April 1, 2024

2024 Public Archaeology Lab Days (Jan-Mar)

CCASM has been working with Charles County at the ongoing Public Archaeology Lab since 2015.  The lab is for processing artifacts recovered from various archaeology initiatives in Charles County -  including artifacts from investigations of sites on County properties, artifacts recovered from savage archaeology in the County, as well as artifacts recovered around the 1970's before the Port Tobacco Courthouse was reconstructed. Esther Read is the archaeologist in charge.

Here is what we were doing the first quarter of 2024.
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Monday March 25 Peggy, Linda, Claudia, and in the morning Carol were in the lab sorting and bagging artifacts recently recovered from one unit/level at the Swann site.  This included last week's artifact of the day.  In addition to all the historic artifacts there were also fire-cracked rocks, flakes, and other debitage.

Sorting before bagging

Possible Pipkin Foot
Although most of us were in the field at the Swann Site on Monday March 18, Mary and Linda decided to work in the lab.  They were joined in the afternoon by Malinda.  The remaining 1970 Port Tobacco artifacts that had been washed last week were sorted and bagged.  However, most of the time was spent washing artifacts recovered recently from the Swann Site. 

We chose this unglazed red earthenware fragment as the artifact of the day.  It appears to be a foot from a pipkin.  A pipkin is an an earthenware cooking pot that can be placed over coals, and it usually has three feet. 

Pipe Stem
(different views)
We returned to the lab on Monday March 11.  Mary, Denise, Claudia, Carol and Malinda were in the Courthouse continuing to sort/catalog artifacts from BF1-BF recovered from Port Tobacco around 1970.  Mary, Denise, and Claudia worked on glassware while Carol and Malinda worked on stoneware.  Lots and lots of glass and stoneware.
At Burch House Elsie and Linda washed artifacts that we had recovered last week from the Swann Site while Ned brushed metal artifacts from Swann and also from the Blacksmith Site. 
The artifact of the day comes from last weeks' excavations at the James Swann Site.  It is a kaolin pipe stem fragment with decorations covering the entire stem and with the letters E, C, and possibly another letter on it.  Most early English pipe stems were plain while many early Dutch pipe stems were decorated.  There are examples of later pipe stems with words on them.  Esther shared a website http://www.pipearchive.co.uk/howto/maker.html that shows English pipe stems that were decorated.  One image showed early nineteenth-century molded decorated pipe stems also having the name of the maker.  The decoration might be similar to ours but it was from a different maker.

White salt-glazed
stoneware rims

 On Monday February 26 while some of us were working at Swann Site, the rest of us were working in lab.  There was not enough work today for all of us to be be in the field, there was still a lot to be done in lab.  At the Courthouse Pat and Carol sorted lots of stoneware in preparation of cataloging it while Denise was cataloging table ware.  All these artifacts were recovered from BF1-BF1 in Port Tobacco.  At Burch House Malinda and Peggy continued washing some of the last artifacts brought down from the Courthouse attic. 
We choose these rims of white salt-glazed stoneware from BF1-BF as the "artifact of the day".  Designs on the rims include barley, basket, cartouche, diaper, dot and diaper, and shell.

Pot Metal Casting

 Monday February 12 we were in lab working on artifacts from a number of different sites.  At the Courthouse work continued on sorting 1970 PT artifacts from BF1-BF in preparation for cataloging them.  Denise and Mary worked on clear table glass fragments.  Claudia, Malinda, and Carol worked on coarse and refined earthenware sherds.
Elsie, Evie, and Ned were at Burch House.  Elsie worked on Maxwell Hall shell midden artifacts - bagging non-shell artifacts and weighing oyster shells.  Evie washed some of the remaining 1970 PT artifacts.  Ned brushed metal artifacts recovered from Port Tobacco.  The artifact for the day is one of those artifacts.  It is a pot metal casting that appears to be a hood ornament that could have been used used on a car or a boat.  Pot metal castings were usually chrome plated, but on this artifact all that is left is the pot metal.
Thanks to Ned for the photo and the information about the artifact. 

Tin-glazed Rim
On Monday February 5 lab was once again held in two locations.  Claudia, Elsie, Pat, and Peggy spent the day at Burch House mainly washing and weighing dried oyster shells from a shell midden site in Maxwell Hall.  Some of the remaining 1970 PT artifacts needing to be washed were washed. 
Denise, Linda, Carol, Mary, and Malinda were at the Courthouse processing artifacts recovered from BF1-BF during the ca 1970 Port Tobacco excavations.  Denise and Linda started entering brown glass fragments into the spreadsheet.  Malinda, Carol, and Mary sorted tin-glazed earthenware sherds as well as porcelain sherds in preparation for cataloging them.  Once again we choose tin-glazed sherds from BF1-BF as the artifact of the day.  These two rim sherds mend, but the glaze did not break at the exact location where the paste broke.

Tin-glazed Sherds

Monday January 29 we had visitors.  While the visitors were learning about Port Tobacco and visiting the Blacksmith Site, we were in the lab.  At Burch House Elsie, Linda, Claudia, Malinda, and Evie brushed dirt from oyster shells (lots of ouster shells) recovered from the Maxwell Hall shell midden.  Peggy worked with the new printer and computer.  At the Courthouse Denise, Mary, and Carol worked on additional sorting of artifacts recovered from BF1-BF during the ca 1970 Port Tobacco excavations.  All the artifacts having BF1-BF on the label but no other location information had been bagged by type of material (ceramics, glass, etc.), and these "material" bags contained hundreds of artifacts.  Mary and Denise started sorting the glass bags, and Carol started sorting the ceramics bags.  We chose these tin-glazed sherds as the artifact of the day.   Rather than the usual blue painted decorations, the color on these were yellow, green, and  blue-green with manganese purple lines.  Although it is hard to see in the photo the flower on the larger sherd is manganese purple powder.  Note the designs are floral.

Our visitors were Dr Jim Gibb and people who have been volunteering with him at SERC (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center) Archaeology Lab .  The SERC volunteers have been processing the metal artifacts that we recovered from the Blacksmith site.  Today turned out to be a good day for them to come to Port Tobacco to actually visit the site.  Esther, Ned, Steve, and James shared their experiences investigating the site and recovering the artifacts. 

SERC visitors joining us for lunch
SERC visitors at Blacksmith Site
Thanks to Ned for the additional photo.

Sorting Shell Midden Artifacts
On Monday January 22 Burch House was a cozy 50 degrees when we got there.  The space heater and the closed doors to other rooms may have gotten the back room temperature up to 62 by the end of day.  There was lots of excitement at the Courthouse after lunch.  Apparently the back outside faucet had not been turned off and the water had frozen.  We all had lunch in the Courthouse, and as some of us were returning to Burch we found that the sun on the back of the Courthouse had melted the ice in the frozen faucet, and water was running all over the back yard.  The County promptly fixed the problem after several hurried phone calls among Esther, several SRPT members, and the County.

At Burch, Evie and Claudia bagged the last of the artifacts from the Swann excavation this summer.   Linda, Elsie, and Pat started off bagging Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park artifacts (mostly oyster shells) that we had cleaned last week.  After that they cleaned more oyster shells and a few lithics from the same area (a shell midden).  Claudia also worked on this project after lunch.

Denise, Mary, and Esther transported several boxes of Swann artifact to the courthouse for cataloging and set up the Courthouse for winter work there. They also brought down from the Courthouse attic more artifacts from the first (early 1970's) dig.  Some of these were taken to Burch House for washing in the coming weeks.  
Thanks to Elsie for the write-up and the photo.

Iron Key
On a dreary January 15 a few of us came out to volunteer in the Lab at Burch House.  Claudia, Malinda, and Carol sorted and bagged most of the remaining artifacts recovered so far from the Swann Site.  Less than half of one tray remains to be bagged.  It has already been sorted.  Elsie and Linda pulled together all the remaining metal artifacts recovered from the Blacksmith Site.  Then it was on to washing oyster shells from a Maxwell Hall shell midden.
As the first artifact of the day for the new year we chose this barrel style key from the Blacksmith Site.
On Monday January 8 Burch House was full of people returning after the holidays.  This included CCASM members Elsie, Mary, Linda, Denise, Kathy, Carol, and Ned, ASM member Malinda, along with Evie, one of the newer volunteers, and Esther Read.  The first activity was to take down and store the Christmas decorations.  This was followed by various other activities including continuing to process the Swann Site artifacts, updating the artifact data validation on the three computers in the courthouse, and checking out a new computer donated to CCASM.   When Linda's grandson got a new computer, he donated his old computer and color printer to CCASM.  Thank you, Linda's grandson.
With all the scurrying around, we didn't remember to select an artifact of the day.
 

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