Maryland Historical Trust
Public Access

Maryland Archaeological Synthesis Database

Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18AG23    Second Terrace

Site Data
Site Number: 18AG23
Site Name: Second Terrace
Other name(s):  
Prehistoric:
Historic:
Unknown:
Brief Description: Early & Late Archaic and Early Woodland short-term resource procurement and lithic reduction camp
Site Location and Environmental Data
Latitude: 39.56
Longitude: -78.87
Elevation: 205
Site slope: 0-5%
Maryland Archaeo Research Unit No.: 22
SCS soil & sediment code: Aw
Physiographic province: Ridge and Valley
Terrestrial site:
Underwater site:
Ethnobotany profile:
Maritime site:
Site setting: -Site Setting restricted -Lat/Long accurate to within 1 sq. mile, user may need to make slight adjustments in mapping to account for sites near state/county lines or streams
Topography
Floodplain:
Hilltop/bluff:
Interior flat:
Upland flat:
Ridgetop:
Terrace:
Low terrace:
High terrace:
Rockshelter/cave:
Hillslope:
Unknown:
Other:
Other Text:  
Ownership
Private:
Federal:
State of MD:
Regional/county/city:
Unknown:
Nearest Surface Water
Name (if any): Unnamed tributary of Potomac River
Saltwater
Ocean:
Estuary/tidal river:
Tidewater/marsh:
Freshwater
Stream/river:
Swamp:
Lake or pond:
Spring:
Min distance to water:
30 meters
Temporal Contextual Data
Paleoindian:  
Archaic:  
Early Archaic: Y
Middle Archaic:  
Late Archaic: Y
Woodland:  
MD Adena:  
Early Woodland: Y
Middle Woodland: P
Late Woodland: P
Unknown prehistoric:  
Contact period site:  
ca. 1630 - 1675:  
ca. 1675 - 1720:  
ca. 1720 - 1780:  
ca. 1780 - 1820:  
ca. 1820 - 1860:  
ca. 1860 - 1900:  
ca. 1900 - 1930:  
Post 1930:  
Unknown historic:  
Unknown context:  

Y=Confirmed, P=Possible

Ethnic Associations (historic only)
Native American:  
African American:  
Anglo-American:  
Hispanic:  
Asian American:  
Unknown:  
Other:  
Other Text:  

Y=Confirmed, P=Possible

Site Function Contextual Data
Prehistoric
Multi-component:
Village:
Hamlet:
Base camp:
Rockshelter/cave:
Earthen mound:
Cairn:
Burial area:
Misc. ceremonial:
Rock art:
Shell midden:
STU/lithic scatter:
Quarry/extraction:
Fish weir:
Production area:
Unknown:
Other PH context:
lithic reduction
Historic
Urban/Rural?:
 
Domestic:
Homestead:
Farmstead:
Mansion:
Plantation:
Row/townhome:
Cellar:
Privy:
Industrial:
Mining-related:
Quarry-related:
Mill:
 
Black/metalsmith:
Furnace/forge:
Other industrial:
 
Transportation:
Canal-related:
Road/railroad:
Wharf/landing:
Maritime-related:
Bridge:
Ford:
Educational:
Commercial:
Trading post:
Store:
Tavern/inn:
Military:
Battlefield:
Fortification:
Encampment:
Townsite:
Unknown:
Other hist context:
 
Interpretive Sampling Data
Prehistoric context samples
Soil samples taken: N
Flotation samples taken: N
Other samples taken:  
Historic context samples
Soil samples taken:  
Flotation samples taken:  
Other samples taken:  

Diagnostic Artifact Data

Projectile Point Types
Clovis:  
Hardaway-Dalton:  
Palmer:  
Kirk (notch):  
Kirk (stem): 1
Le Croy:  
Morrow Mountain:  
Guilford:  
Brewerton:  
Otter Creek:  
Koens-Crispin:  
Perkiomen:  
Susquehana:  
Vernon:  
Piscataway:  
Calvert:  
Selby Bay:  
Jacks Reef (notch):  
Jacks Reef (pent):  
Madison/Potomac:  
Levanna:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Prehistoric Sherd Types
Marcey Creek:  
Dames Quarter:  
Selden Island:  
Accokeek: 1
Wolfe Neck:  
Vinette:  
Popes Creek:  
Coulbourn:  
Watson:  
Mockley:  
Clemson Island:  
Page:  
Shepard:  
Townsend:  
Minguannan:  
Sullivan Cove:  
Shenks Ferry:  
Moyaone:  
Potomac Creek:  
Keyser:  
Yeocomico:  
Monongahela:  
Susquehannock:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Historic Sherd Types
Earthenware
Astbury:  
Borderware:  
Buckley:  
Creamware:  
Ironstone:  
Jackfield:  
Manganese Mottled:  
North Devon:  
Pearlware:  
Staffordshire:  
Tin Glazed:  
Whiteware:  
Porcelain:  
Stoneware
English Brown:  
English Dry-bodied:  
Nottingham:  
Rhenish:  
White Salt-glazed:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Prehistoric Artifacts
Flaked stone: 601
Ground stone: 1
Stone bowls:  
Fire-cracked rock: 63
Other lithics (all): 27
Ceramics (all): 46
Rimsherds:  
Other fired clay:  
Human remain(s):
Modified faunal:  
Unmodified faunal:  
Oyster shell:
Floral material:
Uncommon Object:  
Other:
 

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Historic Artifacts
Pottery (all): 1
Glass (all):  
Architectural: 3
Furniture:  
Arms:  
Clothing:  
Personal items:  
Tobacco related:  
Activity item(s):  
Human remain(s):
Faunal material:
Misc. kitchen:  
Floral material:
Misc.:  
Other:
 

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Lithic Material
Jasper:
Chert:
Rhyolite:
Quartz:
Quartzite:
Ferruginous quartzite:
Chalcedony:
Ironstone:
Argillite:
Steatite:
Sandstone:
Silicified sandstone:
European flint:
Basalt:
Unknown:
Other:
siltstone

Features

Dated Features
Dated features present at site:
Feature 1-01 - the dispersed remnants of a prehistoric hearth
Prehistoric Features
Mound(s):  
Midden:
Shell midden:
Postholes/molds:
House pattern(s):
Palisade(s):
Hearth(s):
Lithic reduction area:
Storage/trash pit:
Burial(s):
Ossuary:
Unknown:
Other:
 
Historic Features
Construction feature:
Foundation:
Cellar hole/cellar:
Hearth/chimney:
Postholes/molds:
Paling ditch/fence:
Privy/outhouse:
Well/cistern:
Trash pit/dump:
Sheet midden:
Planting feature:
Road/walkway:
Depression/mound:
Burial(s):
Railroad bed:
Earthworks:
Mill raceway:
Wheel pit:
Unknown:
Other:
 
Radiocarbon Data
Sample 1: 3510 +- 70 years BP B-152719: a charcoal sample taken from the center of Feature 1-0, a hearth. Diagnostic artifacts at the site corroborate the date.
Reliability
High
Sample 2:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 3:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 4:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 5:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 6:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 7:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 8:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 9:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Additional radiocarbon results available:
   
External Samples/Data
Additional raw data may be available online:
Collection curated at MAC
Summary
The Second Terrace (18AG23) is a multi-component Barton Complex site first identified in 1987 and then subjected to Phase I and II work in 2000. Preliminary exploration identified the site as an Early and Middle Woodland low-density lithic scatter with possible cultural features beneath the plowzone. Subsequent work has revealed Early Archaic, Late Archaic, Archaic/Woodland transitional, and Early Woodland components. The site is situated on a slightly elevated rise of the northern floodplain of the North Branch of the Potomac. Soils belong primarily to the Weikert-Calvi-Lehav association, shallow and well-drained shaly to stony soils. Phase I survey was carried out in anticipation of the proposed construction of the Barton Business Park. The survey involved 62 shovel tests and examination of 3 backhoe trenches. In 1987, the site was examined as part of the annual ASM field session. This fieldwork involved a controlled surface collection and four 1 X 1 m test units. A few apparent pit and shallow midden features were exposed in these units, but these features yielded very little, including a complete lack of faunal material. Flotation samples were taken, but yielded nothing. Forty-three very small and mostly worn ceramic sherds were encountered. Temper is primarily chert or crushed rock. The lithics recovered consist mainly of local cherts and siltstones, although a number of rhyolite flakes were also recovered. Most of the flakes recovered were either small thinning flakes or retouch flakes. This lithic assemblage consists of 1 point, 3 bifaces, 1 scraper, 1 utilized/retouched flake, 1 core, 324 pieces of flake or debitage, 1 pebble core, and 1 celt. The Phase I study identified 3 concentrations of fire-cracked rock and fire-reddened cobbles (i.e. hearths) in intact stratigraphic horizons beneath the plowzone. Among the 280 prehistoric artifacts recovered during Phase I testing were 3 ceramic sherds (2 shell-tempered, 1 crushed quartz sherd similar to Accokeek ware). Flaked stone artifacts included 3 projectile points (1 Drybrook Fishtail, 1 probable Kirk stemmed, 1 unidentifiable), 220 pieces of debitage, 4 used/retouched flakes, and 2 cores. One hammerstone, 19 pieces of fire cracked rock, and 23 fire-reddened cobbles were also recovered. Lithic raw materials included varieties of chert (over half of the assemblage), rhyolite, quartzite, quartz, sandstone, and sedimentary rock. Phase II testing was undertaken when it became apparent that a portion of the site would be within the affected area of the proposed Barton Business Park access road. Phase II work was designed to determine the National Register eligibility of 18AG23. Four 1 X 1 meter test units were excavated along the eastern edge of the proposed access road. All units were excavated to a minimum depth of 120 cm, at which point a 50 X 50 cm director’s window was excavated in the southwest corner of the unit. Three backhoe trenches were excavated in the northwestern portion of the site, one of which was atop a hearth feature first identified during Phase I research. A sixth 1 X 1 m unit was placed over this feature once the trench had removed the overburden. The other two trenches were excavated perpendicular to this initial trench and were intended to investigate the potential for additional cultural features located in proximity to the hearth (Feature 1-01). A total of 89 prehistoric artifacts were recovered during the Phase II evaluation at 18AG23. Among these were 33 pieces of debitage (mostly chert), 3 used flakes, 44 pieces of fire-cracked rock, and 3 heated stone cobbles. In addition, one unidentified unburnt nut/shell, 2 unclassified burnt shell fragments, and 3 burnt wood fragments were recovered from the hearth feature (1-01). A charcoal sample was taken from the center of this hearth and the results are detailed above. A small number of historic remains were also recovered (1 gray stoneware sherd, 1 nail, 1 rail spike, and 1 bit of architectural stone). Site 18AG23 is a large and varied site which in parts may possess the potential to yield historically significant information, however, the portion of the site within the Barton Business Park is not likely to yield important information.
External Reference Codes
Library ID Numbers: