a knoll. Only a few historic photographs show the barn and unfortunately none show the gable end (Figure 1). However, it is assumed the main entrance to the structure was in this lo- cation. Soils generally consisted of modern and historical fill horizons overlaying a plowzone-B-C horizon stratigraphy (Fig- USA - Northeast