Cape Cod Archaeology and Other Cultural Resources

DOCUMENT Full-Text Francis McManamon.

This review of data from and interpretations about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod area considers variation over time as new discoveries led to fuller explanations of the record in this area. Knowledge about the ancient past of the region is cumulative and colored by changes in the analytical perspective of researchers during the second half of the twentieth century. Archaeological data in this area has been brought to the surface, literally. through both purposeful archaeological...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Francis McManamon.

Beginning in October 1978, and continuing until June 1979, I spent twenty-two days at the R.S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology in Andover, Massachusetts, working on Ross Moffett's collections. I was doing this because the National Park Service (NPS), for who I was then the regional archeologist, was planning a park-wide archeological survey at Cape Cod National Seashore. It would be the first overall investigation of the archeological record of the park since Ross Moffett had provided a...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Jan Haenraets. Margie Coffin Brown.

This Condition Report for the Fort Hill Rural Historic District of Cape Cod National Seashore reviews previous documentation of the cultural landscape and provides an updated evaluation of the condition of the property as well as updated guidance for both day-to-day and long-term landscape management and interpretation. This report consists of a historical overview, an inventory of existing conditions, and a review of the significance of landscape characteristics and features. Based on...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Francis McManamon.

From 1604 to 1607, a French expedition explored the southeastern Canadian and New England coasts, ranging as far south as Cape Cod. During this time, the Frenchmen encountered many Native people throughout the region. Some of the interactions were peaceful, others were violent. The first winter base for this expedition is now within the boundary of Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, a unit of the National Park system. One of the Native American settlements that was visited is...

DOCUMENT Full-Text James W. Bradley.

In November, 1990, the NPS archaeologists were contacted to assess an eroding ancient feature at Coast Guard Beach within the Cape Cod National Seashore. Additional archaeological testing was recommended. The subsequent investigation revealed a deelpy buried ancient ground surface and raised the liklihood of additional significant deposits. Over the next 16 months five episodes of archaeological fieldwork werer conducted at this site. Two factors were responsible for converting an...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Eric S. Johnson.

Previous archeological and relevant documentary research at the Cape Cod National Seashore is reviewed and evaluated. The Cape Cod National Seashore is located on what is known as the outer Cape, an area whose history goes back thousands of years, when the area's marine, estuarine, and terrestrial resources, all located in proximity to one another, drew Native Americans here. The area was an important center of Native American life into the seventeenth century, when it was the homeland of...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Lynn Kneedler-Schad. Katharine Lacy. Larry Lowenthal.

The subject of this report is a tract of land in the Town of Eastham, Barnstable County. on the outer part of lower Cape Cod. It encompasses about 100 acres of salt marsh aod upland located south of Hemenway Road, west of Nauset Harbor, northwest afthe Town Cove, and east of U.S. Route 6. This report refers to the entire tract as Fort Hill after its most prominent feature. However, the subject area of the report extends well beyond Fort Hill proper; e.g., it includes part of nearby Skiff Hill,...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard D. Holmes. Carolyn Hertz. Mitchell T. Mulholland.

The National Park Service began a multi-year National Archeological Survey Initiative (NASI) designed to locate, assess, and evaluate the archeological resources in all park areas. To do this for a large geographical area with a complex land-use history requires an interdisciplinary study of land use. Managers of the former North Atlantic Region, NPS, decided to undertake a cultural land-use study of Cape Cod National Seashore. This was a pilot project designed to establish a framework...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Linda A. Towle.

A one-week archaeological field school was held at the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod during July 1985. The field school, intended for interested adults with no previous archaeological experience, was directed by prehistoric archaeologist, Linda Towle with Mary Ann Larson, a Yankee Intern, as field assistant. Mary Ann's internship was sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Yankee Publishing, Inc., and the Massachusetts Audubon...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Alan Synenki. Sheila Charles.

This report describes the procedures used by the National Park Service, North Atlantic Regional Archeological Collections Management Project (hereafter abbreviated ACMP) to process, conserve, and curate the artifacts from four historic sites located on Great Island, in the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Great Island is part of the Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) of the National Park Service (NPS). The focus of this project is on the Great Island Tavern site (hereafter abbreviated GIT)...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Francis McManamon. Christopher Borstel.

From October to December, 1980, the Division of Cultural Resources, North Atlantic Region, examined potential impacts on cultural resources of proposed visitor use facilities of the Eastham unit, Cape Cod National Seashore. Of five areas studied, two, the Three Sisters of Nauset and Doane Rock development, lacked cultural resources. Two additional areas, the Nauset Light and Little Creek Staging Area, had cultural resources but these seem not to be eligible for the...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Stephen P. Leatherman.

The purpose of this research was to expand upon the previous report prepared by O’Donnell and Leatherman (1980) regarding the geomorphic evolution of Outer Cape Cod. Two areas, the Pamet River Valley and Nauset Marsh, were identified as sites where additional data and field tests should be provided. These field data allowed for more accurate reconstruction of the prehistoric natural environment of these two areas of archeological significance. Specifically, this follow-on study was conducted in...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Robert L. Prescott.

Faunal inventory created for selected sites and corridors of the Eastham Area, Cape Cod National Seashore. The inventory was conducted over an extended period of time encompassing all seasons of the year. The area of possible impact exceeds the study area and calculates at about 274 acres. The dispersed nature of the proposed development over a large area creates many habitat islands and produces extensive edge. Insularity and edge effects are profound in many cases, especially uplands, and may...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Berle Clemensen.

From the publication Preface and short Introduction: This report is intended to fulfill the requirements for a historic resource study of Cape Cod National Seashore. Its purpose is to provide a general history and historic base map of the National Seashore area. The study should provide the basic data needed for planning and interpretation. The history of the Cape Cod National Seashore region, during most of the period of white settlement, has been one of dependence on the sea for a...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Marie Eteson. Marilyn Crary. Mary Chase.

The site whose excavation is described here was listed by the Massachusetts State Archaeologist as site M48N6. It is located in northwest Chatham near Pleasant Bay and lies on land owned by RCA Global Communications, Inc., which has been used for their extensive antenna system for the past sixty-two years. This land is within the "First Purchase" from Mattaquason, made by William Nickerson (Nickerson 1958). In spite of its being a well known Indian campsite with a history of intensive potholing,...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Frank McManamon.

This memorandum reports a trip conducted by Frank McManamon, National Park Service, Regional Archeologist, North Atlantic Region. Conducted on December 5, 1978 at CACO, the nature of the trip was to inspect two project areas: the area which will be impacted by the proposed comfort station near the Provincelands Visitor Center, and the area to be impacted by the proposed development at Nauset Light and Coast Guard Beaches. Multiple maps of the sites and surrounding areas are included in the...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Walter H. Lyford.

This report, producing results from three days of field study at the Freeman-Paine Archaeological site, is an attempt to give some information on the soils at the site itself related to the age and dating of the site, as well as the planning of a trial run to see whether a study of soils at archaeological sites would provide enough significant information to warrant continuing an association of soil scientists and archaeologists for other studies. The site was visited on September 22-23, 1960...

IMAGE Ross Moffett.

Photo of Fort Hill in the Nauset area of Eastham, MA, after being mowed.

IMAGE Ross Moffett.

Photo by Ross Moffett to go with his 1960 report on the archaeological sites and areas of the newly created National Seashore. This photo is reported to be of the area near the new visitor overlook of Smalls Swamp in the Pilgrim Heights and High Head area of North Truruo.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Frank Barnes.

A short (8 pp) report done as part of the preliminary planning for the creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Mentions only the most basic historical events related to Cape Cod, beginning with the voyages, landings, and mentions of the cape by early European explorers (Champlain, Gosnold, and John Smith, for example) and the first landing place of the Pilgrims. Very brief summaries of historical events from 1620 to World War II. A short, basic bibliography is included.

DOCUMENT Full-Text Ross Moffett.

Although Indian artifacts in large numbers have been found on Cape Cod, information on the circumstance and chronological order attending the original distribution of these artifacts is somewhat limited and uneven. Little evidence is available from excavations on the upper or east-west part of the Cape, save for one report dealing with a series of relatively late shell heaps. The lower or north-south portion of the peninsula, however, is fairly adequately known. This paper is based, therefore,...

PROJECT Francis McManamon. National Park Service. Cape Cod National Seashore.

This project contains documents, images, and data about the archaeological resources in and around the Cape Cod National Seashore on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In particular these relate to what is known as the "outer Cape," that is, from the vicinity of Chatham, Orleans, and Eastham north to the the Provincelands. Much of the archaeological work covered here is from investigations done by or for the Cape Cod National Seashore. The historic time period, as well as ancient times are covered by...