Cole’s Hill Burial Ground sarcophagus
41.957344°N 70.662531°W

6/20/2012 4:01:56 PM

Of the 102 pilgrims that arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, by spring of 1621, 52 had died. For safety, the pilgrims hid the bodies during the winter on Cole’s Hill so the Native Americans would not know how high the pilgrim loses were. When the rains came in the spring, some of the bodies washed out and consequently the pilgrims decided to dig up all the bodies and place them in a sarcophagus. A large monument sarcophagus now marks their remains.

John Carver, the original pilgrim leader, is buried among the remains in the sarcophagus. The inscription on the monument reads: “Here under cover of darkness the fast dwindling company laid their dead, leveling the earth above them lest the Indians should learn how many were their graves. Reader, history records no nobler venture for faith and freedom than that of this pilgrim band. In weariness and painfulness in watchings often in hunger and cold, they laid the foundations of a state wherein every man through countless ages should have liberty to worship God in his own way. May their example inspire thee to do thy part in perpetuating and spreading the lofty ideals of our Republic throughout the world.”

Cole's Hill

Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Plymouth Rock.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cole's Hill