Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18CV17 Patuxent II
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Patuxent II Site (18CV17) is a multi-component shell midden site and possible village locale at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (JPPM) near St. Leonard in Calvert County. The site is situated in an agricultural field on a terrace adjacent to the Patuxent River and was first recognized due to active erosion of midden deposits from the two-meter high bank. Occupation at the site dates to the Early and Late Archaic and Early, Middle, and Late Woodland periods. The surrounding landscape is in agriculture, with wooded field margins. Soils at the site are Woodstown sandy loams.
This site was recorded by the Maryland Geological Survey (MGS) in 1969 based on the notes of Richard Stearns, an avocational archeologist who had collected the site in the 1930s and 1940s. A catalog of Stearns collection from the site made in the 1980s reported that he recovered 2 Accokeek cord-marked sherds, 2 Mockley cord-marked sherds, 7 Rappahannock fabric-impressed sherds, 1 Rappahannock Incised sherd, and a groundstone pipe fragment. A catalog of the collection of one Lana Brown was made in 1981 and revealed that she had recovered a Steubenville stemmed point, 15 Rappahannock fabric-impressed sherds, 2 Rappahannock incised sherds, 140 other Rappahannock sherds, 2 Townsend corded sherds, 8 Mockley net-impressed sherds, 2 Mockley fabric-impressed sheds, 6 Mockley cord-marked sherds, 3 Mockley plain sherds, and an Accokeek cord-impressed sherd from the northern portion of the site and a Rappahannock fabric-impressed sherd, 3 Rappahannock incised sherds and a crushed shell-tempered ceramic platform pipe from the southern portion of the site.
In 1981, Laurie Steponaitis, a researcher from the State University of New York at Binghamton collected 18CV17 as part of a large scale survey of the Patuxent River drainage for thesis research. A core of siliceous-cryptocrystalline stone (probably chert) was recovered, along with 12 other pieces of debitage. At least two eroding storage/refuse pits were observed along the bank of the river. Two historic stoneware sherds were also recovered.
Also in 1981, a preliminary survey was undertaken of the 512 acre Patterson-family property by MHT personnel during the state’s acquisition of what would become the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. The Patuxent II site was re-identified and active erosion of the shoreline was observed. A large (almost 4 meter wide) prehistoric shell-filled feature was observed eroding from the 2 meter high bank. At that time it was thought that much of the feature already had been lost. In 1984, the remaining portion of the pit was salvaged. During the intervening period (before the property was donated to the State and until the salvage excavation could be conducted), the condition of the feature was closely monitored and any artifacts observed on the beach in the vicinity were recovered and saved separately.
Over a 10-day period in October of 1984, state archeological personnel assisted by volunteers with the Archeological Society of Maryland excavated the eroding shell pit feature. The 4 meter grid used throughout JPPM was extended across 18CV17. Most of the feature was situated within two 2 meter quadrants of a 4 meter square, with the remainder contained within two additional, partly eroded quadrants. Plowzone (approximately 40 cm deep) was excavated in those 4 quadrants and dry-screened through 3/8 inch hardware mesh. Upon removal of the plowzone, 6 cultural strata were identified in the surface of the irregularly-shaped (but probably originally circular) pit, intruding into natural clay subsoil. No additional features were observed.
A total of 12 cultural strata within the feature were excavated. All strata were soil sampled, but no analysis has been published. An oyster shell sample was retained from those strata containing shell (from 33 to 100% of the total). Flotation samples were taken (20%) from two selected strata that gave evidence of containing microscopic organic material. The remainder of the fill was dry-screened through ¼ inch hardware cloth.
The 12 strata can be broadly segregated into two major types: shell bearing strata and strata containing little or no shell. It appeared that the five shell-bearing strata represented primary refuse dumps that were interspersed with the other seven strata which resulted from the natural filling processes caused by erosion of the exposed pit walls. This evidence suggests that the pit remained open and was filled over an extended period. Artifact analysis generally supports this as the majority of ceramic sherds were recovered from the primary refuse layers. Forty-seven of the sixty-two total ceramic sherds recovered from the pit (75.8%) were retrieved from 3 of the 5 shell-bearing strata. One wash stratum did, however, yield a significant number of sherds (13 or 20.9% of the assemblage).
Without any additional structural evidence from either the pit itself or observed in the area adjacent to it, little could be determined about the pit’s function. Interpretation was made even more difficult by the fact that much of the pit (believed to be well over 50% of it) was lost before excavation due to erosion.
The documented assemblage from the 1984 excavations and collections made on the beach below the eroding feature included a stemmed biface, 1 Madison point, 2 primary flakes, 5 pieces of fire-cracked rock, and 167 ceramic sherds. The ceramic assemblage included 2 Yeocomico Plain, 73 Rappahannock Fabric-impressed, 14 Rappahannock Plain, 9 Rappahannock Incised (1 rim), 1 Rappahannock Corded, 62 other Rappahannock sherds, and 6 Mockley sherds.
The ceramic evidence clearly indicates that the pit feature began to be filled toward the end of the Sullivan Cove phase (roughly AD 1250-1600) of the Late Woodland period. Carbon samples collected from the pit feature were sent to two different labs for radiocarbon dating. It is uncertain whether these samples were collected in 1981 or 1984, but they were collected from the pit feature. One sample produced an uncalibrated date of 650 ± 60 radiocarbon years before present, while the other produced a date of 491 ± 125 radiocarbon years before present. These dates correspond to calendrical date ranges (with 2 sigma accuracy) of AD 1267-1411 and AD 1266-1663. Both dates fit well with a Sullivan Cove occupation. Unfortunately, the circumstances of the recovery of the carbon and the dates themselves are poorly documented and no further information is available.
Additional work was carried out at 18CV17 in 1986 and 1988. At least thirty-one 2 X 2 meter units were dug. Unfortunately, no final report was ever produced to document these excavations. Catalogs are available at JPPM. A faunal assemblage of over 12,000 artifacts was collected during the state-sponsored excavations from 1981-1988, most of it consisting of deer bones and oyster shell. Bluefish and blue crabs, two migratory species which are present in the Patuxent River during the summer and autumn, were found at 18CV17, indicating at least a summer and fall residence at that site. Twenty pieces of bone at the site were worked into tools or ornaments.
Based on the findings to-date, 18CV17 appears to be a multi-component shell midden with a significant Late Woodland Sullivan Cove occupation on a high bank overlooking the Patuxent River. Intact features and diagnostic artifacts have been documented at the site. Unfortunately, reporting to-date of the results of excavation has been poor. Not only do the field records and collections from the site present an opportunity for future research, but un-examined portions of the site also may yield additional information. The site should be considered a significant archeological resource.
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