April is Archaeology Month 2015

The site on the poster is Stoddart's Tavern at Mount Calvert in Prince George's County. CCASM heard about the tavern at our January meeting.

Click to learn more about the building


Click to learn more about the tavern picture
This link takes you to a page where you can click on some of the objects to learn more about them. 
Hint: click on the jug on the table or on any tobacco pipe.  Let us know what else you find.



Click for Maryland Archaeology Month Activities

Events in Charles County

April 7  (6 pm)
Lecture and Historical Reenactment: Josias Fendall: Patriot or Traitor?
Description: Josias Fendall, the Maryland governor who tried to overthrow Lord Baltimore in 1658, will be there in person to defend his actions while archaeologist Julie King uses clues unearthed from Fendall's plantation site to suggest how Lord Baltimore got his revenge. Fendall will be presented by historical interpreter Mike Callahan.
Sponsor: Christ Episcopal Church, Wayside
Location: Christ Church Wayside Hall, 13050 Rock Point Road, Newburg, MD 20664.
Fee: Free
Contact: Betty Bowling, 301-259-2182 or www.edow.org/christchurchwayside
Please contact Betty Bowling (301-643-7157) to make sure they set up enough chairs

April 9  (7 pm)
Lecture: Charles County Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory 
Description: Rebecca Morehouse will be highlighting several Charles County collections stored at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) during the monthly meeting of the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc.
Sponsor: Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc., a chapter of ASM
Location: LaPlata Police Department, 101 La Grange Avenue La Plata, MD
Fee: Free
Contact: Sarah Grady 410-533-1390 charlescoasm.org or ccarchsoc.blogspot.com

April 18 and 19 (10 am-3 pm both days)
Excavation: Lincoln 150- On the Trail of the Assassin
Description: In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination, the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc. will be joining archaeologist Esther Read to investigate the area where John Wilkes Booth and David Herold fled and hid out after assassinating Lincoln.
Sponsor: Charles County
Location: Rich Hill Farm Rd, Bel Alton, MD
Fee: Free
Contact: Carol Cowherd or ccasm2010@gmail.com

2015 Annual Workshop in Archeology

The 24rd Annual Workshop in Archeology was held at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD, Saturday March 28, 2015.

Topics and speakers included

• Early Chesapeake Taverns - Rod Cofield
• Digging for the War of 1812 in Patterson Park, Baltimore - Greg Katz
• Artifacts of Religion & Magic: Interpreting the Material Culture of Faith and the Supernatural in Maryland - Sara Rivers-Cofield
• Ordinance 101: Do's, Don'ts, and Myths - Bill Utley
• Historic Wreck Tagging Problem - Austin Burkhard
• SERC Archaeology Program Steps into the Anthropocene - Jim Gibb
• The ASM Field Session: The Biggs Ford Site

The CAT Workshop "Historic Overview" was presented by Silas Hurry and Kate Dinnel.

CCASM members attending the workshop included Jim, Sarah, and Lindsey.  (sorry, no photos.)

Labeling Native American Collection - Part 1 Completed

At last the MAC Lab lot numbers have been printed on the bag tags as well as on the bags themselves for all the artifacts recovered by CCASM at a Native American site near Bryans Road.  Saturday March 21 Peggy, Barbara, and Carol stayed until the last bag was processed.   Labeling Part 1 has been completed. 

Barbara, Carol, and Peggy working on the last bags

Thanks to all those who helped - Merritt, Carol, Lindsey, Gary, Rich, Sarah, Barbara, Peggy, Noelle, Debbie, and George.

The collection (sixteen boxes of artifacts) is to be donated to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) at JPPM.  In 2013 Patricia Samford, Director of the MAC Lab, was contacted to find out the requirements for a collection to be accepted, and CCASM is trying to ensure that those requirements are met.  CCASM met with Rebecca Moorehouse, Curator for  State Collections, at the MAC Lab.  She reviewed how we had processed and bagged the collection and indicated no changes were needed.  At that time a range of MAC Lab lot numbers were provided.  These numbers needed to be added 1) to the bag tags and the bags themselves and 2) to the artifacts.

So Labeling Part 1 has been completed.  CCASM is looking for help with Labeling Part 2.  Any ideas?

Here are the previous lab days ---

Lindsey, Peggy, Gary

Gary, Lindsey, Peggy, Sarah, Rich, and Carol came out Saturday February 28.  We finished over five boxes, more than on any other lab day.  The boxes contained artifacts from Test Units 1-7, and there were lots of interesting artifacts identified to be photographed later.  Only four more boxes remain to be processed for this phase of adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and to the bags.  YEA!!

Saturday January 24 we reached a minor milestone.  We finished adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and the bags for all of the STPs as well started working on Test Unit 1.  YEA!!  So we have finished six of the eighteen boxes.  However, these six boxes represent about half the artifact bags.  The Test Units have a lot more artifacts per bag, and so the bags take up more space.

Lindsey, Barbara, Debbie (not a member but definitely a welcome addition), Carol, Rich, and Noelle showed up to help.  Luckily the weather forecast changed Friday night, and the lab didn't have to be postponed.  There was no snow on Saturday, just rain. 

Debbie, Barbara, Lindsey

Rich, Noelle

There was only one person able to attend the November 8 lab, but it was held any way.  Any time spent puts us that much closer to the end.

Carol took some of the unlabeled artifacts to the ASM Field School at SERC and had a min-lab on the evening of October 14.  George Riseling, another ASM member helping at the Field School, helped.

Noelle (the new CCASM secretary), Lindsey, Peggy, Gary, and Carol continued to add the MAC Lab lot numbers on Saturday September 27.  We finished STP transects F-K.  So we are definitely making progress.  With the ASM Field School as well as the ESAF Conference in October it will be several weeks before another Saturday is available for scheduling a lab. 

The first lab for adding the MAC Lab lot numbers to the bag tags and to the bags was held Saturday September 13.  It was also a chance to to see the artifacts and check the catalog.  And Barbara took pictures of some of the artifacts that were diagnostic or were just interesting.  Others helping out were Lindsey, Peggy, Carol, and Merritt (a new member).

We finished STP transects A-E.  This is about one third of the STP bags, and there are still Test Unit bags to go.  So expect future labs.

2015 Charles County History Day

The 17th Annual Charles County History Day competition was held March 21, 2014.  CCASM sponsored one of the special awards.  This year's topic was "Leadership and Legacy in History".

The CCASM award of $50 and a one-year membership in CCASM went to Owen Butler for his individual exhibit entitled "Robert Crain and His Road to a Legacy".  Owen attends Piccowaxen Middle School.

Congratulations, Owen.

Ghost Fleet of Mallow's Bay

Donald Shomette

At the March 12 CCASM meeting Don Shomette related the history of the WWI ships that are now in Mallow's Bay, a vast ship graveyard on the western shore of Charles County.  Volunteer underwater archaeologists have also found a revolutionary ship and possibly a Civil War barge there.  Don is a historian and underwater archaeologist as well as the author of several local history books including Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay and Other Tales of the Lost Chesapeake.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has accepted the Mallows Bay nomination for National Marine Sanctuary status, and the nomination has moved to inventory status.  The site has also been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Attendance: 22