Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18BA536 AVW/ Area 5/ Site 1
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Site 18BA536, also known as AVW/Area 5/Site 1, is a mid 19th – early 20th century house site located near the Middle River area of Baltimore County. The site is situated along a ridge top and hill slope east of Windlass Run. At least two unnamed tributaries of Saltpeter Creek are to the east of the site. The site area consists of wooded land composed primarily of deciduous trees, vines, and thickets. The site appears to have been plowed in the historic past. The dominant vegetative species include several hardwood and coniferous species, including red oak and other oak varieties, yellow poplar, sycamore, red maple, sweetgum, black cherry, beech, sassafras, Virginia pine, loblolly, American holly, and cedar. Soils at the site are Fallsington and Woodstown sandy loams and Keyport silt loams.
Archival research into the ownership of Site 18BA536 failed to reveal any clear chain-of-title for the individuals connected to the site. The only historic document to provide any indication of the ownership of the area is an 1877 Atlas of Baltimore County. The map shows a house owned by Richard Seabrooks in the approximate location of the site. US Census Records from 1870 indicate that a man named Richard Seabrooks resided in Middle River. Thomas was described as a 68 year old farmer living with his wife, Elizabeth (65), and one farm hand, his son Richard (40). From this information it is likely that Richard inherited the property sometime between 1870 and 1877 and operated the farm following the passing of his father and mother.
The site was first identified in 2005 during the course of a Phase I archeological survey of the site and surrounding areas. The work was carried out on a 1,000 acre property (which included the site) slated for development of a new business campus. Construction of the business campus was contingent upon receipt of a wetlands permit through the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment. Thus, the survey was required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended).
The site was identified based on the presence of 115 historic artifacts found in 35 shovel test pits (STPs) excavated during Phase I work. The STPs were placed at 15.24 X 15.24 m (50 X 50 ft) intervals and were excavated according to natural stratigraphy. Radials were placed around positive isolated shovel tests at 7.62 m (25 ft) intervals in order to determine site boundaries. All soils were screened through hardware cloth. Artifact recovery appeared to be confined to disturbed plowzone soils, but two intact cultural features were identified: a cellar hole and associated architectural debris, and a fieldstone well. The cellar measured 15.24 X 6.1 m (50 X 20 ft) and was 91 cm (3 ft) deep. It was located adjacent to a fieldstone wall or pillar covered by discarded building material (again, likely associated with the cellar). The well was 6.1 m to the southeast of the cellar hole, was 1.22 m (4 ft) in diameter and 7.62 m deep. It was not capped and was constructed of dry laid fieldstone.
Among the 115 historic artifacts were 2 hand wrought nails, 1 button with a brass sunken panel, 29 whiteware sherds (1 black transfer-printed, 1 blue transfer-printed, 1 green transfer-printed), 1 Rockingham sherd, 3 American blue and gray salt-glazed stoneware sherds, and 3 manganese glass fragments. The remaining materials are cataloged in the table above as “Miscellaneous” items. After examining the data, the site was classified as an artifact scatter connected with an early 19th century farmstead compound. The site was recommended for Phase II testing, which was carried out immediately.
Phase II work in 2005 at 18BA536 made use of the grid system created during the prior Phase I survey. The system was further expanded to conduct more precise testing. The Phase II grid was composed of shovel tests spaced apart at 15.24 m, 7.62 m, and 3.81 m (50, 25, and 12.5 ft) intervals. All shovel test locations were excavated manually, using spade shovels and trowels. The STPs were also excavated stratigraphically in order to maintain vertical control over the artifacts recovered and soils were screened through hardware cloth. A soil profile was prepared for each shovel test location excavated. Soils were described by texture and color and data was recorded on standardized forms. A total of 193 shovel tests were excavated within the site area.
The material recovery resulting from the STP work was plotted on a field map in order to display the distribution of artifacts. The site was estimated to have a dimension of 152 m (500 ft) north-south and 198 m (650 ft) east-west. Based on the nature and density of artifacts recovered within the site area, eight 91 cm (3 ft) test units were excavated. Two of these units were excavated in the southwest part of the site, where a large concentration of artifacts was identified during shovel testing. One test unit was placed in the west-central portion of the site, near the second high concentration of artifacts. The remaining five test units were placed in an around the ruinous farmstead complex. Test units were excavated manually, using flat shovels and trowels. These units were also excavated stratigraphically in order to maintain control over the vertical provenience of artifacts recovered. Selected strata in excess of 7.62 cm (3 in) were further excavated by arbitrary levels. All excavated, non-feature soils were dry-screened in the field using hardware mesh. A standardized form was also used to record soil characteristics, stratum depths, and recovered materials. A scaled profile of one wall was drawn for each unit and the profile was also recorded using black and white photography.
Special excavation and documentation procedures were followed when possible cultural features were thought to have been identified within test units. Within reason, the overall goal was to expose the horizontal and vertical extent of these features. The presence of an intact feature was assessed during the excavation process. Aiding in this assessment was the employment of the cross-section or bi-section approach. During the handling of potential features, a thorough documentation process was employed and included plan view hand-drawn sketches followed by photographs.
One hundred and thirty STPs and all 8 test units produced positive artifact recoveries. A total of 3,945 artifacts were recovered during Phase II work at 18BA536. By quantity, the artifact recovery consisted of the following broad temporal affiliations: 9 prehistoric artifacts, 3,754 historic artifacts, and 182 modern items. The 182 modern materials are included in the tally above as “Miscellaneous objects”. The prehistoric artifacts recovered were composed of chert debitage, quartz debitage, and charcoal. The majority of the prehistoric materials were located in strata identified as disturbed soils. The remainder were located in subsoil but were too few in number to be though significant.
The historic collection was composed of several functional artifact groups. The assemblage consisted of 68 activity items (hardware and 24 lamp glass fragments), 1,783 architectural artifacts, 2 clothing items (an oyster shell button and shoe leather), 1,253 kitchen-related artifacts, 8 arms items (.22 caliber rimfire cartridges), 62 tobacco-related artifacts (kaolin and stoneware pipe fragments), 1 personal artifact (a ca. 1769 Danish-American token), and 577 miscellaneous objects. The architectural assemblage consisted of 556 brick fragments, 205 pieces of mortar, 325 window glass fragments, 509 nails (1 handwrought, 240 machine cut, 44 wire, and 224 unidentified nails), and 188 other artifacts. The kitchen assemblage included 579 ceramic sherds (14 creamware, 15 pearlware, 1 late pearlware, 306 whiteware, 49 ironstone, 2 Rockingham, 40 yelloware, 79 redware, 22 miscellaneous earthenware, 19 porcelain, 2 white salt-glazed stoneware, 1 Scratch Blue stoneware, and 39 other stoneware), 641 pieces of container glass (including some Depression-era glassware), a bone-handle knife, a silver-plated fork, a can opener, a tin bowl, 32 pieces of oyster and clam shell, and 21 animal bones. The artifacts were mostly confined to the upper two or three organic strata overlying subsoil. In some cases, however, portions of the artifact recovery occurred in deeper strata.
The farm complex at 18BA536 likely consisted of: a main dwelling house (located in close proximity to the large architectural debris pile (Feature 2), outbuildings like the small cellar (Feature 1), and a well (Feature 3). At least one outbuilding was identified, when Feature 7 (a section of a fieldstone and mortar foundation wall) was identified near the main farm complex. The size of this structure suggests a small outbuilding like a cold cellar or a spring house.
Based on the artifact recovery, Site 18BA536 was occupied from the mid 19th to early 20th century. This historic temporal assemblage was supported primarily by the recovered ceramic assemblage, but also the presence of machine-cut and wire nails, and the kaolin pipe assemblage. The occupation period likely began sometime around 1820 and extended until 1930 given the presence of the Depression-era glass and the absence of any house or structure on a 1938 aerial photograph of Middle River. The presence of domestic and architectural materials in the proximity of a ruinous farmstead complex suggests a substantial residence was once present. Based on the quantity and nature of the artifacts, the residence was thought to have been occupied for a substantial amount of time. The nature of the ceramic assemblage suggests that the site occupants (the Seabrook family) were middle income planters.
The research potential of Site 18BA536 was dramatically reduced by a lack of soils with good stratigraphic integrity, and displaced artifacts recovery. The extensive history of agriculture on the property dramatically impacted the yards connected with this early residence, leaving the soils completely disturbed. The only location to have good stratigraphic integrity was within the cellar hole (Feature 1). Thus, conducting future excavations at Site 18BA536 are unlikely to provide additional research value beyond that already obtained through Phase II testing.
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