Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18CV272 Otter II
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Otter II site (18CV272) is a prehistoric site just north of Solomons Island in Calvert County, Maryland. It is a multi-component site with two primary occupations; a poorly defined and disturbed Late Archaic/Early Woodland component and a Middle Woodland base camp. When the site was first discovered, it was situated on the eastern bank of the Patuxent River in a relatively level field bounded by tree-lined fencerows to the north and southwest. A small unnamed stream also ran to the north. The Modern environment is much altered by housing development and the related infrastructure. Soils in the site area are Dodon sandy loams and Hambrook fine sandy loams.
The site was first identified during a Phase I survey between December 1986 and February 1987 conducted for the proposed Patuxent Point Subdivision, a housing development. This survey was funded by the developer in anticipation of the passing of a Calvert county ordinance requiring such surveys prior to high density development in areas assessed to have a high potential for containing significant archeological resources. The intent of the survey was to locate any archeological resources within the area of the first phase of construction and to determine the significance of any cultural deposits in terms of their value to the study of Maryland prehistory or history so that decisions about their management could be made.
Phase I survey methods consisted of both surface collection and shovel testing. Within the field where the site was located (the vast majority of survey area), seven 6.1 m (20 ft) wide strips were plowed in a northwest/southeast direction. Each strip was then sub-divided into 6.1 m collection squares from which all visible cultural material was collected and bagged. Approximately 9,104.5 m2 (98,000 ft2) of land was surveyed in this way. Minor wooded portions of the survey area were examined via shovel test pits (STPs) at 15.24 m (50 ft) intervals, and in judgmental locations throughout the field to verify subsurface conditions. STPs were dug to subsoil, with one exception, where soil development was greater than 86 cm (34 in). All excavated soils were screened through hardware cloth or window screen.
Surface collection revealed a site (18CV272) approximately 4.5 acres in extent in the northern portion of the field. Prehistoric cultural materials (lithics and occasional sherds) were recovered up to 152.4 m (500 ft) of the aforementioned stream along the edge of the field. The extent to which these deposits extend farther north onto adjacent (un-surveyed) properties is unknown. Plowing also revealed 4 concentrations of shell in the northwest portion of the field. Upturned shells which contained soil were actually sampled by sifting the soil from within the shell through window screen. Artifacts recovered included fish bones, deer bones, flakes, and shell-tempered ceramics. A buried soil horizon was noted in STPs placed to investigate these shell deposits further. Aboriginal materials were also recovered from these STPs, prompting the digging of a 61 X 61 cm (2 X 2 ft) unit to explore the potential fifth feature. Cultural materials in this buried level included additional shell-tempered sherds. The overlying levels of this test unit also contained cultural material, but it was in small amounts and these deposits are interpreted as coluvium or slope wash resulting from plowing. There was no evidence of plow disturbance into the buried soil horizon.
Based on these findings, Site 18CV272 was recommended for further investigation if avoidance was not feasible. A Phase II project was, thus, carried out at the site in the summer of 1987. Fieldwork began with the plowing of the field in 6.1 m strips in the same manner as the Phase I study, but with the strips adjacent to one another. The only exception was in an area in the central portion of the site where a slight swale indicated deep deposits that were likely the result of erosion. Discontinuous strips (with approximately 6.1 m gaps between each plow strip) were plowed within this area. As in the Phase I survey, the plowed strips were sub-divided into 6.1 m collection squares from which all visible cultural material was collected and bagged.
The shell features identified during Phase I work were located and then excavated. Three were excavated entirely, while the fourth was only partially excavated due to time constraints. All were found to consist of pits, tightly packed with shell. The features were excavated by removal of the plowzone in the general area of the feature, followed by shovel scraping to define irregularly-shaped units that exposed the full extent of each feature in plan. The intact portions of two of the smaller shell pits were completely removed, placed in plastic garbage bags and returned to a laboratory for water-screening and flotation. A portion of the largest feature was similarly placed in plastic bags and examined in the lab, but the remaining portion was left unexcavated due to its size and time constraints. The fourth shell feature was sub-divided into northern and southern halves. The southern half of the feature was dry screened through mesh hardware cloth and all artifacts and bone were collected. The northern half was water screened at the laboratory. Shells were not collected in the dry screened half of the feature. Any bones collected, as well as charred nuts, seeds, and marine shells were analyzed by specialists. Charcoal samples were collected for radiocarbon dating (but evidently never actually run as assays). Since the shell pit features were (for the most part) fully excavated, one could make the argument that work progressed to a full data recovery, or Phase III level of research.
The Phase II/III work at 18CV272 revealed two major occupations at the site. The surface collection revealed an apparent Late Archaic/Early Woodland component defined primarily by the presence of Piscataway projectile points. These points are the most widespread spatially at the site, but are still clustered towards the northern half of the site, the locus of the most intense and continuously distributed occupation, and where most of the bifaces were found. This Piscataway component is associated with a preponderance of quartz reduction flakes. Other evidence of the Early Woodland consisted of 3 contracting stemmed points.
The other component was represented by the shell pits. The primary diagnostic material found within these pits was Mockley shell-tempered ceramic wares. Minute amounts (by comparison) of Popes Creek and Accokeek wares were also recovered, but the evidence points strongly toward an intact Middle Woodland Mockley component. Other evidence of the Middle Woodland at the site includes a number of Selby Bay point found during surface collection. These points were the second-most common and widespread diagnostic lithics encountered at 18CV272. Most of the lithic toolkit associated with the pits consisted of rhyolite (unlike the quartz-Piscataway association mentioned previously). A single Palmer point attests to a minor Early Archaic presence at the site.
Laboratory analysis of faunal materials and flotation samples by specialists yielded mixed results. Flotation sampling and water screening produced abundant charcoal, but no identifiable seeds were identified and only the presence of charred hickory nuts could be confirmed. The pits all contained considerable amounts of oyster shells, analysis of which suggested that they were procured primarily in the Fall. Other food remains in the pits consisted of terrestrial mammals such as deer, opossum, and skunk. Turtles and fish were also present, the latter in considerable quantity.
Compiling an accurate tally of artifacts collected during the Phase I and II/III work at 18CV272 is problematic. Subsequent examination of the extant collections at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (JPPM) has revealed discrepancies in the provenience records for bagged artifacts as compared to the data provided in the full site reports. The artifact tally provided below is based on the minimum counts of artifacts that must have been present based on the full Phase II/III report’s tables and descriptions, specialist’ analyses of the Phase II/III collection, and a re-cataloging of the extant combined Phase I/II collection at JPPM undertaken in 2002/2003.
Artifacts encountered during the Phase I and II/III work at 18CV272 included 6 Piscataway points, 5 Selby Bay points, 1 Badin point, 1 Palmer point, 3 contracting stemmed points, 35 non-diagnostic points/bifaces, 3 scrapers, 12 cores, 64 utilized flakes, 371 flakes, 78 chunks, fire-cracked rock (minimally estimated at 5 pieces), 5 hammerstones, 543 Mockley sherds (including at least 3 rims), 23 Accokeek sherds, 3 Pope’s Creek sherds, 2 charred hickory nutshells, 7,130 oyster shell fragments, 1 softshell clam shell, 19 razor clam shells, 13 sea snail shell fragments, 3 barnacle fragments, 2 bone awls, 1 bone beamer, large quantities of fish bone (estimated at 100 pieces), 36 box turtle carapace fragments, 3 bird bones, 124 dog bones, 15 deer bones, 3 striped skunk bones, 3 opossum bones, 1 woodland vole bone, an unidentified small mammal bone, 251 unidentified mammal bones, and unidentified burned bone fragments (minimally estimated at 5 pieces).
The current status of the site is uncertain, but comparison of site plans made prior to construction of the housing development to satellite images taken after construction suggests that 18CV272 is largely destroyed. Prior to construction, consultation between the developer, MHT, and the Southern Maryland Regional Archeologist resulted in agreement on a number of recommendations. The northern site area was to be machine stripped and then shovel-scraped in a search for sub-surface features. Any identified features were to be measured, plotted, and evaluated, and then recommendations were to be made for any further data recovery/excavation. It is not known whether these recommendations were ultimately carried out. MHT has no record of any additional work conducted at the site. The Otter II site should probably be considered to have no significant research potential.
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