Friday, July 9, 2010

Rocky Nook Excavation 2010

It's almost time for this year's season at Rocky Nook! The dates for the excavation this year are August 16-20th. We will continue to investigate the large area that was opened last year with the hopes of connecting our work with the excavations in the 1960s.

As of now, the 2010 season will be our last year at Rocky Nook.

Archaeology is a destructive science and once we dig things up, we can never put them back the way they were. It is extremely important to leave areas of a site untouched so archaeologists will be able to continue research using new techniques or technology in the future. Our goal for Rocky Nook is save parts of it for future Howland descendents to investigate. They will no doubt learn new things about the life of John Howland and his family at the Rocky Nook Homestead that we would not be able to discern at this time.

We've uncovered hundreds of artifacts that require storage and conservation. They provide data about this period and will be made accessible for research. Also, several of these items will eventually be on display at the Jabez Howland House in Plymouth. The work performed over the last decade at Rocky Nook by archaeologists and volunteers has been invaluable not only for understanding the day to day life of the Howland family but also for understanding the lives of the early colonists on the coast of Massachusetts.

We are looking forward to what this year holds and for reuniting with all those that have participated in this project through the years. We are excited to have some new faces this year too! As always, daily updates on our progress will be posted on the blog during the project week.