Public Archaeology at 2017 Port Tobacco Market Day

Saturday, May 20 was the 8th Port Tobacco Market Day, and once again Charles County sponsored a public archaeology event in front of  Stagg Hall in Historic Port Tobacco.  This was a continuation of the excavation of a half unit that contained part of the foundation of an earlier building that had housed a print shop in the nineteenth century. 

Experienced CCASM members Evelyn, Elsie, Jeanne Marie, Steve, and Carol assisted Charles County Archaeologist Esther Doyle Reed.  At least four other people joined us in screening the artifacts.  And, of course, numerous people stopped by to see what we were doing.

During the morning we chose an early nineteenth century green edged rim as the artifact of the day.  This was found inside the building.  But in the afternoon we recovered at least three early nineteenth century wine bottle bases with kick-ups outside the building.  We also removed lots of mortar and some bricks from the building.  And, yes, we continue to recover printer type.
    

Excavating the Half-Unit
 

Artifact of the morning-
green edged rim

CCASM Table
 

CCASM also had a "public awareness" booth that included the display "Looking at Water's Edge in Charles County. 

We would like to thank Evelyn for providing the photos

Thomas Stone and Potluck Supper

Amy Muraca and David Lassman

CCASM's first Pot Luck Supper was held at Thomas Stone National Historic Site on Saturday, May 13, 2017.  There was more than enough food, and it was fun to just get together and share.

Also we learned more about this historic site.  First, Amy Muraca, the Resource Manager for Thomas Stone NHS and George Washington Birthplace National Monument, talked about archaeology relating to Thomas Stone and told us about proposals for future archaeology projects at the site.  Since Amy's background was in historical archaeology, we asked her a number of questions.

Next Park Ranger David Lassman related some more about this site, but spent most of his time talking about a number of other National Park sites along the George Washington Parkway.  There was so much information imparted. 

Since this was the May meeting, there was a brief CCASM meeting with the various officers giving reports on what had happened during the past year.

Haverdeventure

After the meeting David took several of us on a tour inside Haverdeventure, Thomas Stone's plantation home.

All in all we had a really nice time and would like to thank David for helping us set up our event at Thomas Stone.


Attendance: 13