Nauset Archeological District

In Eastham, Massachusetts, the Nauset Archeological District preserves evidence of substantial settlements dating to at least 4,000 B.C. and is closely tied to the Nauset people. When Samuel de Champlain entered the bay in 1605, he recorded wigwams, cultivated fields, fishing, crops including corn, beans, squash, and tobacco, and a fish weir built from saplings and grass rope. Archaeology has shown these were year-round communities, with about 150 people living near Nauset Harbor and a larger population farther south near Stage Harbor. After 1620, trade with Plymouth colonists also brought European diseases, and in 1639 English settlers established the town that became Eastham.

Eastham, Massachusetts · United States