CCASM and other Monday volunteers are working with Esther Read to
continue the investigation of the James Swann Site that is now owned by
Charles County. James Swann was a "free man of color" (believed to be Native American) that acquired land
in Port Tobacco in 1840's and operated a tavern and oyster house in the village for almost twenty-five years.
Check Public Archaeology Lab Days post for weekday schedule.
October 25 and 26 was another Public Archaeology Weekend at the Swann Site and the weather was great. It was a little chilly but great for being outdoors. Esther continued working on a recently opened unit on the northwest of the area. If you noticed the disconnect between this statement and the picture from June
29, that is because when more people are in lab than in the field (e.g. Aug 11 and Sept 29), the
field information is included with the lab post.
Linda, Elsie, and Carol were there both days to screen and look for artifacts, and there were lots of small artifacts. On Sunday Linda found the "artifact of the day. It was a decorated white tobacco pipe bowl with a Fleur-di-lei or a cross(?).
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| Looking for Artifacts |
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Decorated Pipe Bowl
Fragment |
June 28 and 29 was to have been a Public Archaeology Weekend at the Swann Site, but the weather didn't cooperate. It was too hot. We left early on Saturday and Esther cancelled Sunday. Saturday morning wasn't that bad. Ned, Denise, Linda, and Carol joined Esther on Saturday June 28 at the Site and cleaned up the floors of several units to get a better idea of what was going on in the units. Even though we weren't removing that much soil, we still found small fragments of ceramics and glass.
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| Cleaning up floors |
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| Screening what was found |
Thanks to Ned for sending additional photos.June 9 we returned to the Swann Site after taking time off for the ASM Field Session at Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park. We started cleaning up the floor in three units as we try to follow up on possible post holes for a building. Denise, Carol, Cal, and Esther troweled in the shade of tent. Cal indicated he may be joining us more often. Linda, Malinda, Kathy, and ChiChi screened in the shade of the trees. Kathy had invited ChiCHi to visit with us, and ChiChi volunteered to help. It's always interesting to meet new people and to introduce them to the site.
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| Those Troweling |
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| Those Screening |
Monday May 19 was a beautiful day to be in the field at the Swann Site. We were even serenaded by a Orchard Oriole. Esther continued excavating Unit 13. Elsie, Claudia, Kathy, Carol, Linda (morning), and Claudia (afternoon) screened and looked for artifacts. The artifacts today were similar to what we found last week, but there were also nails and possibly more flakes.
Monday May 12 was a great day to be in the field at the Swann Site. Denise shaded by a canopy shoveled soil from the new unit while shaded by the tress Elsie, Kathy, Linda, Malinda, and Carol screened the soil. Since this was in the plow zone, we found smaller fragments -- bricks, ceramics (various types), glass (olive green and clear), bifaces, flakes, and fire-cracked rocks.
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End of Day-
Folding up Screen |
Saturday May 3 was the first of two planned Public Archaeology Days at the Swann Site. This coincided with the annual Port Tobacco Market Day held in front of the Port Tobacco Courthouse. Esther Read, the archaeologist in charge, removed the bulkhead between several existing units and cleaned up the units by troweling. Elsie and Denise got to screen the soil and to talk to visitors. Four or five groups of visitors came over from Market Day for a tour of the site and to see what archaeologists do. At the end of the day we covered the units with new black plastic to protect them until we can come again.
The Public Archaeology Day planned for May 4 was cancelled due to rain.
Thanks to Denise and Elsie for the info.
Monday April 21 Denise, Malinda, Kathy, and Carol were in the field at the Swann Site with Esther. Denise opened up a new unit, and at some point during the day everyone got a chance to help screening. Carol did a profile drawing of the north wall of one of the units. Kathy got to hold the stadia rod for Esther as Esther shot in the coordinates of the various units.
Finally a nice day so we could be in the field at the Swann Site. Monday April 14 Elsie, Carol, and Malinda joined Esther to start cleaning up units that had been under black plastic since last fall. We cleaned up walls in three units and lightly troweled another unit so it could be photographed. We are getting ready for a Public Archaeology Weekend May 3-4. In this area we are chasing post molds/holes for a possible early post-in-ground building.
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Investing the James Swann Site -2024
Investing the James Swann Site -2023
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