Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18CV171 Cumberland Palisaded Village
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Cumberland Palisaded Village Site (18CV171) is a multi-component prehistoric site in rural Calvert County, with a major Late Woodland village occupation, possibly related to the protohistoric era settlement recorded on Captain John Smith’s 1608 map as “Opament”. The site is situated in a former agricultural field (now a residence) on a promontory above the eastern bank of the Patuxent River. Two creeks/coves are situated to the north and south, with wide drainage gulleys throughout. The cove to the south is a freshwater marsh. Soils at the site are Dodon and Woodstwon sandy loams and Crosiadore silt loams.
The site was first recorded in the 1930s by Richard Stearns, a local collector. He identified a dense shell midden (roughly 80 X 50 m in extent) on the property of the Cumberland family. His field maps indicated a village site was present in an agricultural field, but his surface-level investigations would not have (and did not) detected the presence of a palisade. The location of the site was recorded, but little else was done at that time.
In 1979, the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) established a Preservation Easement arrangement with the property owners because of the 18th century (and possibly 17th century) architectural and historical resources known as Preston on the Patuxent. Site 18CV171 falls within the southern portion of the easement. In 1982, the Cumberland family notified MHT that they were planning to construct a new house on this southern portion of their property. In May of that year, personnel from the Southern Maryland Regional Preservation Center conducted initial investigations of the area to determine if the old site encountered by Stearns was still present and to determine its subsurface integrity.
The first stage of the 1982 fieldwork was to perform a quick controlled surface collection. A 20 X 20 meter grid was laid out across the agricultural field which contained the site. All exposed artifacts were collected and artifact density maps were generated from the results. The mapped results revealed concentrations of shell and an isolated 18th century site in the northeastern portion of the field, with prehistoric remains scattered elsewhere, but most intensively concentrated in the southwestern part of the survey area. In order to check for subsurface deposits, 30 shovel test pits (STPs) were excavated along two transects (one N-S, and the other E-W). No subsurface features were encountered n 29 of the STPs, however, one revealed the edge of a feature. The STPs further revealed that the artifacts at the site were almost exclusively confined to the plowzone. A total of 15 test units (of varying size and shape) were then opened up around the feature where intact artifact deposits might be expected. Instead, the units exposed an extensive palisade line (a linear shell and dark brown earth filled trench). The palisade trench formed a roughly 53m diameter arc which cut off the small peninsula.
A circular shell-filled pit was encountered alongside the interior of the palisade trench, which contained Yeocomico and Rappahannock fabric-impressed sherds in the top 10 cm of fill. A sample of shell was collected from the pit and was submitted for radiocarbon dating. The sample yielded an uncalibrated C-14 date of 375 ± 65 radiocarbon years before present. When calibrated, this corresponds to a calendrical date of AD 1434-1645 (with a 2 sigma confidence interval). This would be a fairly good match for other known dates for Yeocomico ware, but a somewhat late date for Rappahannock fabric-impressed pottery.
Researchers returned to the site in May of 1983 to undertake additional investigation of the area defined by the palisade. The site was plowed twice and then subdivided into four-hundred 4 X 4m test squares and a sample of 276 of these units was surface collected. All artifacts within these units were retained, except for oyster shell, fire-cracked rock, and non-cultural rocks, which were weighed and discarded. Soil samples were also taken a few centimeters below the ground surface from each of the 276 collected squares.
A third surface collection, using the same grid and collection procedures, was conducted in June 1983 after the site had been plowed. Unfortunately, the southeastern portion of the site had already been inadvertently bulldozed in preparation for the impending construction, so this area could not be collected. Oyster shell was neither retained nor weighed during this investigation. Upon completion of this surface survey, forty-two test squares, each measuring two-by-two- meters, were excavated to subsoil across the site. A stratified, random and unaligned sampling strategy was used to select their locations. The loss of the bulldozed portion of the site is not thought to have greatly impacted the overall results of the sampling. All soil was dry-screened through .95 cm (3/8 in) hardware mesh, and all oyster shell was quantified by weight and discarded. A total of 27 test squares revealed evidence of possible features. To follow these features and to better expose them and reveal details of the palisade construction, another 42 discretionary test squares were placed in areas warranting further investigation (at the discretion of the field directors). In all, approximately 7.6% of the total site area (about 4,416 m2) was excavated in 2 X 2 meter squares. As a final step, a Gradall was used to mechanically remove the remaining plow zone on that portion of the site to be impacted by house construction, an area approximately 24 X 48 meters in area.
All of the subsurface examinations revealed that the palisade trench was semi-continuous and dug roughly 30 cm wide and extended as much as 50 cm below grade. Again, it was filled with shell, limestone, and occasionally artifacts. Postmolds (10-20 cm in diameter) were evident in some areas of the trench and there appeared to be 3 entrances in the palisade line, each screened with interior palisade extensions. About 87 m of the palisade arc were ultimately exposed. The posts appeared to have been raised within the dugout trench, and then a fill, with dense quantities of shell and limestone ‘chinking’ was used to pack them into place. Just within the palisade, an extensive barrow pit was encountered. It (for the most part) ran parallel to the palisade feature and may have been used to mound up soil around the base of the palisade. The barrow pits were filled over time with refuse and slope wash. Two hearths were also encountered, as well as 57 ‘postholes’ outside the palisade line that served an unknown purpose.
All soil from features, including the palisade, borrow pit, post holes, and hearths, was dry screened through .95 cm mesh or water screened through window screen. Twenty percent flotation and 20% shell samples were also retained for laboratory analysis. However, no report at MHT suggests that such analysis was ever carried out. Many additional features may have been present at one time, but were destroyed prior to excavation by the extensive plowing that was conducted at the site over the years. Several clusters of artifacts outside the palisaded area may represent areas of additional settlement or activity areas, where such features have been destroyed.
Additional radiocarbon dating was done on samples obtained from 18CV171, but little is known about the context of the finds, since no full site report has been drafted, which discusses the dates. One sample was evidently found in close proximity to Yeocomico sherds and yielded an uncalibrated date of 344 ± 70 radiocarbon years before present. Another sample (from an entirely unknown context) was dated to 668 ± 55 radiocarbon years before present. When calibrated, these dates correspond to AD 1436-1665 and AD 1262-1405 respectively (2σ).
A total of 86,935 artifacts were found at the Cumberland Site, not including the materials from the surface collection and shovel test pits in 1982. All artifacts appear to date before European contact, as no European trade material was recovered. The lithic assemblage consisted of a St. Albans point, 1 Morrow Mountain point, 2 Bare Island points, 1 Orient Fishtail, a Jack’s Reef Pentagonal point, 8 Madison/Potomac points, 6 Levannas, 39 unidentified points, 25 bifaces, 46 cores, 2 scrapers, 1 spokeshave, 140 retouched flakes, 2,396 flakes, 488 pieces of shatter, 5 hammerstones, and 1,044 other lithics. Quartz, quartzite, chert, sandstone, and rhyolite were the predominant raw materials. All of the Late Woodland triangular points were recovered from within the palisaded area.
Ceramic objects include 2,698 unidentified sherds (including 73 rims), 2 Accokeek sherds, at least 1 Pope’s Creek sherd, 119 Mockley sherds, 2 Potomac Creek Sherds, 111 Yeocomico sherds, 2,659 townsend series sherds (including Rappahannock), and 9 terra cotta tobacco pipe fragments. Rim sherds revealed that the Late Woodland ceramic vessels from Cumberland were predominantly straight-walled vessels with plain rims, as seen in one vessel that was almost completely reconstructed. In addition, one sand-tempered sherd with a hole drilled in its center might represent a ceramic ornament. The nine terra cotta tobacco pipe fragments included two incised bowl fragments, one punctated stem fragment, two undecorated bowl fragments, and four undecorated stem fragments.
Faunal materials were well represented at Cumberland, with 64,842 oyster shell fragments making up the majority of the 66,433 faunal items recovered. Most of the harvested oysters appeared to have been between three and four years of age, collected from clear water near the shore, and indicate a fall and spring occupation at the site. Snail, clam, periwinkle, mussel, and unidentified shells were also recovered (812 specimens). A barrel-shaped shell bead was the only worked shell item recovered during excavations, while a shark’s tooth, probably worn as a pendant, was recovered from the plow zone. Soil acidity and mechanical destruction resulted in a relative lack of animal bones in the plow zone at Cumberland. The 758 animal bones (including teeth, fish scales, turtle shells, and antlers) were recovered primarily from subsurface features. Nineteen faunal remains are un-described.
In addition to these objects, 10,694 unidentified objects were recovered. These were placed in the miscellaneous category under ‘Historic Artifacts’ in the tables above.
Based on these findings, 18CV171 appears to be primarily a Late Woodland palisaded village. Other, earlier occupations are present, but do not constitute a major component of the site. Many of the artifacts were recovered from plow-disturbed soils, however, intact features were encountered, which extended below the plowzone. While the site is quite significant as it relates to Late Woodland settlement patterns and village landscapes, most of the remaining site was destroyed by construction of a new house on the property. It is unclear how much of the site (if any) remains intact. Perhaps the most worthwhile venue for future research related to the Cumberland site, is synthesis of the extant data, field notes, artifact catalogs, and unanalyzed samples into an actual full site report.
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