“Parallel Lives, Common Landscape” is an archaeological exhibit which includes rare physical evidence of the 60+ enslaved men, women, and children who supported the wealthy Royalls’ lavish lifestyle over a 40-year period in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts. Featuring a selection of compelling artifacts, it tells the intertwined stories of people who occupied the very highest and the very lowest strata of the social spectrum in a shared setting.
Dr. Alexandra Chan, one of the lead archaeologists for a full-scale dig on the property from 1999-2001, served as curator of this exhibit. Supported by the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, “Parallel Lives, Common Landscape” offers a fascinating and seldom-told chronicle of early American history.
The interpretive information and additional images that originally appeared on the exhibit’s wall panels can be viewed here: Parallel Lives, Common Landscape.