Archaeology on School Visits to Port Tobacco (Fall 2023)

With the new school year Charles County School second graders are once again visiting the Historic Port Tobacco Village.  The visit now includes an introduction to archaeology.  Esther Read,  Charles County Archaeologist, has planned age-appropriate activities to introduce the students to archaeology.  CCASM members will be assisting.

Friday October 20 2aw the last school visit for this year.  There were fourteen 2nd graders.  Joyce Edelen took half the children into the Courthouse.  Joyce had created a mock trial activity that the children really got into. The other half heard Esther's introduction to archaeology and then got to wash artifacts with Carol and mend ceramics with Ned.

The Wednesday, September 20, school visit was the first one for this school year.  There were twenty-two 2nd graders.  Joyce Edelen took half the children into the Courthouse.  Esther gave the introduction to archaeology.   Denise and Elsie helped with the artifact washing while Ned and Esther helped with the vesselization (matching and taping broken ceramic vessels back together). 

(I believe there may have been one other school day.  Two were cancelled)

2023 ASM Annual Fall Meeting

 

On Saturday October 14 the Monocacy Chapter of ASM hosted the 2023 Archeology Society of Maryland, Inc Fall Meeting at the Frederick Community College Student Center in Fredrick Maryland.

The Fall Meeting started with the Annual ASM Business Meeting that also included the presentation of the 2022 William B Mayre Award to Dr. Susan Langley.  Zac Singer accepted the award for Susan who had other commitments.  There were updates from all the chapters.

But the highlight of the ASM meetings are the talks. 

• Overview of Frederick County Early Pre-history (with lots of fluted points)
    Dr. Zachary Singer, Maryland Historic Trust
  
  
• Preliminary Results from the 2023 ASM Annual Field Session: Chapel Branch West Site
  and Update on the Barwick Site (2022 Annual ASM Field Session) - both in Denton, MD
  (via Zoom)
     Dr. Julie Markin, Washington College
  
  
• Updates to the Frederick County Historic Preservation Ordinance: Open for Public Comment
  (includes archaeology)
     Beau Lockard, Frederick County Government
        
• The Archaeological Conservancy Acquisitions and Updates for Frederick County including Rosenstock Woodland Village Site
     Megan Reeve, The Archaeological Conservancy
  
  
• Research and Updates: Smithsonian Channel Production and opening of the Museum of the Ironworker
  Referenced research reported in Science https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.ade4995
     Elizabeth Comer,  Catoctin Furnace Historical Society
   
  
• Frederick M. Stiner Memorial Keynote Lecture
  Historic and Contemporary Piscataway Perspectives on Archaeology
  At end referred to Through Piscataway Eyes Master Plan
     Francis Gray, Tribal Chair of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe
  

Two  CCASM members attended the meeting.

 

Charles County's PowerPoint slides for Meeting-

Archaeology at SPRT's Tales and Ales

One of the activities at the "Tales and Ales" event held by The Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco Saturday evening October 1 was an archaeology activity for kids.  Five CCASM members participated.  Linda organized the event and was really good at interacting with the children.  Doug, Mary, Carol, and Gary helped.  Several young people really got into the activity with one girl even requesting to flat shovel.  And a number of adults also stopped by with one offering to help with screening.  

Using Sifter Screen

Some washing what they had found
and  others shoveling

Using Roller Screen

A little of everything

Esther Read was the Principal Investigator (PI ) for the archaeology activity.
Thanks to Joyce Edelen for the photo with all of us in it.

MHT/ASM Workshop - 2023

The 32nd Annual Workshop in Archeology was held at the Maryland Historical Trust in Crownsville, MD, on Saturday September 23, and like its name implies this year there were a number of workshops.

The day started with the Keynote Speaker Dr. Al Luckenbach talking about Pig Point on the Patuxent: The Excavation of a Prehistoric Sacred Place.

Next there were several workshops, some being held at the same time.  So you had to choose. 
An overview of the various workshops was included in the October 2023 issue of the ASM Ink Newsletter (lhttp://marylandarcheology.org/Newsletters/2023/10-2023.pdf)

•  ArchaeoKids: Educational Programs for the Next Generation [virtual] with Julia Berg and Sarah Mason    
  
• Swinging into the Past: Metal Detecting Basics for Archaeology  with Daniel Dean
  
• Using StoryMaps to Tell Archaeological Stories with Gregory Brown
  
• Basics of Section 106 with Dixie Henry and Troy Nowak
  
• A Practical Guide to Investigating Archaeological Oyster Shell with Matt Borden
  
• Maryland's Digital Resources for Archaeological Research and Survey  with Matthew McKnight
  
• CAT Session: Historic Ceramic Identification Workshop (Parts I and II) with Patricia Samford
  
• Tips and Tricks for Completing a Site Form with Zachary Singer

Ned was the only CCASM member attending.  He indicated that this was the best of the approximately 3-4 conferences at Crownsville that he has attended.  Four other members had planned to attend but the weather forecast caused them to change their minds at the last minute, and they stayed home.  Ned did say there was occasional hydroplaning.

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.

Click for program agenda and more details about talk/worshops

Three Recent Archaeology Projects in Anne Arundel County

Andrew Webster

At the September CCASM meeting Andrew Webster talked about three recent Anne Arundel projects with each project representing a different aspect of archaeology.  

The first project involved washing, cataloging, and documenting artifacts that Robert Ogle had collected over his lifetime as a surveyor in Maryland and Virginia.  Ogle's notes and maps added to the usefulness of the collection.  The collection included over 161,982 unique objects (both Native American and historic) from 154 different archaeological sites including 25 in Charles County.  The Charles County artifacts are now at the MAC Lab.  82 volunteers contributed 2,673 hours of work on the collection.  Three of those volunteers were CCASM members.  And as with all good archaeology, there is a report.

The second project involved updating Anne Arrundel County's Inventory of Historic Properties.  In 2017 only 7% of the sites were documented as having an African American component even when the site was listed as a plantation.  This project involved researching to try to correct some of the disparity for sites inhabited by both enslaved and free African Americans in the nineteenth century.

The third project involved creating a website to be used by teachers (initially for middle school STEM teachers) to teach students about archaeology.  Although it is called "Native American Archaeology in Anne Arundel County, Maryland",  almost all of it it could easily apply to Charles County.  Drew is currently starting to add 3-D images of the artifacts.  Here is the link to the site http://www.losttownsproject.org/toolbox/

Andrew Webster is an archaeologist with Anne Arundel Cultural Resources Section and the Lost Towns Project where he is in charge of public programs and volunteer/internship opportunities.  Drew is working on his PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The CCASM September meeting was to have been in-person, but then Drew came down with COVID.  Drew was able to give the presentation via ZOOM but the last minute confusion probably affected attendance.  Too bad.  It was a really good talk.

Attendance: 6