Investigating the James Swann Site - 2025

CCASM and other Monday volunteers are working with Esther Read to continue the investigation of the James Swann Site that is now owned by Charles County.  James Swann was a "free man of color" (believed to be Native American) that acquired land in Port Tobacco in 1840's and operated a tavern and oyster house in the village for almost twenty-five years. 

Check Public Archaeology Lab Days post for weekday schedule.

June 28 and 29 was to have been a Public Archaeology Weekend at the Swann Site, but the weather didn't cooperate.  It was too hot.  We left early on Saturday and Esther cancelled Sunday.  Saturday morning wasn't that bad.  Ned, Denise, Linda, and Carol joined Esther on Saturday June 28 at the Site and cleaned up the floors of several units to get a better idea of what was going on in the units.  Even though we weren't removing that much soil, we still found small fragments of ceramics and glass.

Cleaning up floors

Screening what was found

Thanks to Ned for sending additional photos.

June 9 we returned to the Swann Site after taking time off for the ASM Field Session at Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park.  We started cleaning up the floor in three units as we try to follow up on possible post holes for a building.  Denise, Carol, Cal, and Esther troweled in the shade of tent.  Cal indicated he may be joining us more often.  Linda, Malinda, Kathy, and  ChiChi screened in the shade of the trees.  Kathy had invited ChiCHi to visit with us, and ChiChi volunteered to help.  It's always interesting to meet new people and to introduce them to the site.

Those Troweling

Those Screening

Monday May 19 was a beautiful day to be in the field at the Swann Site.  We were even serenaded by a Orchard Oriole.  Esther continued excavating Unit 13.  Elsie, Claudia, Kathy, Carol, Linda (morning), and Claudia (afternoon) screened and looked for artifacts.  The artifacts today were similar to what we found last week, but there were also nails and possibly more flakes.

Monday May 12 was a great day to be in the field at the Swann Site.  Denise shaded by a canopy shoveled soil from the new unit while shaded by the tress Elsie, Kathy, Linda, Malinda, and Carol screened the soil.  Since this was in the plow zone, we found smaller fragments -- bricks, ceramics (various types), glass (olive green and clear), bifaces, flakes, and fire-cracked rocks.

End of Day-
Folding up Screen

Saturday May 3 was the first of two planned Public Archaeology Days at the Swann Site.  This coincided with the annual Port Tobacco Market Day held in front of the Port Tobacco Courthouse.  Esther Read, the archaeologist in charge, removed the bulkhead between several existing units and cleaned up the units by troweling.  Elsie and Denise got to screen the soil and to talk to visitors.  Four or five groups of visitors came over from Market Day for a tour of the site and to see what archaeologists do.  At the end of the day we covered the units with new black plastic to protect them until we can come again.
The Public Archaeology Day planned for May 4 was cancelled due to rain. 

Thanks to Denise and Elsie for the info.

Monday April 21 Denise, Malinda, Kathy, and Carol were in the field at the Swann Site with Esther.  Denise opened up a new unit, and at some point during the day everyone got a chance to help screening.  Carol did a profile drawing of the north wall of one of the units.  Kathy got to hold the stadia rod for Esther as Esther shot in the coordinates of the various units.

Finally a nice day so we could be in the field at the Swann Site.  Monday April 14 Elsie, Carol, and Malinda joined Esther to start cleaning up units that had been under black plastic since last fall.  We cleaned up walls in three units and lightly troweled another unit so it could be photographed.  We are getting ready for a Public Archaeology Weekend May 3-4.   In this area we are chasing post molds/holes for a possible early post-in-ground building.

 

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Investing the James Swann Site -2024
Investing the James Swann Site -2023

2025 ASM Field Session in Charles County

From May 23 through June 2 people from all over Maryland as well as some from DC and some from Virginia came to participate in the 2025 Tyler Bastian Field Session at the Teagues Point archeological site (18CH1005), near Hughesville, Maryland.   The Field Session was held by the Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc (ASM) in cooperation with Maryland Historical Trust (MHT).  Dr. Matt McKnight, MHT Chief Archaeologist, was the Principle Investigator. 

The Site

Matt McKnight
(wearing signature bandana)

 

Some of those participating on May 29

Guiding the Drone 

On May 29 a reporter from WMARTV2 in Baltimore visited the site.  Her report is on Facebook https://ow.ly/8eyn50W3KWX .  It includes drone footage of the site that Stephanie Soder (MHT) had previously taken.  
A final drone flyover was done at the very end of the Session. 
https://www.facebook.com/marylandhistoricaltrust/videos/1254998173015261

 

The site was a mystery.  It was only assigned a site number in September 2023 after a resident contacted MHT about a site on which he had collected artifacts decades ago.  The artifacts pointed to a late 17th to mid 18th-century colonial occupation at the site.  MHT conducted a GPR survey of the area the resident identified.  (For more information about this, check out Matt McKnight's Maryland Historical Trust Blog posting on Field Session Planned at Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park).  The Field Session was to ground truth the GPR results and to learn more about see what we can learn about the site.  

We started opening test units over four areas identified by GPR.  By the end we had opened a lot of test units as we tried to find the edges of features.  Here is what it looked like after it was troweled down for the final drone flyover.

What we accomplished

And here are some of those doing the final trowel down (in the sun).

Final troweling down of units
(Largest feature took longest time to finish.)

At the Field Session we did recover late 17th-century artifacts.   The artifacts I recall include lots of hand wrought nails, a pair of scissors, a two-tine fork, a barrel stave, a lead cloth seal, almost half of a North Devon earthenware milk pan, green glazed (Dutch) red earthenware, a tin-glazed earthenware bowl fragment, the top of a English Brown salt-glazed jug, and a olive green bottle glass seal.  There were also lots and lots of oyster shells as well as pig bones and teeth and lots of fish scales. (Have you ever tried to pick up a fish scale?)

Bottle Seal

Dutch Earthenware

We will have to wait for the report when all the data is pulled together to see the bigger picture.   I'm not sure how clear it will be yet since almost every professional archaeologist looking at the features had a slightly different interpretation. The results can also be compared with what has been found at two nearby 17th century sites. 

There were plenty of opportunities to dig, trowel, map, document, work in the lab, and screen whether it was your first time or your hundredth time.  But the Field Session also gave us a chance to reconnect with old friends, and to meet new people.  

The Field Session is also a time to learn, and when better to get everyone together than lunchtime.  On Tuesday Silas Hurry talk was called Sherds for Nerds, and he described and passed around examples of colonial ceramics.   On Thursday Aaron Levinthal talk Revisiting Serenity’s Surprise - an overview of recent archaeological investigations of nearby colonial sites was about previous archeology done at Serenity Farm (just south of Maxwell Hall Equestrian Park).  

Wednesday night was the annual Spencer O Geasey Memorial Lecture.  Esther Doyle Read talk was about Landscape Archaeology at Maxwell Hall State Park.  The Field Session took place in Maxwell Hall State Equestrian Park.  The talk was held inside Maxwell Hall.

apple, strawberry rhubarb, 
blueberry, triple berry, cherry

A Field Session wouldn't be complete without the annual Saturday night "feast".  This year it was held in the Pavillion at Maxwell Hall.  It was John Fiveash's fist year to grill, and he did a great job.  Also the Montgomery Chapter and Zac Singer (MHT) provided pies made by Zac's wife Victoria.  A special thanks to those providing/preparing the food.

 

 

While thanking people, another special thanks to the ASM members that helped make this Field Session happen - from planning to registration to getting t-shirts to .... all the behind-the-scene things that need to happen.   You do so much.  Thanks.  We should also thank Dr. Zac Singer, MHT Terrestrial Archaeologist, and Stepahie Soder, MHT Research Archaeologist, who helped Matt McKnight make this field session "work".

 

Three CCASM members (Carol. Evelyn, and Elsie) attended the field session for multiple days. 
 

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.