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Archeological Research Unit
The Office of Archeology's Archeological Research Unit coordinates staff efforts to carry out fundamental research into the archeology of Maryland, both historic and prehistoric, on the land and in the water. This research involves fieldwork, analysis of archeological collections curated by the Maryland Historical Trust, and synthesis of existing archeological data. Below are a few examples of Office of Archeology research.
 ARCHEOLOGICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT studies have burgeoned in Maryland since enactment of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. In the ensuing years, consideration and treatment of archeological resources have become increasingly sophisticated, and voluminous data on the archeological record has been amassed; unfortunately, this data is often inaccessible and not widely disseminated, buried in “grey literature.” To address these shortcomings, the Maryland Historical Trust (in its role as State Historic Preservation Office) has embarked on an ambitious, multi-year program to synthesize Maryland’s archeological data. The project will examine Phase II and Phase III investigations undertaken during the past four decades, cull out the most important findings of those studies, and organize the archeological data in searchable databases. In 2007, the MHT Board of Trustees provided initial funding of $90,000 to launch the project, in November of that year Dr. Matthew McKnight was hired to staff the project, and the research work is now underway. For a more detailed look at MHT’s archeological synthesis project, click here.
 THE BALD FRIAR PETROGLYPHS have inspired public curiosity since colonial times, and have been the object of scientific study for more than a century. Originally located on a series of small islands in the lower Susquehanna River, the petroglyphs were threatened by construction of the Conowing Dam in the late 1920s. In response to this threat, members of the Maryland Academy of Sciences sought to retrieve the glyphs before they could be inundated by the Conowingo reservoir. Dynamite was used to extract the glyphs from the rocky outcrops, freeing the glyphs, but damaging many in the process. The better-preserved and more fully-reconstructed glyphs were put on display in various parts of the state, but perhaps the bulk of the removed stones were eventually stored in a pile on the grounds of Druid Hill Park. In early 2006, State Terrestrial Archeologist Dr. Charles Hall and the Office of Archeology worked with interested parties to transfer these stored glyphs to Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, where they can be preserved, studied, and made available for display. The actual move of the glyphs took place during the spring of 2006. For more information on this prehistoric artwork, see this summary of Maryland petroglyphs.
THE ROSENSTOCK VILLAGE SITE—one of the largest and best-preserved components of the Late Woodland Montgomery Complex—was excavated by the Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. in cooperation with the State's Office of Archeology in 1979 and 1990-1992. The 1.5-acre site, located on a bluff overlooking the Monocacy River in Frederick County, is roughly circular as indicated by an arcing line of trash-filled pits. No palisade has been found at the site despite concerted efforts to locate such a feature. Likewise, postmold patterns for domestic structures have yet to be discerned, although some household features point to general house locations. Two semi-subterranean “keyhole” structures—presumably sweatlodges—have been identified. The artifact assemblage is predominated by Shepard ware ceramics, as well as implements of quartz, rhyolite, and bone. Subsistence evidence includes carbonized corn and beans and a wide array of faunal remains including mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Radiocarbon dates roughly place the site in the A.D. 1335-1400 time period. Read the preliminary report in Dennis C. Curry and Maureen Kavanagh's article Excavations at the Rosenstock Village Site from Maryland Archeology, Vol. 40, No. 1 (March 2004).
THE OLD COPPER CULTURE in Maryland? It sounds far-fetched, but a number of classic Old Copper artifacts reported from Maryland's Eastern Shore suggest that it may be so. The copper artifacts include several spear points, a fishhook, a crescent, and a socketed-axe, or spud. Read about this archeological enigma in Dennis C. Curry's article The Old Copper Culture in Maryland? from Maryland Archeology, Vol. 38, No. 2 (September 2002).
 SINCE 1990, the Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program has been working with Department of Natural Resources staff to research and reconstruct a shipwreck found in Martinak State Park. Known as the “Martinak Boat,” the wreck has been described as the wooden remains of a 19th century Pungy schooner, a vessel type whose beginning is generally accepted to be the late 1840s. Pungies were oyster and fishing boats that plied the Chesapeake Bay until the late 19th century. While photographs and drawings of pungies exist, verified wreck remains or construction plans have yet to be found. As a result, without collaborating artifactual evidence (no artifacts were found on or near the wreck site), the exact date for this boat may never be known, although there are certain construction details and fastener types that may indicate an older date for the vessel. Adze (woodworking tool) marks, fasteners, and construction style hint that the vessel may be a schooner or sloop dating to between 1780 and 1820. The reconstructed timbers from the “Martinak Boat” are on public display at Martinak State Park in Caroline County. Read more about this project in Bruce Thompson's report, The Martinak Boat (CAR-254, 18CA54), Caroline County, Maryland.
 THE YEAR WAS 1814, and the British had their sights on Washington. Defending the new nation's capital was Commodore Joshua Barney and his fleet of barges. Gallantly, Barney and his men tried to stave off the British, but when defeat was imminent, he ordered his fleet scuttled. Now, nearly two centuries later, underwater archeologists from the Trust and other organizations are uncovering the remains of Barney's vessels in an ambitious cooperative research effort — The Chesapeake Flotilla Project.
THE WATER-SATURATED REMAINS of a large wharf structure were investigated at 18th century Pemberton Hall near Salisbury on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The squared timbers, some of which exceed 18 inches in diameter, are located in a tidal flat and are believed to be part of historic Mulberry Landing. Work included both the illustration and photodocumentation of the wharf components and associated construction debris and artifacts. Dendrochronology dating undertaken on the timbers revealed that the wharf had to have been constructed prior to 1748. The project to uncover and document the remains was undertaken by volunteers from diverse backgrounds and interests under the auspices of the Board of Directors of Pemberton Hall in cooperation with Maryland State Underwater Archeologist, Dr. Susan Langley. For a more complete report on Mulberry Landing, see Langley's article in Maryland Historical Magazine 93(3) [Fall 2000].
 OSSUARIES ARE SECONDARY GRAVES that are the end result of an elaborate burial rite. Individuals who died were buried or otherwise allowed to skeletonize, their bones were later collected, and then they were reburied in a communal grave. In Maryland, Native Americans practiced this mortuary custom late in prehistory and into the Contact period. Using existing archival materials, archeological site files, published and unpublished reports, and first-hand observations, Dennis C. Curry has published Feast of the Dead, a comprehensive study—from an archeological perspective—of aboriginal ossuaries in Maryland. More than 30 ossuaries, representing some 3,000 individuals, are discussed in the Curry's book. Particular attention is paid to the various aspects of each ossuary, such as the circumstances of site discovery and study, site setting, dimensions of the grave, evidence of any intentional arrangement of the remains, number of individuals represented, physical anthropology, and associated artifacts. The oldest ossuaries in Maryland are estimated to date to around A.D. 1400, and they continue to be used well into the Contact period as evidenced by the presence of trade goods (such as the glass beads) associated with the later ossuaries, especially in the lower Potomac region [The ossuary illustration, rendered by Mark Offutt, is taken from Curry's “Mysteries of Mass Graves” in Scientific American Discovering Archaeology, July/August 2000.].
 AS PART OF THE 23RD Annual Field Session in Maryland Archeology, terrestrial and maritime archeologists joined forces in 1993 at the 18th century Steward Shipyard site in Anne Arundel County. Underwater work was led by Bruce Thompson, while the upland excavations were directed by John Seidel, with assistance from the Trust's terrestrial archeology staff. In the water, visual and remote sensing surveys in Johns Creek recorded submerged timbers suspected of having been used for careening—a process of tipping a ship on its side at low tide to perform maintenance. Also investigated in Norman's Creek were a rubble bed (possibly associated with launching ways) and a plank and brick alignment that may correspond to a wharf mentioned in an 1807 “For Sale” advertisement for the shipyard.
Excavations on land were geared towards deciphering the site layout. Finds included a work or staging area adjacent to the submerged launching ways, a slag-littered industrial area (possibly near a forge), and a domestic area. The latter consists of a possible shed or addition with a root cellar, all apparently attached to a larger post-in-the-ground structure of which only a small portion was exposed. Of particular note in this area is the occurrence of charcoal layers and melted/deformed glass, both of which may provide evidence of the 1781 burning of the shipyard by the British.
 TO EXAMINE SOME OF THE TRUST'S Geographic Information System's (GIS) research capabilities, Maureen Kavanagh and Richard B. Hughes undertook a test case to locate the now-vanished 18th and 19th century military forts that protected Annapolis harbor. In brief, the 1846 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey chart was digitized to record the locations of the three then-surviving forts. In addition, other man-made and natural features, such as the shoreline and a number of buildings which still exist today, were entered into the system. Using the GIS's powerful capabilities, these images were then digitally overlain on a modern aerial orthophoto quadrangle image. In theory, the result should accurately depict the locations of the long-vanished fortifications on an aerial photograph of the modern landscape.
The “Forts of Annapolis” project is still ongoing, but preliminary ground-truthing of the predicted site locations has yielded promising results. At the predicted location of Fort Horn, now submerged in the waters off Annapolis, a one-day survey yielded concentrations of brick and wooden posts in the approximate location of the fort's original earthen walls. Also, recent work by the University of Maryland during a survey of the U.S. Naval Academy uncovered archeological remains in the exact spot predicted for one of the buildings digitized during this project—that of Maryland Governor Eden's house. Work on this project continues, but the potential of GIS as a research tool is clear, and should lead to other exciting projects in the future.
 IN RESPONSE TO SEVERE SHORELINE EROSION at a Southern Maryland state park, Dennis C. Curry and Maureen Kavanagh directed two seasons of excavations at the Chapel Point site in Charles County. This prehistoric oyster shell midden, located on a high bluff overlooking the Port Tobacco River, demonstrated excellent preservation of faunal material and an impressive array of artifacts seldom seen in midden sites. While data show that the site was occupied as early as 6900 B.C., the primary use of the site occurred during the late Early Woodland period, as evidenced by large quantities of sand-tempered, net-impressed Popes Creek pottery. One of the goals of the research at Chapel Point was to obtain radiometric dates for Popes Creek ware, since its chronological place in lower Potomac prehistory was poorly understood. Although almost no charcoal for radiocarbon dating was found during the excavations, a unique opportunity for direct radiometric dating of Popes Creek pottery presented itself. During excavation and removal of a portion of a Popes Creek pot which had apparently collapsed and been buried in place, excavators noticed what appeared to be a charred organic material adhering to the interior surface of two sherds. These sherds were submitted to the University of Arizona Tandem Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Facility where the charred matter was scraped from the sherds and subjected to radiocarbon assay. The result was a date of 285±100 B.C. (AA-3867). Details of this study, and its significance in better understanding Popes Creek ware and Accokeek ware in the lower Potomac drainage, are reported in “A New Radiocarbon Date for Popes Creek Ware” by Curry and Kavanagh in the 1993 issue of Maryland Archeology [Vol. 29, Nos. 1&2, pp. 31-42].
Last updated: March 3, 2008
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