Outside the village walls ...
Exhibits help put living history in perspective
If the re-creations aren't enough, Plimoth Plantation hosts a number of exhibits to help explain the living history. One of the more notable examples is the animals the pilgrims raise -- they look almost, but not quite, like species familiar to modern folks.
Kerry and Milking Devon cattle, San Clemente Island goats, Wiltshire Horn Sheep and Tamworth hogs are close to the type of animals the Pilgrims would have had in their settlement -- but of course, if you ask the Pilgrims at the Village about it, they won't know what you're talking about. It's 1627, remember? The animals they have are... the animals they have.
Enter the Plantation's Nye Barn, outside the village walls. Here, 20th century staff can explain the Plantation Agriculture Department's breeding program.
Also outside the village gates is the Carriage House Crafts Center, where candles are made, cloth is woven, and furniture is built. Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims didn't do such things when they arrived -- they were far too busy surviving the vagaries of the hostile New England environment.
So how'd they get such things as lace and baskets and pottery? Imports. In the Crafts Center, artisans create shoes, towels, candles and pitchers for use in the village and on the Mayflower. In the 20th century re-creation, the villagers get their imports from a few yards away instead of across the Atlantic.
The Plantation has opened a new interactive exhibit which takes a look at life in Plymouth from the viewpoints of two women: a colonist and a Wampanoag. "Irreconcilable Differences: 1620-1692" traces the lives of Mayflower passenger Mary Allerton Cushman and Native Wampanoag woman Awashonks and provides a unique opportunity to watch the differences as the European fortunes rise in the New World, while the Wampanoag's decline.
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