Tim Dunn/CapeCod.com.
YARMOUTH – When did humankind first inhabit Cape Cod?
According to recent findings, humans have occupied the Cape at least since the dawn of civilization.
Several years of archaeological fieldwork by the Yarmouth Historical Commission (YHC) and the Taylor-Bray Farm Preservation Association has uncovered evidence documenting 10,000 years of human history of human habitation on the Cape.
The YHC and Taylor-Bray Farm have compiled these findings into an exhibit, entitled “Yarmouth’s Archaeological Past,” at Yarmouth Town Hall.
Director of Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project Craig Chartier has been leading the project since Yarmouth officials contacted him years ago at the project’s inception.
“I don’t know whose actually ever been down to Taylor-Bray Farm and seen the site down there, but it’s an amazing place and as soon as you come down and look at it you get the sense that people have definitely had been there for as long as possible,” said Chartier.
“As soon as I saw that property, as soon as I saw the artifacts, the building when we were finding the stuff, I kind of got the sense that I was going to be hooked and involved in Taylor-Bray Farm for a number of years.”
Tim Dunn/CapeCod.com.
The exhibit features human history in the town from the earliest presence of Native peoples, to a Plymouth Colony era farm that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
“We found the only late-Paleo point on Cape Cod that’s ever been found in-context. We found one of the earliest houses on Cape Cod, the Richard Taylor house, we found the archaeological evidence of that, it’s one of the only posting ground houses that’s ever been found in Massachusetts and one of the only couple that have been found on Cape Cod,” Chartier explained.
“We found evidence of people living out in what are now the fields where the sheep go and the cattle go, especially around 3,700 years ago to 4,000 years ago, just coming there and visiting, probably getting some kind of resources, maybe getting deer or some plant resources.”
The display also includes a collection of Native American projectile points, which were discovered in West Yarmouth in the 1970s and donated to the Town of Yarmouth. These stone tool artifacts are 1,000 to 4,500 years old.
In an effort to promote greater awareness of Yarmouth’s rich archaeological past, the YHC and Taylor-Bray Farm are also sponsoring an Artifact Identification Event at Taylor-Bray Farm on Saturday, April 20 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Guests will have an opportunity to meet Chartier and ask questions.
The exhibit officially launched on Tuesday and is currently on display upstairs at the Town Hall on Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Visitors are encouraged to bring items for identification and ask Chartier questions.
Historical preservation work conducted in the town is supported by the Town of Yarmouth and Community Preservation Act funds.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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