2017 Public Archaeology Lab Days (July - Dec )

CCASM is continuing to work with Charles County at the Monday Public Archaeology Lab Days on various Charles County collections and exhibit initiatives.  The lab is located in Historic Port Tobacco.  Esther Read is the archaeologist in charge.

Here is what we did during the second half of 2017.

On December 18, our last lab day for the year, Elsie, Evelyn, Julie, Carol, Tim, and Esther mostly cataloged artifacts from the 1970's BF1 site.  We used the latest version of Esther's catalog system to enter information about the artifacts into a spreadsheet.  We choose this green Depression Glass lid for the artifact of the day.   Looks somewhat festive.  

December 11 Denise, Julie, and Carol spent most of the day trying to reorganize the bags of artifacts that had been brought down from the Port Tobacco Courthouse attic.  At least half of the artifacts are still in the attic.  Also Esther shared her latest update on the location of BF1, believed to be the location of a large colonial store, and the possible location of the units excavated to yield the
 artifacts we are processing.   Sorry- no artifact of the day.

Once the cold air starts coming through the lab floor boards at Burch House, it is time to move to a warmer location - the second floor of the Courthouse.  So December 4 Denise, Evelyn, Julie, Carol, and Esther packed up the supplies and moved the lab.  Then we started sorting through some of the artifacts that we had been processing before our move.
That gave us the artifact for the day - an long unbroken stem from an eighteenth century white clay tobacco pipe that had been retrieved from BF1.  This location is believed to be the site of a colonial store.  We forgot to check the interior bore size.

November 27 everyone brought food for lunch to go with the pizza Esther had bought to celebrate our 900 hours of volunteering for Charles County. 
Rather than having lab Denise, Elsie, Evelyn, Julie, and Carol decorated and cleaned up Burch House for the upcoming Holiday Trail.  Elsie and Carol provided greenery.  Elsie loaned us lights for both trees as well as hand crocheted ornaments to be used on one tree.  The other tree was decorated with paper ornaments CCASM members had made last year.

November 20 Denise, Elsie, Evelyn, and Carol finished bagging all the artifacts recovered from the print shop in front of Stagg Hall.  That is all except for a bag of mortar that still needs to be washed.  The artifact of the day is a small piece of Rockingham glazed ceramics that was produced from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

November 13 we processed artifacts from the print shop in front of Stagg Hall.  Evelyn, Elsie, and Julie washed artifacts.  Julie also sorted and bagged artifacts.  On the left is a photo showing a representative screen of the artifacts that were mostly architectural and ceramics.  But the artifact of the day was a small metal fastener with gripper teeth.  It is impressed with the word Hickory and an image possibly of a boy playing with a dog.  Hickory did make overalls, and this was probably for the shoulder strap adjustment. 
 Evelyn and Elsie briefly assisted Esther to pump the water out of the print shop units as she prepared for the units being professionally photographed later this week.  (Thanks to Elsie for providing the information and the photos.)

November 6 Denise and Elsie sorted and bagged artifacts from recent excavations at Stagg Hall while Julie and Evelyn washed artifacts also from Stagg Hall.  Esther continued on finalizing the revised categories we will use this winter to catalog the artifacts from the early archaeological excavations at Port Tobacco.  And Cathy stopped by to visit while we took advantage of the last of the warm weather to eat lunch outside.  The artifact for the day is a small piece of engine turned dipped pearlware with green glazed herringbone rouletting.  It probably dates from from first part of the nineteenth century.  (Thanks to Elsie for providing the information and the photo.)

October 30 Denise, Elsie, and Julie washed artifacts including a lot of oysters while Carol sorted and bagged artifacts recovered from Stagg Hall.  In all the mortar, bricks, nails, and miscellaneous artifacts, we found this artifact for the day -- a small piece of green transfer printed earthenware that probably dates from the early to middle nineteenth century. 

October 23 we returned to the lab.  Evelyn, Denise, and Carol sorted and bagged artifacts recovered from Port Tobacco while Julie washed more artifacts.  Evelyn took time out to wash oyster shells recovered from Rich Hill(nice boots).  Esther moved buckets around as she organized the lab and got ready for this Saturday's work at Carroll Family Cemetery.

October 16 Denise and Carol screened dirt and drew wall profiles while Esther excavated several features that were associated with the print shop in front of Stagg Hall.  On the right is the corner with most of the builder's trench on the north side excavated.  North is to the right in the photo.  Artifacts of note included larger pieces of window glass and small fragments of leather.  Earlier in the day Julie and Tina stopped by on their way to continue clearing the Jail Site Lot.  Thanks to Esther for the photos.

October 9 was a rainy Monday.  Jeanne Marie washed artifacts while Evelyn, Julie, and Carol sorted and bagged artifacts that we had previously washed.  It was somewhat of a lazy day, and none of the artifacts jumped out at us.  So no artifact of the day.

October 2 Denise, Elsie, Jeanne Marie, Carol, and Esther returned to the excavations in front of Stagg Hall.  The units need to be back filled by October 18, but we keep finding new features.  Here Jeanne Marie is troweling a possible post mold.  Elsie and Denise were working inside the building on a large concentration of mortar.  There they found some cut bones, larger pieces of window glass, a printer type, and our artifact of the day - the base of an eighteenth century case bottle.

September 25 Denise, Evelyn, Carol, and Esther returned to the excavations in front of Staff Hall to continue excavating the area to the north of the print shop corner.  Another feature was found adjoining the building foundation to the north.  Something to investigate the next time we are in the field.  But our artifact for the day is this copper alloy artifact that is probably part of an eighteenth century buckle.  Some of the dirt was rinsed off, but it still needs to be washed.

On a rainy September 18 Evelyn, Denise and Carol sorted and bagged artifacts while Esther updated field notes and event photos.  Denise and Carol worked on artifacts from recent excavations in front of Stagg Hall.  Evelyn got to bag the interesting artifacts from BF1 including the drinking vessels featured on August 14.

Before the units in front of Stagg Hall can be back filled, profiles of the walls need to be drawn.  So on September 11 we worked on documentation rather than on washing artifacts.  Here Denise And Evelyn are creating their first profile drawing.  Elsie, Carol, and Esther also worked on profiling.  We should be able to finish up next week.

Denise, Elsie, Jeanne Marie, Evelyn, and Carol returned to lab on August 28.  Mainly we washed artifacts recovered from BF1.  Then we moved outside to the picnic tables  to sort and bag artifacts recovered recently from in front of Stagg Hall.  After we had selected a decorated tobacco pipe bowl fragment as the artifact of the day, we came across this nicely decorated tin-glazed earthenware bowl.  So we have two artifacts for the day.  Both came from the BF1 area, but from different locations.
  

On August 14 the lab was quite full - Denise, Joe, and Carol had returned from vacations, Elsie finally had her air conditioner installation completed, while it was just a normal volunteer day for Evelyn, Jeanne Marie, and Esther.  The remaining Stagg Hall artifacts were washed while previously washed artifacts were sorted and bagged.   One bag of artifacts from BF1 was also washed, and that bag contained our "artifact" of the day - fragments from several mid- to late-eighteenth century drinking glasses.  (Note: This image was featured as the August 17 artifact of the day on the American Artifacts Blog https://americanartifacts.blog/.../glass-stemware-port.../)
 

There wasn't supposed to be a lab August 7 because we were going to assist the Port Tobacco River Conservancy in clearing the jail house lot of invasive non-native plants and other overgrowth in preparation for the installation of interpretative signage. That activity was canceled due to heavy rain.  So Evelyn and Elsie washed artifacts from the last two days of digging in front of Stagg Hall, while Esther continued inventorying the boxes of artifacts from Port Tobacco. The artifacts of the day are a piece of lead and 3 pieces of print type – 2 letters and a spacer bar. The print type is probably lead plus another material to give it more strength.  (Thanks to Elsie for providing the information and Esther for providing the photo.)

July 24 Joe, Denise, Julie, and Andrew sorted artifacts recovered from Port Tobacco feature BF1.  Joe, Denise, and Andrew spent most of their time sorting bones that included several jaw bones that are the "artifact" of the day.  Esther indicated that the bones are from the Glassford site. (Thanks to Julie for providing the photo and the information.) Based on Elsie's additional research - the upper pieces that are upside down are from the right side of a cow mandible, and the lower images are pig - a right maxilla (upper) and a left third molar from the other maxilla."

Since the special tour of Port Tobacco was cancelled at the last minute on July 17, Jeanne Marie, Andrew, Elsie, Julie, Carol, and Esther had additional time to catch up on a number of different activities in the lab (washing, sorting, inventorying boxes, ...).  The artifact for the day comes from BF1 (1970's Port Tobacco excavations).  It's a rim from a utilitarian red earthenware vessel, but the green glaze on the interior is unusual. 

July 10 we returned to the lab.  Jeanne Marie washed the artifacts recovered from Stagg Hall last week, Carol and Andrew washed artifacts from two BF1 units, Julie sorted previously washed Port Tobacco artifacts, and Esther worked on reports.  One of the more interesting artifacts was this lead object recovered from BF1 square 6 in the 1970's.  There appears to be one large object with "50" stamped on the back and with at least two objects that might be latches melted to it.

On July 3 Denise, Joe, Andrew, Carol, and Esther once again took time off from the lab and worked on a feature in one of the units in front of Stagg Hall.   The feature was next to the building foundation and may have been part of a robbers trench (to take take bricks from this building for use in a different location).  The most interesting artifact recovered from near the bottom of the feature was this lead bar with lettering stamped on it.  We were able to make out "MERCHANTS SHOT WORK".   The rest of the lettering is obscured by mortar.  Thomson's Mercantile and Professional Directory (1851-1852) has an advertisement for Merchants Shot Works in Baltimore, and Google comes up with several references (mainly related to the military) to lead bars stamped with "Merchants Shot Works Baltimore".


2017 Public Archaeology Lab Days (Jan-June)
2016 Public Archaeology Lab Days (July - Dec)
2016 Public Archaeology Lab Days (Jan - June)
2015 Public Archaeology Lab Days