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 during the first quarter of 2025
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Monday March 31 we helped out with the second graders from C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School that arrived in two waves - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each wave had about twenty students. While half of the students were learning about Stagg Hall, the other half were learning about archaeology. Esther gave the overview. Ned, Kathy, and Carol were at the vesselization activity table. Linda, Denise, and Malinda were at the washing artifacts activity table.
The school visits have been happening every weekday since March 17 and will continue until May 13. On days that we are not volunteering, the archaeology part is pared down to the overview and the vesselizaton activity.
March 24 started a little earlier than usual since we needed to set up for a school visit by second graders from Arthur Middleton Elementary School . This was the first visit for this calendar year. Twenty- two students came. Linda gave her introduction to archaeology talk with lots of examples. Denise, Elsie, Claudia, Evie, Ned, and Carol guided the students through two activities - washing artifacts and mending broken ceramics.
After the school children left Denise, Linda, Ned, and Carol worked in the lab on the 1970's Port Tobacco artifacts. Denise found this fragment from what must have been a decorative vessel, and we decided to make it the artifact of the day.
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| Embossed Glass |
On March 17 five people volunteered upstairs at the Courthouse. Linda worked on storing objects previously in one of the SRPT display cases. The Courthouse belongs to the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco (SRPT), and they allow us to have lab space on the second floor. The rest of us continued to work on the 1970's PT artifacts that belong to SRPT - Ned identifying metal objects, Carol cataloging stoneware, Elsie and Denise cataloging glass. We chose this glass fragment as the artifact of the day. Although it was difficult to photograph, you should be able to see that it was embossed with the letters T(?) E R as well as embossed with what look like tree branches or maybe plant stems. It was the latter that intrigued us.
Everyone was busy at lab on March 10. We were all upstairs in the Courthouse. Most worked on artifacts recovered from the 1970s Port Tobacco excavations. Ned worked on identifying metal objects that were associated with the PT sites while Elsie, Carol, Linda, and Malinda worked on cataloging artifacts from the BF sites (BF1 glass Lot, BF1 stoneware-ceramics Lot, and artifacts from other BF Lots). Claudia and Evie worked on readying the artifacts from the Maxwell Hall grant for transfer to the MAC Lab while Esther worked on the Maxwell Hall Grant report.
Here's everyone so intent on what they were doing that they were not aware their pictures were being taken. So people of the day, not artifact of the day.
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The March 3 lab started out a little differently. Esther had cleaned out one of her storage areas and was donating a map cabinet for storage of the SRPT historical maps and other papers currently stored on the second floor of the Port Tobacco Courthouse. Doug and Ned brought the cabinet and drawers upstairs (not an easy task since it was bulky and the stairs have a right angle bend). Doug also created a platform with casters on which to put the large cabinet. And during the day everyone else - Linda, Evie, Jordan, Denise, Elsie, and Carol- helped a least a little bit with dealing with all the papers and other stuff that had to be moved and organized in order to install the cabinet.
But most of our time was spent in the lab. Denise and Elsie continued with cataloging BF1 glass. Carol with help from Claudia in the morning continued cataloging BF1 Ceramics. Evie and Morgan looked at sorting and bagging building materials (mostly slate) that were labeled with various PT numbers. PT numbers are associated with excavations at the Courthouse site prior to the reconstruction. So overall a busy day.
At the February 24 lab we found an artifact to feature as the artifact of the day (at last). The Historical Society of Charles County had been given a Tourism Grant to produce a brochure and interpretive sign for "Footsteps to the Past: The Discovery and Interpretation of the Cabin Site of the Enslaved African Americans at Historic Rich Hill." The grant included monies for supplies needed to deal with the artifacts we had uncovered in that area in 2021. Linda and Claudia went through the collection to see what additional work needed to be done, and they found our artifact of the day. The object could be part of a piece of jewelry. A somewhat unique find. It had been found near the area believed to be a cabin site.
The rest of us worked on cataloging BF1-BF artifacts. Denise and Elsie continued cataloging glass and Carol started cataloging stoneware. In the afternoon Claudia and Linda also catalogued BF artifacts that were not BF1.
Monday February 17 two new people - Mark and Meena - volunteered in lab working with Claudia and Esther to identify and sort artifacts from the Swann Site. Esther identified possible Borderware and Staffordshire ceramics which were made up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. The rest of us continued to work on the 1970's Port Tobacco collection. At last we were ready to start cataloging the BF1-BF ceramics, and Linda worked with Evie to start entering the information into the spreadsheet. In the morning Denise and Elsie continued organizing the non-BF1 artifacts, and in the afternoon they returned to cataloging the BF1-BF glass.
Thanks to Elsie for the info.
On Monday February 10 we continued to work on the Port Tobacco artifacts recovered around 1970. Elsie and Denise spent the data organizing the artifact bags that were
not from BF1 - bags labelled PT or U or ... Remember multiple areas were excavated by different groups over a number of years. Linda, Claudia, Carol, and Malinda finished sorting the BF1 refined earthenware and the coarse earthenware artifacts. At last we think we are ready to start entering all the BF1 ceramics (possibly over a thousand pieces) into the catalog. We thought about choosing an artifact of the day, but once again it didn't happen.
Monday February 3 was another day of cataloging BF1-BF artifacts upstairs at the Port Tobacco Courthouse. Denise and Elsie continued to catalog glass artifacts. Claudia, Kathy, Evie, and Malinda worked with Linda to sort ceramic artifacts - mostly earthenwares. Then in the afternoon Linda introduced the others to how to enter artifacts into the catalog. Esther brought four print outs of the revised Master Artifact Catalog. It's amazing with so many interesting artifacts to choose from, once again we did not pick an artifact of the day.
Thanks to Elsie for the info.
On Monday January 27 the weather cooperated. and we were back in lab. Claudia and Malinda finished bagging the remaining artifacts in the drying tray. Then they joined Linda, Carol, Denise, and Elsie upstairs in the Courthouse to "catalog" BF1-BF artifacts from 1970s Port Tobacco. Peggy stopped by to help and to check out video conferencing. Denise and Elsie entered glass into the catalog (Excel spreadsheet). But before the ceramics for BF1-BF could be entered into the catalog, they needed to be sorted, merged, and bagged so it would be easier to catalog. Linda, Carol and Claudia worked on the ceramics- hundreds of ceramics (lots of earthenware, stoneware, and some porcelain). We still have the refined earthenware and the coarse earthenware to finish merging before we can start putting their information into the spreadsheet.
Elsie found a nice air-twist wine glass stem that could have been the artifact of the day if we had photographed it.
Monday January 13 was our first day back in lab at Burch House after the Holidays. Carol, Claudia, Denise, Elsie, Linda, Kathy, Peggy, and Malinda were at lab - maybe just to get out of the house and away from the snow. Ned dropped by to talk and to pick up his CCASM logo shirts. We started out taking down the Christmas decorations and taking them to the attic for storage.
After lunch we divided into two groups. Claudia, Malinda, Peggy, and Kathy sorted and bagged the remaining artifacts in the drying screens. Peggy got to introduce Kathy to bones. There were no new artifacts to wash. Linda, Elsie, Denise, and Carol went to the attic to straighten up and start organizing the boxes of artifacts recovered by Port Tobacco Excavations in the 2000's when Dr. Jim Gibb was the PI. There were boxes from other investigations from that time as well as one "missing" box that had artifacts recovered in the 1960's by Braley(?)
Esther chose the artifact of the day as this Dandy Button recovered from our recent investigations at Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park. This
copper alloy button would have been used on a gentleman's coat in the late 18th and early 19th century. There are some indications that it may have been gilded.
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"Dandy Button"
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