Open House - Zekiah Fort Archaeological Site

On June 27 St. Mary's College of Maryland hosted an Open House at the Zekiah Fort Archaeological Site.  In 2011 Dr Julia King was the principal investigator that discovered this forgotten site that had been occupied by the Piscataway Indians in the late seventeenth century.  This year Dr King returned to do additional investigations and excavations at the site.

There were tours of the site where Dr King or one of her staff pointed out the remains of long-rotted posts that had been found in the excavation units.

There were also displays of some of the artifacts that had been found.  The two larger boxes contain artifacts found in 2011.  Those in the center boxes contain artifacts found this year.

In December 2012 Charles County purchased the property on which the site is located.  The site is to be part of the Piscataway Heritage Trail.

Three CCASM members (Lindsey, Peggy, and Carol) volunteered for one day at the site this year.  It was the first time that one member, Lindsey, had volunteered.  She found four beads, and the small signet ring (in the center of the artifact boxes) was discovered in her screen.  Quite a nice introduction to archaeology.

(Close-ups photos provided by Lindsey)

LaPlata Artsfest 2014

On Saturday June 7, CCASM participated in Artsfest 2014, held at the La Plata Town Hall.  We had fantastic weather for a change – sunny, low humidity, light breeze and temps in the 80’s.

Gary, Elsie, Peggy, and Rich, represented CCASM. We had two trifold displays which illustrated our largest projects – Port Tobacco and a Native American site at Pomonkey creek near Bryans Road.  We also brought information on artifact identification and recent work by professional archaeologists at Benedict and in the Wicomico watershed.  For the children we had 2 activities – seed identification and reconstruction of plate fragments.

Lots of people stopped at our tables.  Peggy and Rich spent most of their time with the children’s activities, while Elsie and Gary discussed the displays and CCASM activities with the adults.

Many people expressed interest in trying their hand at archaeology either now or in the future.  We even had a few who were willing to join us in the field immediately.  Unfortunately we do not have ongoing field work at this time so we told them to watch the blog for announcements of field work and to join us then.  We handed out most of our brochures and membership applications.  We also distributed a number of Maryland archaeology posters and pamphlets.

Although most people were very interested in our displays and activities, one little girl found sleep much preferable to archaeology! (See picture below)

Posting submitted by Elsie and photos provided by Gary. 

2014 ASM Field Session - Biggs Ford

The Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc (ASM) along with Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) returned to Biggs Ford in Frederick County Maryland for the 2014 Field Session held May 23- June 2.  The Field Session was held in conjunction with a Towson University Field School.

Four CCASM members (Belinda, Carol, Annetta, and Jim) made the trip to Frederick County for any where from one to three days.  Except for raining all one day, the weather was perfect. There were lots of opportunity to work both in the field and in the lab.
 
The Biggs Ford site (18FR14) is a large, well-preserved, multi-component Native American village site on private property in Frederick County, Maryland.  It is one of only a handful of large Native American villages on the Monocacy River, and is the only known site in the Potomac River drainage that has major occupations by both the Montgomery Complex (1000-1450 AD) and Keyser (1300-1500 AD) peoples.

Lab Tent and Montgomery Complex Area

Montgomery Complex Area and Lower Keyser Area

Two Keyser Areas

Can you see the orange disks marking possible post molds?

In the southern area we were looking for features and post molds associated with the earlier Montgomery Complex peoples.  In the lower northern area we were looking for features and post molds that would indicate a dwelling occupied by the Keyser Complex peoples.   In the upper northern area the Towson Field School was looking for a palisade.  The bottom photo shows post molds (identified by orange disks) found in this upper area that could be from a palisade and dwellings.

We will have to wait for the report from Joe Dent to find out what this all might mean.  Dr. Joe Dent, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at American University was the principal investigator.  American University will complete the processing and cataloging of the artifacts found.  Dr. Bob Wall from Towson University was in charge of the Towson Field School

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.

Using Archeology to Empower Undergraduates

Laura Cripps

At the May 8 CCASM meeting Dr. Laura Cripps talked about trying to develop a general course for those with no prior knowledge or interest in archaeology.  She showed parts of the on-line "virtual excavation" that she uses in her archaeological methods class.  (There is no Internet reception in our meeting room, so we couldn't see it live.)  While doing the excavation, students learn a wide range of skills from learning to use Excel to learning how to look for information.  Of course, she talked about more than this one class.  She also described several research projects involving the students.

 Laura has also put up a website where students can "publish" their papers as well as show what archaeology they have been doing.  The actual title of Laura's talk was "AURA: Applied Undergraduate Research in Archaeology".   To see the website and what the students are doing  Click for more about AURA

Dr. Laura Cripps is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD.

The talk was preceded by the annual CCASM business meeting and the biennial election of officers.  Below Barbara is giving the Treasurer's Report.

The new officers for  June 1, 2014 through May 31, 2016 are
President - Sarah Grady,  Vice President - Carol Cowherd,  Secretary - Sheila Geisert,  Treasurer - Elsie Picyk,  Board Members - Barbara Kane and Lindsey Denton.

Attendance: 16

2014 Port Tobacco Market Day

May 3 was the fifth Port Tobacco Market Day.  It included vendors of antiques, crafts, and food.  The Charles County Garden Club had their annual plant sale.

And once again CCASM was there with our archaeological displays and activities.   In addition to our regular displays, Jim brought artifacts - ceramics and animal bones- from the Burch House excavations.   Polly brought a new display/activity showing how what we leave behind tells archaeologist what we were doing.  Rich and Barbara came up with a new activity involving broken dishes.

Members helping out at the booth were Jim, Elsie, Barbara, Peggy, Rich, and Carol.  As usual I got caught up with talking with people and forgot to take that many pictures.  Here are some photos from the slower times.

   

Charles County Government and the Society of the Restoration for Port Tobacco (SRPT) recently formed a partnership for operating the historic Port Tobacco Courthouse, Stagg Hall, and Burch House.  The day started with a ribbon-cutting event at 9 a.m. to celebrate this partnership.

SRPT Board and County Employees

SRPT and County Commissioners