Evidence of 1700s settlement found in Malcolm X home

BOSTON – An archaeological dig at the boyhood home of Malcolm X in Boston has turned up some surprising findings, but not necessarily related to the early life of the slain civil rights activist.

City archaeologist Joseph Bagley said that researchers digging outside the two-and-a-half story home have found kitchenware, ceramics and other evidence of an older settlement dating to the 1700s that they hadn’t expected to find there.

“We’ve come onto a whole layer, roughly two feet down and across the whole site, that’s absolutely filled with stuff from the period,” he said last week. “So we have this whole new research question, which is: what the heck was going on here in the 18th century?”

The two-week dig, which began March 29, was meant to shine a light on Malcolm X’s formative years in Boston, as well as the home’s previous owners, an Irish immigrant family who lived there through the Great Depression.

Bagley says city records show the house was built in 1874 on what had then been agricultural land. But the dig’s initial findings suggest there likely was another house on or near the site, dating to colonial times.

“This happens a lot in city digs. You look for one thing and you probably find it, but then you also come across a couple of other questions that you have to figure out,” Bagley said. “It’s just part of the process.”

 To be sure, the dig also has turned up its share of evidence from Malcolm X’s time in Boston.

Bagley says the mishmash of broken dishes, bits of jewelry and toys unearthed so far likely come from when the home was badly vandalized in the 1970s and many items were tossed haphazardly into the yard.

Researchers also have found a small stone piece that may date to Native American tribes that once inhabited the city. But it’s too early to tell how old the fragment is, and whether it is in fact Native American in origin. A closer examination will be undertaken later.