A Day at the 2018 Charles County H.I.T.S. Expo

On Saturday March 24  Charles County held its third Annual History, Industry, Technology, and Science (H.I.T.S.) Expo.  There were forty-five table and six classroom activities/displays with CCASM having two of the tables.  A lot was going on.  CCASM's table included a display depicting the various archaeological skills related to history and science as well as activities around identifying Native American artifacts.

We would like to thank Elsie, Denise, Carol, and Barbara for staffing the display table.

Two Reference Books for the CCASM LIbrary

At the recent Middle Atlantic Archeology Conference (MAAC), CCASM acquired two new reference books for our Library (from Dead Guy Books). 

• Ivor Noel Hume's "A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America"  is the main reference book for colonial artifacts in the Middle Atlantic (and beyond).
   
• Michael J. Madden and Joel C. Hardison's  "An Easy Identification Guide and Typology For Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century Bottles"  is used by Archaeology Society of Virginia in their CAT program for bottle identification.
  

They are currently on loan for our use in the Monday Charles County Labs.

2018 MHT/ASM Archaeology Workshop

The 27th Annual Workshop in Archeology was held at the Maryland Historical Trust in Crownsville, MD, Saturday March 10, 2018. 
 
Topics and speakers included

• Stalking Panthers, Panthers, Falcons, and Bearcats in the Chesapeake - George Schwartz and David Howe (Keynote speakers)
• The Town of Secowocomoco? Archeological Investigations at Lower Brambly (18ST51), Near Chaptico, Maryland -Julia King
• Persistent Place or Just Passin' Through?  The Contact Period Component at Biggs Ford - Matt McKnight
• The Value of X-radiography in Archaeology and Conservation - Francis Lukezic
• From the Depths of History: U-1105, the Ghost Fleet, and the Efforts to Understand and Preserve Them - Troy Nowak
• Field Session Preview - Return to Calverton - Kirsti Uunila
• The 2017 Archeological Investigations at the River Farm Site in Lothian, Maryland - Zachary Singer

The CAT Workshop Preservation Laws was conducted by Charlie Hall, and the companion CAT Workshop Archaeological Ethics was conducted by Jim Gibb.

Ilka Knuppel Gray was acknowledged for being the sixteenth ASM Certified Archaeological Technician (CAT) graduate.

This is the thirtieth anniversary of Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program (MMAP).  Susan Langley, Maryland State Underwater Archaeologist, presented awards to three individuals (Donald Shomette, John Kiser, and Michael Pohuski) who have been supporting Maryland maritime archaeology since before the existence of MMAP. 

CCASM members attending included Evelyn, Pat, Jim, Carol, and Belinda. 
(We never seemed to be in the same place at the same time.  So there is no picture,)

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.

X-Radiography in Archaeology and Conservation

Francis Lukezic

At the March 8 CCASM meeting Francis Lukezic shared several projects in which X-Radiography had been used to determine more about the inside of an object.  X-rays indicated that a really rusty object wasn't a nail but the remains of embroidery scissors.  X-rays are also used to determine whether or not a Civil War musket was still loaded so that any black powder could be removed before the pistol was conserved.

X-Radiography is a technology that has been around for over one hundred years and is a cost-effective and non-destructive tool used by conservators and archaeologists to investigate artifacts where the exterior hides what's inside. 

Francis Lukezic is a conservator at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory in Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum.

Attendance: 8

Adena Stone Cup In Charles County

Carol Cowherd

An Adena hematite cup from Charles County Maryland is housed in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Collection yet no Adena site has ever been documented in Charles County.

At the February 8 CCASM meeting Carol Cowherd compared the cup with other Adena hematite artifacts housed at NMNH as well as to some of the Adena artifacts found in Maryland and Delaware.  Carol also explored where the artifact was probably found and what else has been found (or not found) in that area.  The Adena Culture with its earthen mounds developed in the Ohio River Valley during the Early Woodland period.

Before meeting

Adena Hematite Cup

Carol Cowherd is an avocational archaeologist that is also a member of CCASM and volunteers at the NMNH Museum Support Center.

Attendance: 14