Cape Cod Dig Reveals 17th-Century Settlement

CHATHAM, MASSACHUSETTS—Wicked Local reports that archaeologists are excavating what they believe is the site of a seventeenth-century homestead on Cape Cod's southeastern tip. The site dates to 1656 and was once home to English settlers William and Anne Nickerson, who are considered the founders of Chatham. The team, directed by Craig Chartier of the Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project, has uncovered a number of seventeenth-century artifacts on land adjacent to the town's 1829 Caleb Nickerson Homestead, including Native American and European ceramics, pipe fragments, window glass, pieces of flint, and what Chartier believes is a fragment from a sharpening wheel. Perhaps most importantly, they have also identified one of the building's hearths, which, along with postholes and foundation remains can help determine the orientation and footprint of the original structure. According to Chartier, the house was at least 36 feet long by 18 feet wide and might have even been larger. He now plans to excavate more of the property to determine whether it also included a cellar, barn, or other outbuildings. For more on the archaeology of Colonial America, go to “Off the Grid: Dorchester, South Carolina.”