Eastbayri.com

WESTPORT — The Westport Historical Society invites the public to observe and to participate in the first below ground archeological investigation at the Handy House, 202 Hix Bridge Road. 

The event will be Saturday, Jan. 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

As the Society prepares to embark on stabilization of the building, this excavation will provide information about the occupants and evolution of the Handy House property. What lies beneath the ground at this property is unknown. This is the community’s opportunity to discover history firsthand and to view artifacts found during the dig.

All artifacts will be processed and catalogued at the newly set up archaeology laboratory located at 803 Main Road, and will become part of the Westport Historical Society’s collection. The Massachusetts Historical Commission has approved the project and the new lab space which offers future opportunities for community involvement in this and other local archaeological digs.

Project archaeologists Tom Mailhot and Kate Johnson will be on hand to provide information and guidance. A graduate of the historical archaeology program, UMass Boston, Tom Mailhot is now an independent archaeological consultant. He has been principal archaeologist in numerous digs in the Massachusetts and New Hampshire regions, with professional interests in New England farmsteads and pre-contact archaeology of New England.

Kate Johnson received her M.A. in historical archaeology from UMass Boston, and recently completed a graduate certificate in geographic information technology. She has worked as a field technician on all phases of excavation at sites ranging in age from paleoindian to historic or modern. Her interests include the creation and maintenance of rural landscapes, settlement patterns, and trade networks both in New England and Iceland. In 2010 Kate Johnson completed an archaeological investigation at the Waite Potter site in Westport. 

 Dress warmly and bring a trowel, gloves and a kneeling pad.

Hot beverages will be available! Children are welcome.

Parking is available off Drift Road. Contact the Westport Historical Society for information on handicapped accessible parking.

There are no public restrooms at the Handy House.

 This event will be postponed in the event of heavy snow or rain or if the ground is frozen. Updates will be posted on the Westport Historical Society website www.westporthistory.com or call the Society at 508 636-6011.

The event will be Saturday, Jan. 28, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

As the Society prepares to embark on stabilization of the building, this excavation will provide information about the occupants and evolution of the Handy House property. What lies beneath the ground at this property is unknown. This is the community’s opportunity to discover history firsthand and to view artifacts found during the dig.

All artifacts will be processed and catalogued at the newly set up archaeology laboratory located at 803 Main Road, and will become part of the Westport Historical Society’s collection. The Massachusetts Historical Commission has approved the project and the new lab space which offers future opportunities for community involvement in this and other local archaeological digs.

Project archaeologists Tom Mailhot and Kate Johnson will be on hand to provide information and guidance. A graduate of the historical archaeology program, UMass Boston, Tom Mailhot is now an independent archaeological consultant. He has been principal archaeologist in numerous digs in the Massachusetts and New Hampshire regions, with professional interests in New England farmsteads and pre-contact archaeology of New England.

Kate Johnson received her M.A. in historical archaeology from UMass Boston, and recently completed a graduate certificate in geographic information technology. She has worked as a field technician on all phases of excavation at sites ranging in age from paleoindian to historic or modern. Her interests include the creation and maintenance of rural landscapes, settlement patterns, and trade networks both in New England and Iceland. In 2010 Kate Johnson completed an archaeological investigation at the Waite Potter site in Westport. 

 Dress warmly and bring a trowel, gloves and a kneeling pad.

Hot beverages will be available! Children are welcome.

Parking is available off Drift Road. Contact the Westport Historical Society for information on handicapped accessible parking.

There are no public restrooms at the Handy House.

 This event will be postponed in the event of heavy snow or rain or if the ground is frozen. Updates will be posted on the Westport Historical Society website www.westporthistory.com or call the Society at 508 636-6011.