June 30, 2024

2024 Public Archaeology Lab Days (Apr-Jun)

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 second quarter of 2024.
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Hunyadi Janos
Bottle Base
Monday June 24 Denise, Evelyn, Linda, and Carol worked inside Burch House.  Denise and Evelyn worked on bagging the artifacts retrieved via metal detecting recently at Swann Site when we were looking for nails that would identify a structure.  Linda and Carol worked on some of the last Port Tobacco Courthouse attic artifacts identifying which needed to be washed and which didn't.  Among the ca 1970s Port Tobacco artifacts was a bottle base with some unusual embossed lettering, and it had been retrieved not from BF1 but from location P56.  This dark olive green bottle base became the artifact of the day. 

The base of the bottle had "HUNYADI JANOS" in the center with "SAXLEHNER BITTERQUELLE" around the edge.  Searching the web we learned that Hunyadi Janos Bitterquelle was made by the Andreas Saxlehner Mineral Spring Water Company of Budapest, Hungary.  It has been used since 1863 as a laxative curative water.  It was imported into the US between 1870 and ca 1920.  btw, Hunyadi Janos was a 15th century Hungarian military hero.
(For more details check out  https://www.peachridgeglass.com/2015/02/is-the-hunyadi-janos-saxlehners-bitterquelle-a-bitters-bottle/)

Printed Creamware Sherd


On Monday June 17 only Ned, Esther, and some new younger volunteers decided to work in the field at the Swann Site.  Since the temperature was predicted to be in the nineties, Linda, Denise, Evie, Kathy, and Malinda chose to process Swann Site artifacts inside Burch House where it was cooler.  They were joined by Mary and Carol at noon   Since the artifacts were coming from the plowzone, they were small.  We decided on this printed creamware sherd as the artifact of the day.
Flake

Although Monday June 10 was a really nice day, Esther could not be at the site.  So we had a lab day.  Linda, Mary, Denise, Malinda, Evie, and Carol volunteered inside Burch House.  All of us were working on artifacts recovered from the Swann Site.  Malinda and Mary washed (or brushed) artifacts while the rest of us sorted and bagged.  We chose this small translucent flake as the artifact of the day. 
Modified Flake

Monday May 13 was an unusual day in the lab since much of the time was spent getting Burch House ready for the CCASM meeting this coming Saturday.  Kathy was able to join us again and spent the day on the outside stoop defrosting the refrigerator.  Probably not what she thought she would be doing.  Claudia and Malinda swept the whole house and cleaned off the kitchen counter that had been used to stored artifact bags.  In order to help free up counter space Carol and Evie worked on sorting and bagging Swann Site artifacts.  We chose this modified flake as the artifact of the day.  It looks like the flake may have been modified to be a point that broke or to be a scraper or ??  Definitely interesting.

Monday May 6 we spent the day in the lab with some of us sorting and bagging artifacts inside and others washing artifact outside on the picnic tables. Mary, Elsie, Denise, Claudia, and Malinda worked on Swann Site artifacts while Carol bagged a few remaining artifacts including whole bottles from the Blacksmith Site. Ned stopped by and provided an update for the Chapel Point Site.  It was a slow day, and we didn't select an artifact of the day although we could have selected one the bottles.

Decorated Tobacco
Pipe Stem
There was another school visit on the morning of Monday April 29.  It was the last school visit until the fall.  Linda, Mary, Claudia, Ned, and Carol worked with the children.  It's always interesting interacting with second graders. 

Since we had more than enough helpers, Elsie went to the lab to continue the weighing of oyster shells recovered from the Maxwell Hall shell middens.  After lunch we all returned to the lab and washed artifacts from the Swann Site.  That is all except Ned who braved the heat to clear off the weeds on the Swann Site and to help get it ready for the Public Archaeology event this weekend.

We chose this decorated tobacco pipe stem recovered from the Swann Site as the artifact of the day.  It is the second decorated pipe stem we have recovered from this part of the site so far.  The other one was the artifact of the day on March 11 (https://ccarchsoc.blogspot.com/2023/12/2024-public-archaeology-lab-days-jan.html).  The decorations on the March 11 stem are different, but there appear to be some dots.  We'll need to go back and check.
Thanks to Mary for the photo.
  
Wine Bottle
fragments
On Monday morning April 22 we split into two groups with some working in the lab and others working with second graders from one of the Charles County Schools.  This was the fourth school to visit the Historic Port Tobacco Village this spring.  The archaeology part of the visit includes an introduction to archaeology (usually by Linda) as well as age-appropriate activities (washing artifacts and mending dishes).  Today those working with the children included Esther, Linda, Claudia, Ned, and Carol.  On other days Denise, Elsie, and Mary have helped. 

Elsie, Denise, and Malinda worked in the lab washing artifacts in the morning and were joined by the others in the afternoon.   Most washed artifacts from the Swann Site, but Carol and Denise washed artifacts from the PT attic that had been recovered around 1970.  We chose these two "PT attic" fragments (a neck/rim and a base with a kick-up) from an eighteenth century wine bottle as the artifact of the day.  The two pieces may or may not be from the same bottle.  The rim style indicates it was probably from a mid-eighteenth century bottle.

Polychrome
Painted Sherd

Monday April 1 was rainy, and only three volunteers (Denise, Claudia, and Carol) plus Esther (on crutches) were at the lab in Burch House.   Denise washed bones from PT attic while Claudia and Carol sorted and bagged the remaining artifacts recovered from the Maxwell Hall shell midden (18CH101).  Then we all washed artifacts recovered from the Swann Site last Monday.

An artifact doesn't have to be big in order to add to the story.  This small polychrome painted sherd was chosen as the artifact of the day.  Since it is similar to other polychrome sherds with a minimum of cobalt paint, it would date from c.1795 to c.1815.  It was recovered last week at the Swann Site in Port Tobacco.  So far most of the sherds recovered from this area predate 1830.

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