Volunteering at Thomas Stone National Historic Site

Haberdeventure

Was there a circular drive in front of Haberdeventure?  Where might the slave houses have been?  For a week in April there was an Archaeology/Cultural Landscape Project at Thomas Stone Historic Site in Charles County to try to answer these questions as well as to learn more about the cultural landscape of the site by using non-invasive remote sensing.

It's not often we get a chance to help with remote sensing, but April 17-20 volunteers were invited to participate.  Two CCASM members (Elsie and Carol) along with three other local residents (Linda, Lisa, and Elaine) volunteered.

Collecting GPR data

The effort was a combined approach by the National Park Service Regional Archaeologists and the Regional Cultural Landscape staff (from both the Regional Archaeology Program and the Cultural Landscape Program).  In three areas at the historic site several twenty-meter grids were laid out to assist with gathering data.  The remote sensing survey methods used included ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity, and electromagnetic conductivity.

Although we were shown the results of the data gathered for each method, it is expected to take several months to combine and interpret all the data in order to determine where there might be features that could be ground truthed.

Thomas Stone and Potluck Supper

Amy Muraca and David Lassman

CCASM's first Pot Luck Supper was held at Thomas Stone National Historic Site on Saturday, May 13, 2017.  There was more than enough food, and it was fun to just get together and share.

Also we learned more about this historic site.  First, Amy Muraca, the Resource Manager for Thomas Stone NHS and George Washington Birthplace National Monument, talked about archaeology relating to Thomas Stone and told us about proposals for future archaeology projects at the site.  Since Amy's background was in historical archaeology, we asked her a number of questions.

Next Park Ranger David Lassman related some more about this site, but spent most of his time talking about a number of other National Park sites along the George Washington Parkway.  There was so much information imparted. 

Since this was the May meeting, there was a brief CCASM meeting with the various officers giving reports on what had happened during the past year.

Haverdeventure

After the meeting David took several of us on a tour inside Haverdeventure, Thomas Stone's plantation home.

All in all we had a really nice time and would like to thank David for helping us set up our event at Thomas Stone.


Attendance: 13