Southern Maryland Sites and CRM Q&A

For the first time in over two years CCASM was able to hold its meeting in the Community Room of the La Plata Police Station.  

Pat Walters

On Thursday September 15 Patrick Walters talked about three projects in Southern Maryland completed by the CRM firm Applied Archaeology and History Associates, Inc. (AAHA).   One project was a follow-up project at Calverton (the site of ASM Field Sessions in 2017 and 2108) that indicated much of the site that was there in the 1600's would be eroded away by around 2030.   Another project was at Simpkin-Coatback site where CCASM members had previously volunteered.  He indicated what had and had not been found.  The third was a project related to a SMECO substation.

The talk was interesting, but the best part of the meeting was the question and answer period at the end.  We learned more about Cultural Resource Management (CRM), and also had lively discussions about the three projects and other things.   A lot on information sharing.

Patrick Walters is the Director of Cultural Resources for Applied Archaeology and History Associates, Inc.
 

Nice to be together again

Attendance: 10 members

MHT/ASM Workshop - 2022

The 31th Annual Workshop in Archeology was held at the Maryland Historical Trust in Crownsville, MD, on Saturday August 28, and like its name implies this year there were a lot of workshops.

The day started with the Keynote Speaker Dr. Laura Masur from Catholic Universality talking about The Archaeology of Jesuit Plantations and Jesuit-enslaved Ancestors at three sites in Maryland.

Next there were several workshops, some being held at the same time.  So we had to choose.

• Introduction to Land Patent and Deed Research with Matthew McKnight
      
  
• Flintknapping and Lithic Identification with Nate Salzman and Zachary Singer
      
• Post Colonial Earthenware Identification with Patricia Samford
  
  
• Zooarch 101: Basic Faunal Analysis with Valerie M. J. Hall 
  
  
• CAT Workshop on Basic Lab Procedures (Parts I and II) with Sara Rivers Cofield
  

Concurrent with the workshops Sammy Orlando and Megan Ossmann gave individuals an opportunity to take a virtual tour of Mallow Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary.  Virtual reality headsets let each person take a 360 degree tour.  Click links to see the virtual tour without a headset and  to see different level paddling itineraries

CCASM Members

 

CCASM members attending included Ned, Elsie, Peggy, Jim, and Carol.


CCASM is a chapter of ASM.

Click for program agenda and more details about talk/worshops

Volunteering with Dr Julia King at Newtowne

 Dr. Julie King, Anthropology Professor at St Mary's College of Maryland, invited CCASM members to volunteer with her and her crew as they investigated a Native American site in Newtowne Neck State Park.  (This is not to be confused with the investigations of a historical site in Newtowne for which two of our members volunteered.  A lot of trips from Charles County to Newtown Neck.)

Tuesday, August 9: Pat and Carol volunteered in the lab washing lots of oyster shells.  We didn't have to count the shells (there were thousands), but the shells will be weighed once they dry, and only the whole halves will be kept.  I was originally planned to be dwork outdoors, but thankfully we were inside on this hot day.  Julie's crew had worked in the field the previous week and had finished four test units.  Then on Monday they had washed the shells from the STPs outside and weighted them.  I forgot how many pounds they said, but it was a lot. 
Since there was not that much additional help we could provide, the planned volunteering by Mary and Elsie was cancelled.  There should still be opportunities to help at another site.

Thursday, July 28: Mary and Carol volunteered for half a day.  Mary helped Garrett finish one of the original test units just before lunch while Carol helped Aidan open a new test unit at a location further south.  The photo shows Mary wearing her new CCASM shirt.
Again we found lots of oyster shell fragments.  It was good to be in the trees or under a tent where we occasionally felt a slight breeze.  Not too bad, but still a little hot.
An update on the flooded field.  We could find no way to get from the site to the car without going through water.  Mary wore wellies through the water and carried her shoes to/from the site.  So if you don't have waterproof boots, you might want to bring wellies for the field.

Tuesday, July 26: Carol volunteered.  On Tuesday two test units, the first ones, were opened by four of Julie's crew. There were lots and lots of oyster shell fragments to be retrieved and later weighted.  (Thankfully don't have to count.)  Also found a few flakes, several FCR, and some small fragments of Native American pottery, but we're not at the bottom of the units yet.  It was nice in the woods.
Carol has a story about finding the site and how a humongous water "puddle" ending up causing her to not get to the site until 10am although she had arrived at the parking location at 8am.

Julie's crew dug hundreds of STPs in the woods over a two week period several weeks ago and identified locations to place test units. 

Volunteering with Dr. Laura Masur at Newtowne

Newtowne Manor

The third site for Dr. Laura Masur's project is at St. Francis Xavier Church/Newtowne Manor House, St. Mary’s County, Maryland: July 13-16, 19-23.  At this site Dr. Masur and her crew are using the results of a recent geophysical survey to investigate possible outbuildings around the manor.

The project is focused on uncovering archaeological evidence that will eventually tell the story of enslaved Africans, indentured servants, tenant farmers, and members of the Society of Jesus in Maryland. This project, which is taking place on three plantation sites formerly owned by the Society of Jesus, is being conducted in collaboration with descendants whose ancestors were enslaved by the Jesuits, and other interested stakeholders. The goal of this project is to identify evidence of archaeological features such as building foundations, post holes, and middens through the excavation of 5x5-ft test units.

Here is some feedback from CCASM member(s):

Saturday, July 23: Ned volunteered.  This was the last day and much of it was spent backfilling the test units.  A 2022 penny was placed in each test unit before adding black plastic and then backfilling.  And finally the sod was replaced over the backfill. 
Parishioners provided lunch that was perfect: chicken salad with rolls, homemade sliced pickles, corn chops, cookies, and banana nut bread.  AC in the community center felt great after a very hot morning.  The parishioners also gave us t-shirts and a Newtowne Manor brochure.

Friday, July 22: Ned volunteered half a day -sawing tree roots.

Thursday, July 21: Ned volunteered for the day - digging and sifting.

Wednesday, July 20: Ned volunteered for the day.   There were four other volunteers.  One of the volunteers is involved in the Georgetown slavery project.  Ned continued work on the fifth unit (referred to as the Neapolitan Sandbox) until they hit subsoil at around 22".  This unit has had the most artifacts recovered. The plans are to backfill three or more units on Thursday and to concentrate on the two units opened on Tuesday.  They will be finishing up in the units on Friday with final cleanup being Saturday.

Tuesday, July 19: Carol and Ned volunteered.   Work continued on the fourth and fifth units.  Nine students and their teachers from Loyola University volunteered on the site.  This was the first time that many of them had been in the field, and some of them helped at the two open units.  Two new units were opened by the students including one where a fence line was shown on the GPR map.  The most interesting find was the the upper torso of a Frozen Charlotte doll found in the unit where Ned was working.  And Ned's unit also had metal objects, one of which Ned identified as being used to mend a broken plowshare.
The day started with a short trip and a tour of the site of the seventeenth century Saint Francis Xavier Chapel and the cemetery.  On returning Sara, a member of the Newtown Manor House Committee, gave us a tour of the first floor of the Manor House as well as providing lots of history about the house.

Saturday July 16: Carol volunteered for the day.  There were only four volunteers so we only worked on two of the units.  By the end of the day all the sand layer had been removed from the "sand" unit.   Work also continued on the fourth unit with the building rubble - first to document it and then to excavate two features. 
Late in the day three more units were put in.  Laura determined the GPS location of each unit using a real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS instrument that consisted of a fixed base station and a rover that communicated with multiple satellites and then the resulting location data is transferred to an app on Laura's phone.  Laura had already identified the location for each of the units, and the rover was moved until it was on the exact coordinates of the northeast corner.  Then the rover was moved south about five feet and moved until it was over the exact southeast corner coordinates on Laura's map.

Friday, July 15: Carol and Ned volunteered.  The second unit with all the oyster shells yielded eighteenth century artifacts.  Nothing much to report on fourth unit where there was a row of brick rubble except that Carol really enjoyed spending most of the afternoon troweling.  Ned got to open a fifth unit on the east of the Manor House.  The GPR showed an interesting pattern that turned out to be almost a foot of sand fill.  It was a beautiful day to be outside. Here are a few photos.

 

Thursday, July 14: Ned volunteered for the day.  Jim was also there.  The top level of the third unit was removed to show lots of oyster shell.  This unit is believed to be over a cellar.  Another unit was opened where a previous building had been excavated and possibly later identified with a brick outline, but there is no documentation to indicate what was found.  There are always questions to answer, and Laura had one for this unit and that question determined the exact part of the building on which to place the unit. 

Wednesday, July 13: Ned volunteered, and here is his update and photos for the day.
The day was very strenuous but also a fun day.  Dr Masur is great.  Her crew of mostly doctoral candidates are a fun bunch. We almost finished two test units and removed sod from a third.  The one with the "pope" might have a corner of a foundation.  
The second unit was placed where GPR showed a large rectangular object near the building turned out to be a large flat stone that was outside the building.  (On well, another STP will be needed to investigate the building.)

The other two sites already investigated were Old Bohemia Wildlife Management Area, Cecil County, Maryland and Webster Field Annex, St. Mary’s County, Maryland

CCASM T-Shirts and Hats

The shirts and hats are here!  And they look great.

Earlier this year CCASM members had an opportunity to purchase a T-shirt or sweatshirt with the CCASM logo on the from.  Joe volunteered to work with the vendor for the entire process of making the shirts (and the hats), and Elsie "volunteered" to compile the orders.  Thirteen of our members ordered t-shirts and/or sweatshirts.  

Members could also order hats and six members did.

 

 

 

Now when CCASM members volunteer in the field or participate other activities, they can let others know that we are there and that we are supporting archaeology.  

A very special thanks to Joe for making this happen. 
As always, thanks to Elsie, CCASM treasurer, for keeping track of the orders and money.