Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18AN279 Rose Haven
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Rose Haven site (18AN279), or Old Colony Cove site, is a multi-component shell midden site near Fairhaven at the southern boundary of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Though earlier prehistoric deposits and later (albeit minor) historic deposits are present, the primary component at 18AN279 is a Middle Woodland Selby Bay component. The site is situated on a terrace along Herring Bay, an estuary of the Chesapeake, near the juncture of flat coastal plain and more rolling upland topography and adjacent to a present-day marsh. According to historic maps, this marsh was once open water and a sub-estuary of Herring Bay. Soils at the Rose Haven site are formed from unconsolidated coastal plain sediments and are included in the Westphalia–Marr-Sassafras–Evesboro association.
The site first came to the attention of the professional archeological community in 1973, when a member of the Archeological Society of Maryland (ASM) reported it to the Maryland State Archeologist. Some amateur collection had taken place, but the extent is not known. The primary collector active at the site, however, is believed to be the aforementioned ASM member who reportedly collected 2 Bare Island points, 1 Wading River point, 1 Savannah River point, 1 Rossville variant, 1 Calvert point, 21 Selby Bay points (2 of green jasper), 1 Jack’s Reef Corner-notched point, 4 miscellaneous stemmed points, 3 elongate triangular points, a green jasper flake, 1 bannerstone fragment , 1 slate celt fragment, 9 Accokeek sherds, 184 Mockley sherds, 1 Townsend rimsherd, 2 unidentified granite-tempered sherds, and deer bone (estimated at 10 pieces).
In the summer of 1974, the Anne Arundel County Archeological Society, under the direction of archeologists from American University and the University of Maryland, excavated eleven contiguous 1.524 m (5 ft) squares in the northwestern section of the site. A plow-disturbed oyster layer from 20.32 to 33.02 cm (8 to 13 in) in thickness was found to cover a clay B-horizon which was totally unproductive of in situ artifacts. Test pits excavated along the terrace edge reportedly revealed from 61 to 91 cm (2 to 3 ft) of shell accumulation. The excavations revealed a complex series of blackened compact areas which, upon cross-sectioning, were tentatively attributed to rodent activities.
The plowzone produced fire-cracked rock in abundance. Approximately 40 percent of the ceramics from the 1974 excavations were shell-tempered Late Woodland sherds. By contrast, a surface collection of the entire site (not just the northwestern section) produced an overwhelming majority of Mockley sherds (87% of the diagnostic specimens). This suggests that while Mockley ware is the majority ceramic type at the site, other wares may occur with greater frequency in specific areas. The 1974 excavations revealed that the lithic industry of the Selby Bay phase is represented by celts, gorgets, knives, projectile points, and debitage of blue rhyolite, argillite, and green and brown jasper. Lithic artifacts ranging from the Late Archaic to the Late Woodland were represented in the surface collection and excavation assemblages though.
Unfortunately, no final report has ever been prepared for the 1974 excavations. Consequently, these materials are not included in the artifact tables above. What is known comes from a National Register Nomination form that was completed for Rose Haven in that year.
More information is available for the most recent phase of excavation at 18AN279. In 1977 the ASM, working with the Maryland Geological Survey, Division of Archeology (now MHT) held their 7th Annual Field Session in Archeology at the Rose Haven Site. Investigation of the site was prompted by the threat of private land development. The threat to the site was brought to the attention of the Maryland State Archeologist in early 1977 by a member of ASM (although rumors of development had circulated since 1974). A housing development was to be constructed northwest of the site, with a sewer line running directly through the site to the marsh located to the southeast. At that time, Anne Arundel County did not yet have its zoning laws related to archeological mitigation during the subdivision permitting and review process. The site was excavated as a salvage job using volunteer labor provided by ASM with the permission of the property owner.
A systematic sampling strategy was used to ensure adequate coverage of the site. The site grid was aligned parallel to the nearby marsh and stakes were driven at 30 m intervals. In the southern half of the site grid, a 1 meter test square was excavated in the southwest corner of each 30 m square. When subsurface features were encountered during testing, the test square was extended by additional 1 meter squares in order to expose more of each feature. In addition, one 9.46 liter (10 qt) bucket flotation sample was taken from each apparently undisturbed feature.
After mapping the location of 11 surface concentrations of whole oyster shell, 7 of the surface concentrations were tested by excavating trenches 1 meter in width and 4 to 5 meters in length. When undisturbed subsurface lenses of whole oyster shell were exposed, one 9.46 liter bucket flotation sample was taken.
A controlled surface collection was also conducted in 1977. Approximately 30 individuals were arranged in a straight line which moved north-south across the two plowed fields that made up the site. During the controlled surface collection, individuals walked between cultivated rows, locating artifacts with flagged markers. Afterwards, the location of each surface artifact was recorded within its respective 30 meter square by measuring its distance from two of the 30 meter stakes.
In addition, a one meter test square was excavated in each of two tree-lines at the site. The first was placed near the crest of the terrace in a tree line which divided the site into two plowed fields. The second was placed at a 30 meter interval in the tree line between the eastern field and the area of the 1974 excavations.
Later in the summer, a sewer-line trench for the housing development was staked out by the landowner, and before excavation, the plowzone was stripped by request of the State Archeologist. A portion of this sewer-line trench was investigated, from eastern treeline to the nearby marsh. Portions of the trench were flat-shoveled and trowelled, exposing 5 features. The locations of the 5 features were mapped and, due to time limitations, their contents were only partially excavated.
In total, 38 one meter test squares were excavated across the southern half of the site. Through surface collection, test unit excavation, and test trench excavation, both intact features and artifact concentrations were encountered. Cultural features included 9 subsurface shell lenses of various size, 6 concentrations of whole oyster shell, 2 aboriginal living floor or sheet middens, and 3 possible subsurface pits. In addition, two features were determined to likely be rodent burrows. Due to time limitations, only 18 of the 22 features were partially or completely excavated. Seven of the subsurface shell lenses were encountered in the east field, six of which contained exclusively Middle Woodland Selby Bay phase artifacts. All six surface shell concentrations were in the east field. Middle Woodland artifacts were encountered in the subsurface pits as well.
Two samples were collected from Feature 4, one of the subsurface shell lenses, for radiocarbon dating. These samples were associated with 7 Mockley sherds, 18 bone fragments, and (obviously) shell. One sample was oyster shell, while the other was wood charcoal. The oyster shell sample yielded an uncalibrated radiocarbon age of 1775 ± 65 years before present. When calibrated (2 sigma) this corresponds to a calendrical date of AD 87-407. The charcoal sample produced an uncalibrated date of 1250 ± 60 radiocarbon years before present. When calibrated this corresponds to a calendrical date of AD 657-934. Thus, both dates for Feature 4 fall squarely within the Middle Woodland timeframe, and even bracket the dates for the Selby Bay phase in particular (AD 400 to AD 900).
In general, aboriginal artifacts tend to concentrate within a 60 m X 300 m corridor along the terrace crest and within the northern portion of the eastern field, while historic artifacts concentrate in the western portion of the west field and in the northern portion of the east field. There also appears to be some clustering in the lithic raw materials and various artifact types throughout the site. With regard to diagnostics, Late Archaic and Woodland projectile points occur along the terrace crest and in the northern portion of the east field. Moreover, three of five varieties of Selby Bay projectile points recovered cluster in specific areas of the site. Accokeek ware clusters in two areas, one in the southern portion of the west field and the other in the southeastern portion of the east field. By contrast, Popes Creek and Mockley are concentrated are concentrated along the terrace crest in the east field, and Townsend and Potomac Creek wares were scattered throughout the area of prehistoric finds.
Possible functional areas at the Rose Haven site can be delineated from data collected during the controlled surface collection. During the Late Archaic, flintknapping activities including flake and tool production and maintenance occurring along the 300 X 60 m corridor in both fields (delineated by the distribution of quartzite debitage, cores, and pitted stones). Butchering, hide preparation, scraping and shaping of wood and bone implements, and food preparation activities occurred in the eastern portion of the site (distribution of quartzite bifaces, unifaces, and pitted stones).
In the Woodland Tradition during the Selby Bay phase, rhyolite, chert, jasper, and argillite were almost exclusively reserved for the production of projectile points, while apparently locally available quartz was primarily utilized for the production of flaked lithic tools. Flintknapping activities occurred in several areas of the site. The heaviest concentration of rhyolite flakes occurs within a small cluster in the northern portion of the east field, while chert debitage and cores concentrate along the 300 X 60 m corridor in the west field, and quartz cores are concentrated within the central and eastern portions of the site. Butchering, hide preparation, and the scraping and shaping of wood and bone implements occurred within the 300 X 60 m corridor in the west field (distribution of quartz and rhyolite bifaces, and quartz and argillite unifaces); while food preparation occurred primarily along the 300 X 60 m corridor in the east field (distribution of Mockley and pitted stones).
A full description of the artifacts collected during the 1977 field session, as well as the surface collections made by the ASM member who discovered 18AN279 (also described above) follows. Flaked stone artifacts include 85 projectile points (1 Palmer corner-notched, 1 Vernon, 1 Piscataway, 6 Bare Island, 5 Savannah River Stemmed, 3 Wading River Points, 1 Rossville Variant, 2 Brewerton Eared Triangular, 1 Koens-Crispin, 1 Snook Kill, 3 Calvert, 48 Selby Bay, 1 Jack's Reef Corner-notched, 3 Levannas, and 8 unidentified), 36 other bifaces, 12 unifaces, 1 chopper tool, 14 cores, 13 retouched flakes, and 805 pieces of debitage. Use-modified and groundstone lithics include 8 pitted stones, 1 hammerstone, 3 celts, 1 gorget fragment, and a bannerstone fragment. A rather unusual find was 4 fossilized shark’s teeth associated with the Selby Bay component. Prehistoric ceramics were 12 Accokeek sherds, 31 Pope’s Creek sherds (1 rim), 7 Coulbourn sherds (1 rim), 576 Mockley sherds (an estimated 20 rims), 8 Townsend sherds, (1 rim), and 10 Potomac Creek sherds (4 rims). Faunal remains include 2 bear bones, 2 beaver bones, 3 bird bones, 1 cottontail rabbit, 68 deer bones, 3 dog/wolf/fox bones, 40 fish bones, 2 ground squirrel bones, 75 large mammal bones, 3 muskrat bones, 10 raccoon bones, 8 snake bones, 207 turtle bones, and 1 woodchuck bone. In addition, 402 oyster shell fragments, 5 large mammal bones, 14 fish bones, 4 turtle bones, 1 snake bone, and charred nutshell (unidentified species) were recovered from the flotation samples obtained from the Selby Bay period features.
Historic artifacts recovered include a rosehead nail, 1 tin-glazed Delftware sherd, 4 Rhenish stoneware sherds, a piece of cow bone, and a reddish-brown tobacco pipe fragment.
The data suggest that the site was primarily occupied during the Middle Woodland Selby Bay phase. However, there are a moderate number of Late Archaic points scattered throughout the site, indicating sporadic earlier occupation, as well as some later point types and ceramics. Spatial analysis of the Selby Bay component shows that three of five Selby Bay projectile point sub-type varieties in the collection tightly cluster in specific areas of the site. This suggests either temporal, functional, or sociocultural features. Results of the flotation analysis indicate that the site was occupied primarily during the summer months by small groups camping intermittently along the estuary to exploit oyster, turtle, marine fish, and raccoon. Plants were gathered, but physical evidence on varieties is very sparse. Deer were also hunted.
The Rose Haven site appears to be a significant intact prehistoric site with the potential to answer research questions related to Maryland prehistory. Following the 1977 excavations, plans for the housing development fell through. One house was eventually built on the site, but there are likely still intact deposits at 18AN279. At the least, the construction of the single house had considerably less impact on the site than the multiple residences planned in 1977. The site should still be considered a significant archeological resource.
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