"The Times of Their Lives presents a realistic, factual account of the Plymouth colony based on contemporary archaeology, cultural research, and living history. Taking little known trial transcripts, personal accounts, wills, and probate records, as well as physical artifacts such as shards and spoons unearthed from old foundations, James and Patricia Deetz reveal what life in seventeenth-century Plymouth was really like. In the process they blow the dust off the dull, wooden figures of tradition and show the Plymouth colonists as vibrant people who lived out complex and colorful lives in a world profoundly different from our own.". "Beginning with an eyewitness account of the first Thanksgiving, The Times of Their Lives offers an often startling portrait of Plymouth Colony that includes aspects of the legal system, folk beliefs, family life, women's roles and gender issues, eating habits, alcohol use, sexual misconduct, domestic violence, suspicious deaths, and violent crimes." "The result is a researched and imaginative work that shakes up our view of one of the most cherished myths of American history."--BOOK JACKET.