Poor’s Farm Public Archaeology

First off I would like to thank the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association, and it’s members, for their kind help and interest in this project. The first two instalments to the Poor’s Farm Public Archaeology Program were a success, with over 80 participants ranging from school children to retirees. During the weeklong event in June (the 14^th-22^nd) and the weekend in July (5^th and 6^th) volunteers helped to open up 5 test pits, which included 4 1m x 1m and 1 4 m x 4m units. Numerous interesting items lay underneath the surface and within no time we came across artefacts. Over the course of the 11 days spent excavating crewmembers unearthed two foundation walls of one of the original Poor’s Farm structures. Also found was architectural debris, ceramics, smoking pipes, buttons, a comb and other items that were left behind. Artefacts from the dig are now being processed at the Saint Mary’s University archaeology lab where they’ll be cleaned, catalogued, mended and researched before they are sent to the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.

Due to the interest from community members and the remaining work yet to be done, we have decided to have one last public archaeology dig at Poor’s Farm. We will be coming back to the park on August 23^rd and 24^th and we invite you to join us for these final two days that will wrap up this season. If you would like to participate please e-mail for confirmation and instructions.

Again, thank you to everyone and we’ll see you once again in August!

Sarah Kingston