September 30, 2024

2024 Public Archaeology Lab Days (July-September)

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 third quarter of 2024.
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Base of Mold Produced Bottle
There was a full lab on Monday September 30 with a lot of different activities going on.  Linda, Elsie, and Denise gathered materials and filled water bottles to use with the second graders that would be coming to Port Tobacco on Wednesday.  Evie, Claudia, Malinda, Jadyn, Jordan, and Carol did some washing and some bagging of artifacts from the the 1970s Port Tobacco excavations as well as from the more recent Swann site.  The artifact of the day was from the 1970s excavations, but not from BF1.  It was labeled P5G.  This is the base of a post-bottom mold produced bottle from late 1850s to 1890.  Check out https://sha.org/bottle/mouthblowndating.htm#Question%206

At the Monday September 23 Lab Mary, Linda, and Jadyn sorted and bagged 1970's artifacts (mostly bones) while several of the other regular volunteers were in the field at Maxwell Hall.  The artifacts were from a numbers of sites including some with an LT designation that had been collected in 1973.  (Now we need to find out where LT is?)  We did not find a bone artifact that was interesting enough to be the artifact of the day.
Thanks to Linda for the info.

Two-tine Fork
On Monday September 16 four people were in lab at Burch House and two members were with Esther in the field.  Linda and Evie washed the artifacts excavated from the plow scars this past weekend and then helped Malinda and Jadyn who were processing the ca 1970s Port Tobacco artifacts.  The latter included Lots of bones as well lots of metal artifacts.  It was one of the metal artifacts that was chosen as the artifact of the day.  The artifact of the day is this decorated bone handled two-tine fork.
Thanks to Linda for the photo.


Pocket Knife
Denise was the only one at lab on Monday September 9 since everyone else decided to be in the field.  She bagged several interesting metal artifacts from BF1, but we chose this rusty bone-handled pocket knife as the artifact of the day.  Although the rust had caused the knife to break apart into several pieces, the main part with the blade (rusted shut) was still intact.  It was stored in a bag and may have been in one piece when it was recovered.  If air and moisture are present, rust keeps forming and causes an object to disintegrate.
Thanks to Denise for the photo.

Monday August 26 we all worked inside Burch House on artifacts from the ca 1970's excavations at Port Tobacco.  Linda and Claudia sorted glassware and Denise sorted a variety of artifacts .  Carol and Jadyn tried to identify animal bones as they sorted and later washed quite a lot of animal bones.  The artifact from the day comes from the glassware artifacts.  On first glance it looked like the base of a olive green bottle with a kick-up, but when turned over there is no kick-up.  The other side is completely flat.  Interesting.

Raised area inside
Opposite side
completely flat

Buckle fragment
Monday August 19 everyone was in lab working on artifacts from the ca 1970's excavations at Port Tobacco.  Inside Burch House Linda, Claudia, and Malinda sorted and started bagging a large collection of interesting glass fragments while Evelyn and Jadyn washed animal bones.  Denise, Mary, and Carol decided to wash artifacts outside with the majority of the artifacts being animal bones although Mary did wash some Late Woodland prehistoric pottery sherds and other non-bone artifacts.  
The artifact of the day was part of a decorative copper alloy buckle.  We chose this one artifact that was found in a bag of miscellaneous somewhat identifiable metal objects.


Monday August 5 was another hot day - so a lab day.  At Burch House Claudia, Malinda, Kyle, and Jadyn were joined in the morning by Linda and Linda's granddaughter Hadley in washing artifacts from the Swann Site.  Denise, Mary, and Carol were at the Courthouse sorting stoneware from Feature BF1.  Linda joined them in the afternoon. 

Small ceramic sherd
Monday July 29 was too hot to be in the field.  So everyone was in the lab.  Linda, Claudia, Kathy and Malinda continued to sort and bag artifacts from Swann Site Unit 10.  Esther spent time talking to the new volunteers (Evie, Jadyn, and Kyle) about the different types of artifacts we find and how to identify them.
Once again we chose a small ceramic sherd from the Swann Site as the artifact of the day.  This one was engine turned.  As you can see it was smaller than a push pin.
Thanks to Linda for the photo and the info.

Summer is a busy time, and Monday July 22 turned out to be a busy day for most of those who normally volunteer in lab.  The day started out with only Linda and Carol in the lab working on Swann Site Unit 10 Level 1 - Linda washing the remaining artifacts, and Carol trying to merge/separate artifacts from three trays/bags.  Before lunch Pat joined us and also talked about her recent archaeological volunteering on a site in Wales.  Elsie stopped by near the end of the day just to touch base.

Small ceramic sherds
Monday July 15 was too hot to be outside, so we were in lab but at two different Port Tobacco locations.  Over at the Courthouse work continued on sorting and cataloging artifacts recovered from BF1-BF during the ca 1970's excavations at Port Tobacco.  Mary and Linda were working on glass while Linda and Carol were working on ceramics.  There were hundreds of BF1-BF artifacts to be processed.  Note: We moved downstairs after lunch since the air conditioning upstairs wasn't working. 
At Burch House Claudia sorted and bagged artifacts while Kyle and Jadyn washed additional Swann Site artifacts.  We decided to feature a selection of small decorated ceramics as the "artifact" of the day.  Most are painted earthenware sherds.  The center piece is stoneware (Nottingham).

Worked Chert
Monday July 8 CCASM members Linda, Evelyn, Peggy, and Carol were at Burch House while four other volunteers were working with Esther to finish up at the Swann Site until it gets cooler.  After lunch they were joined by Denise as well as Kyle and Jayden who came in from the field (it was getting way too hot).  It was Kyle's and Jayden's first time in the lab.  We were all either washing or sorting/bagging artifacts from the Swann Site.  These artifacts included a lot of brick fragments and fire-cracked rocks as well as small pieces of ceramics and glass.  Even with all these artifacts it was hard to find one for the artifact of the day.  We finally chose this piece of black chert with interesting flake scars as the artifact of the day.

 

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September 29, 2024

2024 MHT Workshop in Archaeology

The 33rd Annual Maryland Historical Trust Workshop in Archeology was held in Crownsville, MD, on Saturday September 28, and as its name implies this year there were a number of workshops. 

The keynote speaker was Dr. Stephen Brighton who is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Maryland.  Dr. Brighton talked about the Irish Diaspora in the United States, specifically in Texas, MD, and the archaeological investigations he is doing in rural Ireland.  The talk was entitled "Uncovering Hidden Worlds: The Science and Craft of Doing Archaeology".

Since this was a Workshop in Archaeology, the keynote address was followed by a number of workshops.  Since many were held concurrently, it was often a hard choice on which one to attend.

  • Conventional Documentation of Archaeological Resources: Recording Structures
    Troy Nowak    
  • The Basics of Survey and Mapmaking for the Avocational Archaeologist
    Matthew McKnight.     
  • Reading Historical Documents: Hints for Transcription
                     Pat Melville.  
  • Perishables Revealed: Recording Textile Impressions on Potsherds
                     Lynne Bulhack.   
  • An Introduction to the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) Library
     Lara Westwood
  • It's Not Just a Magic Box: Understanding GPR
                     David Givens
  • Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) of Artifacts
                     Scott Strickland   
  • CAT Workshop — Ethics & the Law in Archaeology - Parts I and II
    Zachary Singer and Stephanie Soder

CCASM Members


CCASM members attending included Peggy, Linda, and Carol.

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.
(Thanks to Pat M for taking photo,)

Click for program and more details about talks/workshops

 
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September 21, 2024

Colonial Chesapeake Taverns

Rod Cofield

After a meeting hiatus for the summer CCASM met on September 19 to hear Rod Cofield talk about colonial taverns in the Chesapeake.  Rod shared historic documents that gave us a glimpse into taverns and tavern life in the Cheasapeke during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.  We learned the cost of various beverages and also that sharing a bed or stabling a horse actually cost about the same as a quart of cider, the cheapest drink, at one tavern.  It's always interesting to see actual ledgers associated with actual people.

 

Rod Cofield is the Executive Director of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. 

This was our second hybrid Zoom/in-person meeting where the speaker also attended via Zoom.  There were a few hiccups at first, but then everything started working.  Thanks to Jim for using his account to set up the Zoom meeting.

Before the Meeting - Setting up and Catching up

Attendance: 15 (including 3 via Zoom)

 


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