The Atlantic Ocean stretches beyond a row of weathered thatch-roof houses, replicas of those built by the pilgrims on Plimoth Plantation in the 1620s. The houses are part of a recreated 17th century settlement that greets visitors to the living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book, The Adventure of Archaeology, 1985)