SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES

rchaeology helps us tell the stories of our past where historical documents are silent. On the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the in 1620, we can see this in two complementary ways: first, in the ongoing storyr sailed back to England in spring 1621. An appraisal of 1624 suggests the ship was in ruins; its material may have been sold for scrap. A full-scale reproduction designed by naval architect William Avery Baker was built between 1955 and 1957 in Brixham, England, as a gift to Americans from the British people. Over the course of 60 years in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the has welcomed some 25 million people aboard to imagine the Pilgrims’ experiences on that historic crossing of the Atlantic.