Return to Carroll Family Cemetery

At the request of Rev. Ruby Brown-Thomas we returned to the Carroll Family Cemetery off Poseytown Road in Nanjemoy.  Rev. Brown-Thomas is a minister at Mt Hope Missionary Baptist Church and has ancestors buried in the Cemetery.  A historic marker that included the cemetery had recently been placed nearby by the Charles County Commissioners, and there are plans to restore the farmhouse and mark the cemetery.

In October 2017 [Cemetry Volunteer Work] CCASM members and Esther Read identified, flagged, and documented over seventy unmarked graves in a wooded area that oral history indicated was a cemetery associated with the Carroll family and with the early Mt Hope Baptist Church.  Jim created the map showing the locations of the graves.

On April 26 CCASM members Elsie, Denise, Linda, Mary, Ned, Peggy, and Carol as well as volunteers Kathy and Antonio joined archaeologist Esther Read to make sure all the unmarked graves were still flagged and numbered.  Jim's map was a great help since some of the flags were missing and many of the flags no longer were numbered.  As you can see there was a thick layer of leaves on the site that had to be brushed away before we could see the impressions indicative of graves.

Looking for unmarked graves (flagged and unflagged)

About halfway through Rev. Ruby Brown-Thomas along with members of Mt Hope Church, members of the Carroll family, and a few CCASM members started adding the crosses made from PVC to the graves.  The white crosses really stood out. 

Adding crosses

Hear is a closer look at the volunteers verifying the flags and grave locations posing with Rev Brown-Thomas and William.  (Sorry I didn't get a photo of all those helping install the crosses.)

There are plans to enclose the cemetery with a fence and to add a sign. 

2022 ASM Spring Symposium

Saturday April 16 the Archeological Society of Maryland held its 56th Annual Spring Symposium at the Maryland Historical Trust in Crownsville, MD.  

The talks at the Symposium included 

• Preservation and Education Underwater Archaeology Program at Virginia Department of Historical Resoures
  Brendan Burke
  
  
• Barwick's Ordinary Site- An Exciting Collaboration Shedding Light on the Eastern Shore's Early Colonial History
  Dr. Julie Markin
    
  
• The Richard E. Stearns Memorial Lecture
  Time, Topology, and Point Traditions in North Carolina Archeology
  I. Randolf Daniel Jr
  
  
• An Overview of the Recent Research in New Netherland Archeology
  Craig Lukezic
  ag lunch, mingle with friends and visit silent auction
      
• ASM Student Spotlight
  Refining Interpretations of the Conwingo Site (18CE14): Ground Stone Analysis of the Stearns Collection
  Cailete Rose, Towson University
  
  
• Anglo-Native Interactions in 17th Century Maryland
  Scott Strickland
  
  
• The Iris McGillivray Memorial Lecture
  A Comparison of White Clay Tobacco Pipes Recovered from Dutch and Haudenosaunee Sites, ca 1640-1710
  Dr. Michael Lucas

 The silent auction to raise money for the Lab Analysis Fund did raise over $500.  For the auction CCASM provided a point knapped and given us by Nate Salzman (Jefferson Paterson Park and Museum)

At least one CCASM member attended.

CCASM is a chapter of ASM. 

2022 program and abstracts 

Dietary Patterns at Two Colonial Sites in Southern Maryland

Abigail Kennedy

At the April 14 CCASM Zoom meeting Abigail Kennedy presented dietary data associated with faunal and vessel artifacts recovered from two sites in Calvert County in order to help provide an understanding of colonial dietary practices along the Patuxent River in the early Colonial period.  One site, the Roberts Site (18CV350), was an early 18th-century inland site on the Patuxent River, while the other site, Patuxent Point (18CV271), was a late 17th-century site located at the confluence of the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers. 

Abigail Kennedy is a senior at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  After graduation she plans to pursue a Masters in bioarchaeology.

We would like to thank James Gibb for hosting the Zoom meeting. 

 A snapshot of some of those at the meetings -

 Attendance: 8 people

2022 Discovering Archaeology Day

Finally on April 9, a somewhat chilly Saturday, CCASM once again had the opportunity to participate in an outdoor archaeology event -- Discovering Archaeology Day at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum in St Leonard, Maryland. 

It was a great day to be outdoors and to visit with the archaeological organizations that had tables and hands-on activities at the event.  Over 280 people came, many of whom stopped at the CCASM tables.

You could help carve a soapstone bowl, make an arrow, see arrows tipped with fossils, watch an eel basket being made, identify seeds, "dig" for artifacts, mend broken pottery, make a small clay colonial bowl, view a 3-D image of a plate, look at a number of actual artifacts, visit various MAC Lab stations (artifact id, washing, conservation, faunal lab, storage), ...  CCASM had a display and the "Archaeologist Dig for Clues" activity where you could discover what can be learned from trash.  And, of course, you could just talk to people.  Overall it was a really good day. 

Talking about archaeology

One attendee doing the activity
while another reads the display

Thanks to Denise, Joe, Ned, Peggy, and Carol who represented CCASM at the event.

April is Declared Charles County Archaeology Month (2022)

Once again the Charles County Commissioners have proclaimed the month of April as Archaeology Month in Charles County.  This is too coincide with April being Maryland Archaeology Month. 

The proclamation sites the rich history and heritage of Charles County, exemplified by historic buildings, cultural landmarks, natural features, and local rituals.  It also recognizes that the county is enhanced by historic preservation associations, groups, and professionals who donate countless hours and dollars to preserve that history.  It also specifically mentions Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc, Maryland Archeological Society, Inc., and the Maryland Historical Trust.

CCASM will be providing the Commissioners with copies of the Maryland Archaeology Month mini-posters and brochures.

CCASM would like to thank the Commissioners for recognizing the importance of archaeology in Charles County.