Archaeology at Camp Stanton

As part of their Public Outreach, the Maryland State Highway Department is funding an archaeological investigation in DNR's Indian Creek Natural Resource Management Area near Benedict, MD.  Camp Stanton, that was set up in August 1863 to train African-American men for the Union Army, is located on the property.

The Ottery Group started the work this spring.  Work had to stop by April 1 so the field could be planted, but it should resume in the fall.

Below are a couple of pictures taken near the end of the spring session.  The first picture shows the outlines of several tents, some of which had a brick "fireplace".  The other two are of a burned area south of the tent area.

Tent outlines, at least one with bricks at one end

Excavating burned area

Detail of burned area

2012 ASM Spring Symposium

Listening to one of the speakers (Dr. Broadbent)

On Saturday April 21 the Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. held its 46^th Annual Spring Symposium on Maryland Archeology at Crownsville, MD.

The theme was Three Centuries of Conflict: The Archaeology of War.

Dr. David Starbuck gave the McGillivray Lecture on Archaeology at Fort William Henry, Site of “The Last of the Mohicans”.  Dr. Ralph Eshellman presented the Stearns Lecture on Vestiges of the War of 1812 in Maryland.  Other talks relating to the War of 1812 covered investigating the wreck of the USS Scorpion (Alexis Catsambis) and determining Barney's Artillery position in the Battle of Bladensburg (Dr. Noel Broadbent).   Matthew Virta gave the history of a World War II interrogation center,  and Michael Roller talked about the Lattimer Massacre of 1898.  Michael Raphael showed examples of using 3D scanners and associated software on archaeological and historic projects.

Even though it was beautiful outside, several CCASM members attended.

Annetta, Jim, Carol, Elsie, George, Belinda

Discovering Archaeology Day

On April 14 Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc had a Public Outreach Table at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum's Discovering Archaeology Day in St Leonard, Maryland. It was a beautiful day,  and there were lots of archaeology-related activities for those attending.   And it's always fun to tell people about archaeology and what we are doing.

Belinda Urquiza,  Carol Cowherd, Joshua Eller, Rich Gorski, and Barbara Kane represented CCASM at the event for all or part of the day.   This allowed each to have time to meet archaeologists from around the region and to participate in some of the activities.

Looking for Newtowne Chapel

Scott Lawrence

At the April 12 meeting Scott Lawrence told the known history of the 17th century Jesuit Chapel and highlighted the search for its location in the St. Francis Xavier Cemetery.  He showed some of the artifacts - both historic and Native American - that had been found this year.  The work was done by Scott,  Jim Gibbs, and a number of volunteers (including a few from CCASM).  And as often happens, on the last day, they found evidence of a building that may have burned.

Scott will let us know if he receives funding for additional work, and CCASM members will be welcome to participate.

One of Scott's activities is doing historic cemetery restoration, documentation, and research through his company Grave Concerns.

Attendance: 17

Washing Artifacts

Sunday April 1 CCASM members washed artifacts in front of the Port Tobacco Courthouse.  The artifacts were from the shovel test pits (STP's) excavated at a Native American site in Charles County.  There were a lot of fire cracked rocks (which tend to be a result of cooking), lots of flakes, and a number of sherds from at least three types of Native American pottery - cord-marked (Potomac Creek), fabric-impressed (Pope's Creek) and one that was incised.  Now we can start cataloging what was found.

Steve, Josh, Phil, Brogan, Barbara