2015 ASM Symposium

ASM held its Annual Spring Symposium on Saturday April 25 in Schmidt Center at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD

The talks included

• Citizen Science Program at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
    - Animal species diversity at the Shaw's Folly and Sparrow's Rest sites.
       Kiley Gilbert and Jim Gibb (SERC)
    - Ceramic assemblages from Shaw's Folly and Sparrow's Rest.
       Sarah Grady (SERC)
   - Button making in Delaware.
      Bailey Berry (SERC)
   
• Public Archaeology in Baltimore City.     [Richard E. Stearns Memorial Lecture]
  Lisa Kraus (Maryland State Highway Administration)


• Public Archaeology at the Jewish Museum.     [Iris McGillivray Memorial Lecture]
  Esther Doyle-Read (University of Maryland Baltimore County)


• Establishing Social Memory: The Crownsville Hospital Research Project.   [Student Spotlight]
  Jonathan Schuster (Howard Community College)


• The Value of Archaeology in Education: A Case Study.   
  Laura Cripps (Howard Community College)


• CAT Workshop: Native American Overview (Maryland).
  Carol Ebright (Maryland State Highways Administration)

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.  At least three CCASM members attended the Symposium, and one (Sarah) was a presenter.

Archaeology at Rich Hill

Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19 professional archaeologists, avocational archaeologists (including a number of CCASM members), as well as a lot of other interested people excavated test units to the east of the Rich Hill Farm House.

 

There were even a few future archaeologists.

Esther Read was the principal investigator.  CCASM members participating included Sarah, Elsie, Steve, Jim, Carol, Lindsey, Julie, and Noelle.

This event was part of Charles County's "Lincoln 150 - On the Trail of the Assassin".   Charles County Historical Society co-sponsored the event with Charles County Tourism.   Rich Hill was the home of Samuel Cox.  After John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago,  Cox hid Booth on this farm for several days.

CCASM also had an "unmanned" table.  The wind kept blowing over the displays.  So thanks to Gary and Neal who were at the adjoining Charles County Genealogical Society table and took care of the CCASM displays.

Charles County Archaeological Collections at the MAC Lab

Rebecca Morehouse

The CCASM April 9 meeting was somewhat different.  Instead of having a prepared talk Rebecca Morehouse bought artifacts from several of the Charles County archaeological collections housed at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab).  So everyone got to look at, "touch", and try to identify artifacts as well as peruse the reports associated with the collections.

Becky is the State Curator for the MAC Lab that houses archaeological collections from projects conducted by State and Federal agencies throughout Maryland as well as a number of archaeological collections donated to the Maryland Historical Trust. 

Becky brought  artifacts from

• 18CH354, the Bateman site 
• 18CH308, the Two Friends site 
• 18CH778, Johnsontown 
• 18CH664, the Homeland Brick Clamp site 
• 18CH358, the Clifton site

Attendance: 16

2015 Charles County Science Fair

On Saturday March 28, CCASM had the opportunity to provide service to the community and represent ourselves at the 56th Annual Charles County Science Fair at McDonough High School. We presented an award of $50.00 and a one year membership to CCASM for the project that demonstrated the most applicable concept to the field of archaeology.

This year's award went to Kritchanin Yampai, a 5th grader at JP Ryon Elementary, for the examination of soil textures and the effects of erosion on soils of various densities.

Congratulations Kritchanin!

Posting submitted by Noelle Thompson Worthington
CCASM would also like to thank Noelle for agreeing to be the judge for the 2015 CCASM Science Fair award.

April is Archaeology Month 2015

The site on the poster is Stoddart's Tavern at Mount Calvert in Prince George's County. CCASM heard about the tavern at our January meeting.

Click to learn more about the building


Click to learn more about the tavern picture
This link takes you to a page where you can click on some of the objects to learn more about them. 
Hint: click on the jug on the table or on any tobacco pipe.  Let us know what else you find.



Click for Maryland Archaeology Month Activities

Events in Charles County

April 7  (6 pm)
Lecture and Historical Reenactment: Josias Fendall: Patriot or Traitor?
Description: Josias Fendall, the Maryland governor who tried to overthrow Lord Baltimore in 1658, will be there in person to defend his actions while archaeologist Julie King uses clues unearthed from Fendall's plantation site to suggest how Lord Baltimore got his revenge. Fendall will be presented by historical interpreter Mike Callahan.
Sponsor: Christ Episcopal Church, Wayside
Location: Christ Church Wayside Hall, 13050 Rock Point Road, Newburg, MD 20664.
Fee: Free
Contact: Betty Bowling, 301-259-2182 or www.edow.org/christchurchwayside
Please contact Betty Bowling (301-643-7157) to make sure they set up enough chairs

April 9  (7 pm)
Lecture: Charles County Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory 
Description: Rebecca Morehouse will be highlighting several Charles County collections stored at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory (MAC Lab) during the monthly meeting of the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc.
Sponsor: Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc., a chapter of ASM
Location: LaPlata Police Department, 101 La Grange Avenue La Plata, MD
Fee: Free
Contact: Sarah Grady 410-533-1390 charlescoasm.org or ccarchsoc.blogspot.com

April 18 and 19 (10 am-3 pm both days)
Excavation: Lincoln 150- On the Trail of the Assassin
Description: In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination, the Charles County Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc. will be joining archaeologist Esther Read to investigate the area where John Wilkes Booth and David Herold fled and hid out after assassinating Lincoln.
Sponsor: Charles County
Location: Rich Hill Farm Rd, Bel Alton, MD
Fee: Free
Contact: Carol Cowherd or ccasm2010@gmail.com