Editor: David Mills
PORTSMOUTH, NH - The long-buried secrets of Smuttynose Island are revealed this summer in a surprising new exhibit at Discover Portsmouth, the city’s new downtown visitor center. “Under the Isles of Shoals” features artifacts unearthed in recent years by archaeology professor Nathan Hamilton and his students. Hamilton created the exhibit with historian J. Dennis Robinson who has written a companion book about the historic “dig” that continues this summer at the Isles of Shoals. The exhibit is free to the public and opened from 10 am to 5 pm daily from May through August 31.
“If you think you know the Isles of Shoals, think again,” says Maryellen Burke, executive director of Discover Portsmouth. The 1810-era brick buildings, formerly the city library, have just undergone a $1 million renovation. “Prof. Hamilton’s research is literally rewriting history,” Burke says, “and you can only see it here.”
While legend claimed, for example, that Native Americans did not visit the Isles of Shoals 10 miles out to sea from Portsmouth, Hamilton’s researchers discovered six prehistoric occupations dating as far back as 6,000 years ago. Working from the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore Island, Hamilton’s diggers also found evidence of an ancient tavern littered with thousands of clay pipe fragments dating to the 1620s. Archaeologists also turned up the remains of “great cod” that once weighed 120 pounds.
“We explore the same two acres of Smuttynose Island through five very different periods of time,” says co-curator Robinson. Once a thriving “fish factory” with hundreds of men in the late 1600s, Robinson says, the island was all but abandoned during the American Revolution. Then in the early 1800s Smuttynose was the site of the first major hotel at the Isles of Shoals, ushering in the seacoast tourism industry that continues today.
In addition to historic artifacts, the book and exhibit feature five original illustrations by seacoast artist Bill Paarlberg. The exhibit also includes multiple slide presentations, scientific charts, a video of the diggers at work, and what Robinson calls “cool big stuff for kids.” The large objects on display include a dugout and a birch bark canoe, reconstructed “fish flakes” used to dry Atlantic cod, and a replica of the porch of the 1846 Mid-Ocean House of Entertainment that once stood on Smuttynose Island.
“You can have your picture taken at an ancient island hotel without leaving the building,” Burke says. “And you might even see a famous Smuttynose murder weapon if you look closely.”
Visitors can view Indian stone tools, rare coins, imported ceramics, early glassware, and the bones of fish and animals. Evidence shows that original settlers ate a wide variety of birds including loon, gull, duck, hawk, and the now-extinct “great auk,” a flightless bird related to the puffin. Remains of seashells from Smuttynose may help unlock the traffic patterns of colonial shipping and offer clues to global climate change.
Sponsors of the exhibit include Smuttynose Brewing Company, SeacoastNH.com, Optima Bank, Shoals Marine Lab, Treehouse Toys, CleareyePhoto.com, Speedpro Imaging, Isles of Shoals Steamship Company, Portsmouth Harbor Cruises, Island Cruises, Dos Amigos, Independent Archaeological Consulting.
The exhibit is a production of the Portsmouth Historical Society that also owns and operates the John Paul Jones House Museum nearby. The visitor center is located at the corner of Middle and Islington streets downtown. For more information on group tours, special events, and lectures contact Discover Portsmouth at 603-436-8433 or visit www.PortsmouthHistory.org.
AT A GLANCE
New Show & Book: Under the Isles of Shoals: Archaeology and Discovery at Smuttynose Island
Exhibit Runs: May 1, 2012 through August 31, 2012
Where: Discover Portsmouth Center, 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH
Admission: Free to the public, open daily 10-5pm
Special Event: Opening Gala Thursday, May 3rd 5-7pm, Reservations can be made online at PortsmouthHistory.org, click on Discover Portsmouth
Web site: PortsmouthHistory.org or call 603-436-8433
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