Port Tobacco Jail Lot Sign Installed

In 2017 the Port Tobacco River Conservancy (PTRC) received a grant from the County Tourism office to assist with the preparation of the grounds and fabrication of an interpretive panel for the Jail Lot Site in Port Tobacco.  Charles County had recently acquired this property on which this third and last jail associated with a County Courthouse in Port Tobacco was built in 1860.   The jail was demolished in 1906 after the County Seat had been moved to La Plata. 

The interpretive panel was installed this October near the front of the lot so it can be seen from the Courthouse.  Nice job PTRC.

CCASM was one of the partnering organizations on the grant.  CCASM members helped PTRC and others remove some of the invasive plants although Charles County Parks was needed to remove the invasive trees (see Port Tobacco Jail Lot Grant).  CCASM members also participated along with a number of others in the design of the interpretive panel and provided some of the graphics as well as some of the research on the lot.

Belinda Urquiza Recieves William B. Mayre

At the 2018 ASM Fall Meeting Belinda Urquiza was presented with the William B. Mayre Award for her outstanding contributions to Maryland archaeology.

I'm not able to name all the things Belinda has done, but here are a couple.  Belinda Urquiza is an avocational archeologist and has been active in Maryland archaeology for over eighteen years (and probably more than that).  For a number of years Belinda was ASM's Membership Secretary.  And for the past several years she has been on the CAT (Certified Archeological Technician Program) Committee and more recently has been the chair of the Committee.      

For activities a little closer to home -- Belinda is a member of several ASM chapters and was one of the founding members of the Charles County Chapter.  She was instrumental in CCASM becoming a non-profit, and was CCASM's first secretary.

Congratulations, Belinda.

2018 ASM Fall Meeting

On Saturday October 13 the Archaeology Society of the Northern Chesapeake (ASNC), a Chapter of ASM,  hosted the Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc (ASM) 2018 Fall Meeting at St. John's Episcopal Church in Havre de Grace, Md.  

The Fall Meeting starts with the Annual ASM Business Meeting, and this year included the election of officers and board.  Instead of having chapter reports during the business meeting, chapters were requested to bring a display highlighting their activities.  The CCASM members attending were Annetta, Belinda, Carol, and Jim.  Carol brought the display for CCASM. 

It's always fun to catch up with others from around the state and hear what they are doing.  But the highlight of the meeting was the talks.  All of the speakers were from ASNC.

• Susquehanna Canal - America's Early Effort at Interstate Commerce
      Dan Coates 
• Octoraro Petroglyphs - Tools as Opposed to Art
      Dave Peters, Dennis Brooks  
• The Burns Property - a Metal Detecting Survey
      Dave Peters   
• Coulsontown - the Transplantation of Welsh Slate Miners
      Dr. Sharon Stowers  
• Invasion of Havre de Grace,  The Frederic M. Stiner Memorial Lecture
      Bill McIntyre   
• Crown Stone Farm - a Prehistoric Survey on the Mason Dixon
      Buffy Conrad, Dan Coates
• St. Mary Anne's - a Cemetery Mystery of No Grave Concern
      Jim Koterski, Dan Coates
• An Overview of Northern Chesapeake Field Work
      Bill McIntyre 
• Jasper Run or Run for Jasper?
      Dan Coates 
• A Local Colonial Pipe Stem Dating
      Dave Peters   
• Harford Glen Icehouse Restoration
      Howard Eakes, Dan Coates 
• Local Museums to Visit
      Bill McIntyre 

Also congratulations to Belinda Urquiza, the 2018 William B Mayre Award recipient. 

And thanks to the ASNC Chapter for hosting the meeting.

Charles County Archaeology Program

Esther Doyle Read

At the October 11 CCASM meeting Esther Doyle Read started by giving us an overview of the various aspects of the new Charles County Archaeology Program.  But the majority of the talk was about two sites on which many of those attending had volunteered.  First, Esther gave an update on the salvage archaeology at the Simpkin Coatback Site - what the archaeology is telling us and how this relates to what the building is telling us.  Next she revisited the Port Tobacco site and talked about re-imagining the Port Tobacco landscape.  Recently she has learned about an advertisement for a malt house and kiln in Port Tobacco in the 1740's.  So there's much more that can be learned about Port Tobacco.

Esther Doyle Read is the County Archaeologist for Charles County as well as an adjunct professor in the Ancient Studies Department at University of Maryland Baltimore County.

If people in the photos look a little wet, that is because the rain from Michael arrived in Charles County about an hour before the meeting.  There was a lot of rain, and still sixteen people came out.

Attendance: 16

Salvage Excavations in Dentville

Simpkin Coatback (CH-657) is an 18th century Yeoman farmer's house in Dentsville that has a demolition permit on it. We have until mid-October to investigate around the house before the bulldozers come.  The Principal Investigator is Esther Read, Charles County Archaeologist, and archaeologist Jim Gibb along with CCASM volunteers are helping.

Remaining dates:  
      No additional fieldwork

It's not necessary to be there all day to help out.  But remember to bring water.

On the afternoon of Monday October 8 there were three "teams" digging STPs - Evelyn and Julie; Denise and Joe; Linda, Elsie, and Carol - while Esther cut down the weeds, etc. around the flagged areas where STPS were to be dug.  Not that many artifacts recovered.  The soil profiles seemed different.  We assumed this would be our last day at the site.

Sample of Artifacts from East Test Unit

Regulars Jim, Esther, Evelyn, and Elsie were joined by Central chapter members Steve and Barbara and by Kyla (a graduate student @ UM) and her friend Emerson on Sunday October 7 .  In the morning we opened up a unit on the East side of the house where a concentration on early artifacts had been found in an STP.  We also opened up another unit on the West side of the house near a standpipe with electrical wiring.  Our search for a dug well in this unit was non conclusive.  We hit subsoil or possible fill that was not typical of the subsoils found elsewhere on the site.  We dug a number of STP's that we had not been able to complete last weekend.  Esther and Evelyn laid in a couple of rows of STP's in the field to the West of the house near one of the outbuildings.  We will have to cut down the the tall grasses around these STP sites before we can excavate them.  By mid afternoon the high humidity and strong sun on the west side of the structure became very oppressive and we quit earlier than normal.   (Thanks to Elsie for the write-up and photos.)

Dynamic Gardening

Documenting Shallow STP

Rocks in STP

Sunday September 30 we spent another full day at the site and excavated around the house.  STP grids were put in around the remainder of the house's yard.  The total count to date is now fifty STPs and one test unit with five strata.  At the end of the day, we encountered what may be part of a building.  The top few inches and east half of the STP was filled with gravel intermixed with a little sand and a few artifacts.  On the west half of this STP was a stack of rocks that could not be budged.
Those at the site (a few active and previous CCASM members but mostly volunteers living outside Charles County) included Jim, Elsie, Pat, Carol, Steve, Lisa, Adam, Erin, Lydia, Carl, Stephen, Barbara, and Esther.
We will be washing artifacts Monday.

Excavating Shovel Test Pit

Another Shovel Test Pit

Completing Test Unit 1

Saturday September 29 was our first full day at the site and the first day with no rain.  Among those at the site (both active CCASM members, previous CCASM members, and others) included Elsie, Denise, Pat, Julie, Carol, Sarah, Steve, James, Linda, Camille, Lisa, Phyllis, Tim, and Esther, of course.  Fifteen people volunteered for at least part of the day.  STP grids were put in the yard on the north of the house, and we dug over fifteen shovel test pits.  Most had only a few artifacts, and some had no cultural material.  But in one STP a row of bricks was encountered, and a small test unit was dug next to the STP.  A relatively large number of artifacts were recovered from this unit.  The house and yard are on a small rise.  Metal detecting was done in the area north of the yard.  An STP was dug at each hit to recover all artifacts, not just the metal, and to record information about the location.

Test Unit 1 next to STP

Excavating Shovel Test Pits

Excavating Test Unit

 Monday September 24 there was a break in the rain.  So after lunch the Port Tobacco Monday Lab was closed.  Julie, Denise, Linda, Carol, Mary, Elsie, and Esther drove to the site and started digging STPs.  About 2:30 the rain returned, but we did finish five STPs with probably less than a hand full of artifacts recovered. 

The weather didn't cooperate on Sunday September 23.  All that could be done was to walk the land.  It was raining too hard to even lay out lines for the STPs.  Here Esther, Evelyn, Jim, and Tim are taking shelter in one of the barns.