2018 Public Archaeology Lab Days (Jan-June )

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

Here is what we did during the first half of 2018.

On June 25 Linda, Mary, Denise, Joe, Carol, and Esther worked outside on the picnic tables where they sorted and bagged the recently washed Port Tobacco artifacts.  The "artifact" for the day are these fragments of a glass vessel recovered from the Port Tobacco Courthouse site.  The curved body is mirrored on the inside but the patterned base is clear. 

On June 18, now that school is out, Joey rejoined Denise, Evelyn, Elsie, Linda, Mary, Carol, and Esther to work on the Port Tobacco artifacts.   Part sorted and bagged the previously washed artifacts while others washed additional artifacts or dry brushed metal artifacts.  We chose this really small copper alloy object that was part of a larger object as the artifact of the day.  It has clear round glass inset.  It is from the ca 1970's excavations but it was not labelled.
 

On a dreary Monday (June 11) Denise, Evelyn, Linda, Mary, Elsie, Julie, Carol, and Esther worked indoors on the Port Tobacco artifacts from the Courthouse Attic.   Again we were sorting and bagging artifacts as well as washing the few remaining artifacts that we had brought to Burch House.  This necessitated another trip to the Courthouse attic for more artifacts.  It appears that in the past three years we have processed less than half of what is stored in the attic.  We choose something unusual for an archaeological collection - a complete unbroken bottle - as the artifact of the day.  It was a "Sauer's Extracts" bottle from the 1920's.

On June 4 Mary, a new volunteer, joined Denise Linda, Evelyn, Julie, and Carol at the Lab.  There was some washing, and a lot of bagging and sorting of metal and of lithics.  One box of metal artifacts contained two objects labelled "PT2 201".   It also included this metal printing plate that we chose for the artifact of the day.  The artifact was held in front of a mirror to help us better read the text.  We could make out "_. BOYKIN LEE & CO.", "MERCHANTS", and "LEAF TOBACCO,".
Karen Grubber sent us a link (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89060060/1886-08-06/ed-1/seq-1/) to the August 6, 1886 Port Tobacco Times and Charles County Advertiser that contained an advertisement for J. Boykin Lee & Co.

The morning of May 21 everyone - Elsie, Linda, Denise, Bonnie, Evelyn, Julie, Carol, and Esther - sorted and bagged artifacts.  And we had lots of artifacts from which to choose the artifact of the day.   We finally decided on this stoneware vessel decorated with bread crumbs.  
But the highlight of the day was walking through the woods to the east of Port Tobacco Creek and getting the lay of the land as well as starting to look for an early cemetery supposed to be in that area.

  

On May 14 Bonnie, Denise, and Carol washed artifacts - some of which were labelled - while Evelyn and Linda sorted a large tray of "white" ceramic sherds with no labelling.  Interestingly the labelled artifacts included some new designations, e.g. WH, 560-540, and various PT units.  But the artifact of the day was once again from BF1.  It had been mended and had sherds from BF1-8-4 as well as BF1 NST indicating that Square 8 was probably adjacent to the North-South Trench.   The artifact is a gilt overglaze painted porcelain pitcher.

At the May 7 lab Elsie, Denise, and Carol bagged and sorted, Evelyn continued to measure the volume of oyster shells, and Linda washed.   Most of the artifacts we were processing were unprovenienced Port Tobacco artifacts.  However this small sherd caught our eye and was chosen for the artifact of the day.  The paste is soft like tin-glazed.  The exterior shows a Chinese landscape and the interior has a design scratched into the sherd and colored blue. 

At the April 30 lab Elsie, Denise, and Carol bagged and sorted while Evelyn measure the volume of oyster shells (using sand).  Linda, Bonnie, and Julie washed.  Toward the end of the day they started washing "type" collections.  So there were a lot of possibilities for artifact of the day. We chose this bent and broken spoon for the intricate design on its handle.  It is made of copper or a copper alloy, and it has the term "sterling plate" on it. 

On April 23 the lab was held outside on the picnic tables behind Burch House.  Denise, Bonnie, and Evelyn washed artifacts while Carol sorted and bagged the dry artifacts that had been washed last week.  And Esther drew the profiles of the STP's dug ca 2008 on Lot 46.  During the ca 1970 excavations Area B Feature 1 was also on Lot 46.  The artifact of the day is part of a Nottingham stoneware mug.  All four pieces mend (the left two by only a small amount).  It's always interesting to see how sherds from the same vessel are affected by differences in the chemistry of the soil in which they are recovered.

April 16 was Move Day - the day to move back to Burch House for the summer.  Elsie and Denise cataloged the remaining bag of the Port Tobacco artifacts that we washed last summer, and Evelyn mended china while Esther and Bonnie packed everything that needed to be moved.  Julie, Bonnie, and Esther carried it all downstairs from the Courthouse second floor and over to Burch House. After unpacking, Bonnie and Julie started washing some of the artifacts we had carried down from the attic last week.  The artifact for the day is a child's "reward" mug that had been inscribed with "for a good girl."  The mug has green, blue, and yellow paint over a black transfer printed design.  The mug had not been labeled so we don't know in which of the areas excavated around 1970 it was recovered. (Thanks to Julie for providing the information and the photo.)

 

On April 9 Denise, Elsie, and Carol cataloged until only one bag of the Port Tobacco artifacts that we washed last summer remained- a bag full of metal, mainly corroded brass tacks.  So it was time for a trip to the Courthouse attic to bring down more artifacts that will need to be processed.  Many were in bags that were disintegrating.  Bonnie, Julie, and Evelyn started putting the artifacts in new bags as an intermediate step for going forward.  Esther documented.  The new artifacts from the attic offered a lot of possible artifacts for the day (and some day you will see them, but not today).  We chose two artifacts of the day - two buttons, one more utilitarian with "W Wallis Twisted London" on the reverse and one decorative with a laurel leaf wreath on the reverse.

On April 2 Evelyn, Elsie, and Julie worked on mending ceramic artifacts while Bonnie and Carol continued to catalog BF1 artifacts.  Evelyn also worked on her shell project by measuring the height and length of oyster shells recovered from Rich Hill.  The artifact for the day was this porcelain saucer that is in the process of being mended.

Several different activities were going on at the Lab on March 26.  Denise and Carol continued to catalog BF1 artifacts.  Linda, a new volunteer,  joined Evelyn in trying to undo some bad mends in several porcelain saucers and then re-gluing the pieces.  And Julie looked for pieces in the collection that might mend.  She found most of the rim of a green shell edged plate.
The artifacts for the day were these four copper alloy button tops having three different designs.  The artifact of the day on March 5 was similar but it had even a different design.

On March 19 Elsie, Denise, Julie, Carol, and Esther continued cataloguing BF1 artifacts. while Evelyn tried her hand at mending a broken porcelain saucer.  The artifact for the day was a glass stopper, possibly for a decanter.  Its round finial contains large bubbles.


Evelyn worked on separate projects including starting to mend a broken porcelain saucer.  Here are some of the pieces in the sandbox.

On March 12 Elsie, Denise, Bonnie, Julie, Carol, and Esther continued cataloguing BF1 artifacts -- pipes and bottle glass and nails and ....  The artifact for the day was from a nineteenth century drinking vessel.  This shows where the knop stem connected with the bowl.

On March 5 Denise, Bonnie, Julie, Carol, and Esther catalogued BF1 artifacts while Evelyn washed oyster shells that had been recovered from Rich Hill.  Evelyn was getting the shells ready to be measured.  The artifact for the day was the top part of a copper alloy button.  The exterior looks a little corroded while the interior surface was protected.

Elsie, Denise, Evelyn, and Carol continued cataloging of BF1 artifacts on February 26.  Denise brought in a computer that we hope to set up as another cataloging station.  The artifact of the day is this white tobacco pipe bowl fragment.  The molded ribs and the design (leaves?) may indicate it is from a nineteenth century English pipe.  So it wouldn't have been in the colonial store located at that site.  It was recovered 8-12" below the surface, but the area may have been previously plowed. 

On February 19 Denise and Elsie cataloged artifacts.  Bonnie tackled her first sorting job - working on the artifacts that were washed last week.   Julie worked on soaking and dis-assembling a poorly mended artifact from the early digs.  And Ester did research.  This clock part was chosen for the artifact of the day.  Here are both sides of the part.   (Thanks to Elsie for providing the information and the photos.)

Elsie, Julie, Bonnie, Evelyn, and Carol continued cataloging of BF1 artifacts on February 12.  Elsie, Julie, and Bonnie had to wash one bag of artifacts before they could see what they were.  Julie came up with the artifact of the day - a pretty copper alloy button.

February 5 Elsie, Denise, Evelyn, and Carol continued to catalog artifacts from BF1 while Julie and Esther sorted part of the collection.  We choose a copper alloy "button" covered with another metal for the artifact of the day.  There is an intricate design on the surface.  But we had to highlight that Elsie found a tobacco pipe bowl that mended to a long tobacco pipe stem found in a different level of the same square.  Always fun to "cross-mend".  And it's not often that we find a "whole" tobacco pipe.  This one dates to 1720-1820.

January 29 Elsie, Denise, Bonnie, Carol, and Evelyn continued to catalog artifacts from BF1.  Toward the end of the day we started cataloging a level with a lot of different tin-glazed ceramics.  Here are two examples from the less common pieces we encountered -- one bowl fragment showing a woman carrying a basket and another that is polychrome.  We chose the first as the artifact of the day.

 

January 22 Elsie, Julie, Bonnie, Carol and Esther continued to catalog artifacts from BF1.  We chose a fragment of a white tobacco bowl as the artifact of the day.  It is stamped with a "D" inside a rouletted circle, and we believe the missing first initial was most likely a "T".   Eighteenth century pipe makers include  Thomas Dormer (London) and Thomas Dennis (Bristol).  In the nineteenth century American-made pipes were manufactured with the mark “TD", but the other artifacts found in the unit/level of our artifact date to the eighteenth century.

January 8, our first lab day for the year, was cut short due to the weather forecast (sleet and possible icy roads).   Elsie, Denise, Carol, and Bonnie, a new volunteer, catalogued artifacts from the 1970's Port Tobacco BF1 site.  Evelyn was able to join us after lunch.  Jay, a new Charles County intern, worked along side us as he started researching the deeds associated with the BF1 site, and Esther reviewed her latest version of the report documenting the site.  We spent a lot of time looking at the artifact chosen as the artifact of the day and decided it was a broken bangle bracelet.  We are not certain of the "white" metal of which it is made.  The artifact was found in the top 8" of the unit.


2017 Public Archaeology Lab Days (July-Dec)
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