The 50-acre Salt Pond Archaeological Site (RI 110), at the head of Point Judith (Salt) Pond, is one of the most important Native American excavations on the Eastern Seaboard. Work at the site, once home to a large Narragansett Indian settlement, is revealing important information about what life was like in Rhode Island just before Europeans arrived.
The Salt Pond archaeological excavations are also providing information about the first Thanksgiving, which took place in Plymouth, Mass. 397 years ago this fall. What foods were harvested? How were the Wampanoags dressed? How did they cook the food they brought?
Jay Waller, Senior Archaeologist at The Public Archaeology Laboratory, has done extensive work at the Salt Pond site. On Thursday, November 15, he will be at the Museum to talk about what we can learn about the first Thanksgiving from the discoveries at Salt Pond.