Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18FR134 Schiefferstadt
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Schiefferstadt House (18FR134) is the oldest known standing structure in the city of Frederick. It was built sometime in the middle of the 18th century by the Joseph Brunner family, immigrants from Germany. Brunner named the new plantation “Scheverstadt”, after the German town from which he emigrated. The property is significant for its association with the early German settlement of the region, its unique architecture and method of construction which reflect the German traditions of its builders, and for its well preserved features. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is also recorded in Maryland’s Inventory of Historic Properties. The site currently functions as a museum and educational facility. The site is situated along Carroll Creek near its juncture with another stream (prior to historic alterations) and on a slightly elevated, south-facing slope. Soils at the farm consist of the Lindside series. These are relatively fertile, deep and moderately well-drained soils that are found near floodplains.
The original double-pile house appeared as a massive sandstone structure (most likely made from locally quarried stone) measuring roughly 9 X 12 meters (30 X 40 feet) in plan. This 2 ½ story house had a central chimney and a three-bay façade. The original roof framing (still existing) exemplifies the steep pitch and flared eaves common to Germanic residences of this type and period. It is laid out in a typical German floorplan referred to as “Durchgangigen Haus”, consisting of a four room arrangement with center hall. The center hall was not built for gracious living but for economy, and was built around a wishbone chimney whose two stacks rise on either side (servicing two fireplaces each) of the center passageway and meeting in an arch in the second floor ceiling. The fireplace bases and floors were built to accommodate three five-plate stoves, one of which still remains in situ. There was also a vaulted cellar beneath the house which was accessed via bulkhead doors. The cellar remains intact today. A major addition and modifications were made to the house between 1830 and 1840. The most important of these was the brick kitchen addition with bedroom above. The fireplace in the ground-level kitchen contains a squirrel-tail bake oven and a small smokehouse/dairy added along the south wall. Although the Schiefferstadt house has remained remarkably intact since it was built, the same cannot be said for the outbuildings associated with the farmstead. Nothing is known about how many and what types of attendant structures would have been built during the 18th century. The typical German farmstead during that time likely included a privy, well, smokehouse, barn, springhouse, etc.
The Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, Inc. purchased the Schiefferstadt farm in 1974, and an architectural and archeological study were subsequently conducted (in Spring of ’75) to develop a restoration plan and to determine if restoration activities would impact intact cultural remains associated with the early construction and occupation of the structure. The objective of the archeological investigations was to recover artifacts and data to assist in the reconstruction of the house and to contribute information for understanding its history. Excavations were conducted both within the house and outside. Inside the house, two trenches and eight shovel tests were excavated. Outside of the house four test units were excavated. Undifferentiated soil layers were divided by depth below the surface at 15.24 cm (6 inch) levels. All units were hand excavated, mostly by trowel, and all soils were passed through hardware cloth to recover artifacts.
Features encountered during excavation include a ledge of sandstone flooring in the cellar, a drain pipe and trench in the smokehouse/dairy, a postmold along the west exterior wall of the smokehouse/dairy, an attempted smokehouse/dairy foundation repair feature, midden areas, a layer of bricks beneath the modern porch (suggestive of an earlier brick porch), areas of fill, a builders trench, rodent holes filled with animal bones, and several abandoned groundhog holes filled with modern debris. Two 22.86 X 22.86 X 7.62 cm (9 X 9 X 3 inch) blocks of soil were retained from a trench placed in a passageway located under the rear floor of the main house connecting the brick kitchen addition and the vaulted cellar. A macro floral assemblage from the house’s crawl space was also recovered. These were retained for ethnobotanical analysis (see below).
Historic artifacts from the 1975 Spring excavations at 18FR134 include 88 activity items. Roughly half came from units within the house and half came from units surrounding it. The 42 activity items from the interior excavations include 8 toys (a rubber ball, a clay marble, a glass marble, a game piece, 4 plastic toy parts), part of a plastic school glue bottle, a rubber suction cup, 2 wads of paper towels, 22 pieces of hardware (8 pieces of non-electrical wire, a rivet, part of a bracket, 2 metal disks, a piece of metal pipe, 2 gear wheels, a piece of steel tubing, 2 washers, 2 nuts, a spring, 1 unidentified piece of hardware), a clamp, a saw blade, a chisel, 3 stable items (2 harness rings, 1 wagon part), and two pencil pieces. The 46 activity items from outside the house were 2 toys (a toy cooking pot and a plastic toy), 5 clothespin parts, a piece of rubber tubing, a paperclip, 30 pieces of hardware (4 pieces of non-electrical wire, 8 washers, a tube fitting, 4 nuts, a metal tag, a metal disk, 2 lead disks, 2 grommets, a bolt with a washer and wingnut, a lone wingnut, a spring, 4 unidentified hardware pieces), a battery, a saw blade, 3 unidentified farm tool, 1 stable item (ox shoe), and a piece of clay flower pot. Four-hundred and thirty-one architectural items were encountered during the interior excavations, including 7 pieces of brick, 8 pieces of building stone, 147 fragments of mortar, a piece of mortar with an embedded nail, 2 pieces of concrete, 88 fragments of plaster, 37 pieces of terra cotta drain tile, 39 pieces of asphalt or linoleum floor tile, 4 plate window glass fragments, 20 cylinder glass fragments, 68 nails (16 cut, 47 wire, 5 unidentified), a spike, a screw, 1 nut/bolt, 4 miscellaneous hardware items, 2 electrical parts, and a piece of lumber. The 403 architectural items recovered during exterior excavations include a handmade brick piece, 56 other brick fragments, 30 pieces of building stone, 4 fragments of mortar, 4 pieces of plaster, 72 plate window glass fragments, 17 cylinder glass fragments, 191 nails (35 cut, 97 wire, 59 unidentified), 2 tacks, 7 staples, 4 screws, 9 nuts/bolts, 5 miscellaneous hardware items, and one electrical part. Seven clothing items were encountered during interior excavations and 9 were encountered during exterior work. The clothing items found during interior excavations were 5 buttons (1 bone, 1 metal, 2 shell, 1 pearl), 1 piece of cloth, and a metal snap. Those found during exterior excavations were 7 buttons (1 bone, 3 glass, 1 metal, 1 shell, 1 plastic), a plastic buckle, and a ribbon fragment. Two furniture items were recovered; one (a metal drawer pull) during interior excavations and one (a crystal teardrop) during exterior excavation. The kitchen assemblage from interior excavations includes 514 items, most of which are either ceramics or glass. The 144 ceramic sherds are a piece of 19th century stoneware, 50 pearlware, 2 ironstone, 31 whiteware, 6 yelloware, and 54 redware sherds. The 203 glass fragments include 3 jar lids, 2 blown-in-mold container fragments, and 198 miscellaneous bottle/container pieces. Other kitchen remains recovered from the interior units were a screw cap, 4 crown caps, 2 pull tabs, 10 metal jar lid fragments, 3 pieces of metal cans, a tin measuring cup fragment, 118 animal bone fragments, a piece of oyster shell, 3 acorn fragments, 4 apricot seeds, 3 peach pits, 3 chestnuts, a peanut, and 13 walnut seed/shell fragments. The kitchen assemblage recovered during exterior work was much larger. It included 852 items, including twelve 19th century stoneware sherds, 9 pearlware sherds, 1 piece of early porcelain, a 19th century porcelain sherd, 2 ironstone, 86 whiteware, 5 yelloware, 181 redware sherds, 3 table glass pieces, a piece of milk glass, a jar, a blown-in-mold bottle, 375 bottle container glass shards, 3 screw caps, 17 crown caps, 5 pull tabs, 3 metal jar lids, 5 pieces of canning jar seal, 2 utensil parts, a tin measuring cup fragment, a plastic appliance knob, 94 animal bones, 2 pieces of oyster shell, 26 apricot seeds, 10 peach pits, 4 walnuts, and an unidentified floral object. Fourteen personal items were recovered during excavations, 9 inside the house and 5 outside. Inside the house, 7 pieces of a ceramic figurine, part of a pocket mirror, and a copper penny were found. The exterior excavations revealed 2 glass beads, a brass comb fragment, a copper penny, and an ointment tube. Exterior excavations also revealed 3 tobacco-related items (a ball clay pipe bowl and 2 reed-stemmed pipe fragments) and 4 arms objects (3 .22 caliber shell casings and a shotgun shell). And finally, 216 miscellaneous items were encountered during interior work and 193 were excavated outside the house. In the interior units an unidentified piece of glass, 30 pieces of metal, 4 stone objects, 13 wood fragments, 8 pieces of plastic, a cinder, 143 pieces of coal, a birds nest, and 15 unidentified objects were encountered. Forty-nine pieces of metal, a wood fragment, a piece of rubber, 10 pieces of plastic, 3 cinders, 61 pieces of coal, 51 pieces of slag, 14 fragments of lime, and 3 unidentified objects were excavated in the exterior test units.
Later, in the summer of 1975, a Phase I archeological survey was conducted at Schiefferstadt prior to excavating a trench for an underground power line. Shovel testing was conducted to determine if the power line would impact any archeological remains associated with the house and yard area (i.e., would it impact activity areas, building locations, garden or yard remains, etc.?). It was postulated that early structures yet undiscovered under the ground and associated with the early residents may be in the path of the line. A total of six shovel test pits were excavated at 9.144 meter (30-foot) intervals along the course of the proposed power line. Each test, which measured approximately 61 cm X 61 cm (2 X 2 ft), was excavated to sterile clay subsoil. All soil was screened through hardware cloth. The shovel tests failed to reveal any intact archeological remains. All of the tests were dug to 45.72 cm (18 in) in depth, although the topsoil/plowzone became more shallow and disturbed as the tests progressed away from the house. The test furthest from the house contained no artifacts and exhibited soil horizons disturbed by the construction of a nearby road. In all cases, a plowzone/topsoil layer overlay sterile clay subsoil. Artifacts found in the test pits represented intermixed 19th and 20th century cultural materials.
Historic artifacts recovered during the summer of 1975 Phase I survey include 1 activity item, 93 architectural objects, 178 kitchen items, 1 personal item, and 46 miscellaneous objects. The 1 activity item was part of a clothespin. Architectural objects included 9 fragments of brick, 20 pieces of cylinder window glass, 63 nails (48 cut, 6 wire, 9 unidentified), and 1 piece of miscellaneous hardware. The kitchen assemblage included 36 sherds of 19th century stoneware, 14 pearlware sherds, 32 whiteware, 1 yelloware, 34 redware sherds, 2 pieces of table glass, 7 glass jar lid pieces, 21 bottle/container glass fragments, a bone utensil handle, 26 animal bones, and 4 pieces of oyster shell. The one personal object was a copper penny. The miscellaneous objects were a piece of metal, 3 cinders, and 42 pieces of coal.
The Schiefferstadt site was also the focus of a field school conducted in 1989 by the Frederick County Community College. Although no report was written regarding the work, the field notebooks and artifact catalogs produced by students have been turned over to the MHT, along with the artifacts from the excavation. The purpose of the study was to accumulate data pertinent to the archeological resources associated with the 18th century occupation of the house and to find the associated structures (well, privy, etc.). In addition, the excavations provided students with the opportunity to learn excavation techniques and methods for artifact analysis. The services of a professional surveyor were obtained and a 48.768 X 48.768 meter (160 X 160 foot) site grid was laid out across the lot, with the extreme southeast corner of the property providing a datum point for the grid. A datum stake was left in this location, which has since been lost. Students were divided into three groups and each group chose a separate section of the site in which to excavate (within the grid). One 2.4384 X 2.4384 meter (8 X 8 foot) test unit was excavated by each group. Each test unit was subdivided into squares and the squares were excavated separately. However, the smaller squares were designated and excavated differently within each unit. All soils excavated from each square were screened. No features or intact archeological deposits were identified during these excavations. All artifacts appear to have come from mixed contexts in the plowzone/topsoil.
Historic artifacts recovered during the 1989 field school were 29 activity items, 693 architectural objects, 10 clothing items, 896 kitchen-related artifacts, 11 personal items, 2 tobacco-related items, 3 arms items, and 704 miscellaneous objects. The activity-related assemblage included 9 toys (2 glass marbles, 3 clay marbles, a Tonka truck wheel, 3 game pieces), 4 clothespin parts, 2 battery parts, 11 pieces of hardware (7 fragments of non-electrical wire, a metal pipe, 2 washers, 1 nut), a wrench, a stable harness buckle, and part of a pencil. Among the 693 architectural items were 169 bricks, 45 fragments of building stone, 65 fragments of mortar, 7 pieces of concrete, a fragment of plaster, a piece of asphalt/macadam, 4 pieces of tar, 4 pieces of asphalt roofing, 10 pieces of window glazing, 13 plate window glass fragments, 156 cylinder glass fragments, 8 unidentified flat glass pieces, 200 nails (a handmade rosehead, 122 cut, 61 wire, 16 unidentified), a staple, 3 screws, 1 nut/bolt, 3 miscellaneous hardware pieces, and electrical part and a piece of electrical wire. Eight of the ten clothing-related items were buttons (4 metal, 1 shell, 2 plastic, 1 bakelite). The other two objects were a Girl Scout insignia and a copper thimble. The kitchen assemblage included 5 creamware sherds, 50 pearlware sherds, 20 early porcelain sherds, two 19th century porcelain sherds, 5 domestic brown stoneware sherds, 3 domestic gray stoneware sherds, 7 ironstone sherds, 141 whiteware, 3 yelloware, 310 redware sherds, 223 fragments of kitchen glass (1 milk glass fragment, 4 glass jar lids, 3 machine-made container fragments, a blown-in-mold fragment, and 203 miscellaneous bottle/ container glass pieces), 2 screw caps, a crown cap, a metal jar lid, a drinking straw fragment, 105 animal bones/teeth, 3 animal claws, 8 pieces of oyster shell, and 6 pieces of walnut shell/nut. The 11 personal items were part of a ceramic figurine, 6 mirror fragments, a key, a copper penny, a nickel, and a jewelry part. The tobacco-related items were a piece of clay pipe bowl and a piece of clay stem. Arms-related items were a .22 shell casing, a lead ball, and a shotgun shell casing. And finally the assemblage of 704 miscellaneous objects included 2 unidentified pieces of glass, 31 pieces of metal, 4 pieces of slag, 7 wood fragments, 16 pieces of plastic, 4 pieces of charcoal, 279 cinders, 341 pieces of coal, a yellow paint chip, 2 pieces of Styrofoam, 16 stones, and an aerosol can cap.
Another field school was also held at Schiefferstadt in the late 1980s sponsored by Hood College. No site report was ever published and, unfortunately, the artifacts and field notes were stored away from the site and they cannot be located.
In 1995, the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, Inc., applied for a state capital grant from the Maryland Historical Trust to conduct archeological investigations as a pre-development action necessary for proposed stabilization and rehabilitation efforts at the property. The Maryland Historical Trust holds a perpetual historic preservation easement on the property. The purpose of the archeological investigations was to examine and evaluate the property’s archeological deposits (in terms of their National Register eligibility), to mitigate potential adverse impacts caused by proposed improvements, and to enhance the interpretation of the property’s history, development, and inhabitants. Given the property’s range of nearly 250 years of occupation, it was determined that there was strong potential that important archeological resources associated with the site’s history, development, and inhabitants survived within undisturbed portions of the site (despite the lack of success attained in previous studies). The study included archival research, excavation, re-examination of the extant collections from previous work, and analysis of the ethnobotanical samples collected during all excavation work at the site (see above).
The archival research revealed that the first European occupants at the site were the Brunners. In the early 18th century, William Penn wanted to increase the settlement of Penn’s Colony which comprised much of present-day Pennsylvania. Consequently, he and his emissaries visited Germany and the Netherlands to encourage people to emigrate to the New World. This strategy proved successful and by 1730, approximately 20,000 Germans had arrived in the region. Land in southeastern Pennsylvania became expensive as more settlers arrived, until most new-comers moved westward when it was possible. One of the many families that heard of the good life in the New World was the Brunner family who were of Swiss and German ancestry. Joseph Brunner, his sons, and their families had arrived in the colonies by 1729, coming through the Philadelphia area. They initially settled in the Lancaster, PA area which was populated by many other immigrants from the same region of Germany. Sometime during the 1730s, the Brunners moved into the area that would become Frederick County, onto a 7,000 acre tract of land referred to as Tasker’s Chance. When the tract was later purchased by one Daniel Dulaney, one of the provisions of the sale was that he allow those already settled on land within Tasker’s Chance to purchase their parcel if they so desired. Dulaney then sold off parts of this large tract at a very reasonable rate. As more people moved into the region, he was able to charge higher prices for his land.
On July 28th, 1746, Joseph Brunner purchased 303 acres of Tasker’s Chance and named it “Scheverstadt”. Joseph sold Schiefferstadt to his youngest son, Elias, on January 17, 1753 for 200 pounds Sterling. Although it is possible that Joseph Brunner made improvements to this 303 acre tract of land, it appears that the current house was not built until sometimes around 1756 during Elias Brunner’s land tenure. One of the five plate stoves found at the house had a partial date of 1756 or 1758 which is generally used for the approximate construction date of the original part of the house. Elias Brunner did not remain at Schiefferstadt for the remainder of his life. He sold the farm, including the house, to Christopher Myers in 1771. Myers was married to Brunner’s niece, and so the farm remained in the family until 1843. John and Jonathan Myers sold the property to Christian Steiner in March of 1843 for $3,100.00. While the Steiner’s owned the property, it was leased to local tenant farmers, most notably the Yonson (or Johnson) family. The length of time that the Yonson families occupied the site is unknown, but they inhabited it for much of the late 19th century. When Lewis Steiner died in 1892, his heirs retained the property until February 5th, 1900 when they sold it to Edward C. Krantz. The Krantz family would eventually sell the house and surrounding yards to the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, Inc. in 1974, when it began operating as a museum and historic landmark.
Prior to any subsurface excavation, a grid was established across the property and tied to a permanent datum which was placed at the northwest corner of the main house. No attempt was made to re-establish the grids from previous archeological investigations. Field testing first commenced with the excavation of a series of shovel probes placed on a 3.048 meter (10 foot) grid pattern extending outward from the structure for approximately 15.24 meters (50 feet). The shovel tests excavated in the remainder of the study area were positioned at 6.096 meter (20 foot) intervals. In total, 220 shovel tests were excavated across the property. If any of the shovel probes yielded evidence of a cultural feature or unique artifact clusters, closed-interval shovel probes were excavated to determine the extent or type of feature, or to examine a specialized activity area (based on artifact concentrations). Each shovel test measured 45.72 cm (18 in) in diameter and was excavated to the culturally sterile “B” horizon. Based on the distribution of the artifacts recovered from the shovel test pits and the attributes of the soils’ horizons, ten 1.524 X 1.524 meter (5 X 5 foot) test units were planned in areas yielding the greatest numbers of significant artifacts an/or other cultural material. Another five test units would be placed randomly throughout the site to provide some degree of unbiased sampling. The placement of the ten units in high-potential areas was adjusted during the course of fieldwork. In cases where large architectural features were observed or where unique artifact concentrations were found, test units were contiguously excavated. Units were excavated using shovels and trowels and all soils were screened. They were excavated in 10.16 cm (4 in) levels within natural layers to the culturally sterile “B” soil horizon. Ultimately, once additional test units opened up to “follow” features are included, an area approximately 121.92 square meters in size was excavated (roughly sixteen 5 X 5 ft units).
Exposed in situ features were recorded as to their position within the site, photographed, and drawn in plan view. A sample of the features (selected in consultation with MHT) was hand excavated so that a vertical profile could be prepared. One-half of each feature matrix was dry screened, and then the remaining feature matrix (up to a volume of 2 liters) was removed for water flotation processing and subsequent analysis of the micro remains to gain an understanding of subsistence. Detailed discussion of the ethnobotanical remains can be found in the linked ethnobotany profile for 18FR134. Features were, again, photographed following excavation. Four historic cultural features were identified which consisted of a privy, well, smokehouse, and one feature of unknown function. Contained within the privy were thousands of artifacts which were interpreted to have been deposited over a short period of time, possibly during the construction of the existing 19th-century brick kitchen addition. The privy, well, and smokehouse were all interpreted as likely being constructed by the Brunners during their 18th-century tenure. The privy artifacts (which likely represent the Yonson family tenure) contained numerous cross-mendable fragments of ceramics, bottles, and other items which could be dated and associated with specific makers. It was concluded from these data that, although the Yonsons were not materially wealthy, they were by no means poor. They obtained most of their goods (including redware) from local merchants and the Baltimore markets (via the local establishments). It is likely that the Yonson family lifestyle reflected the Steiner family’s philosophy and they may have considered themselves as progressive farmers.
The artifacts recovered during the 1995 excavations include 224 activity items, 6,307 architectural objects, 60 clothing items, 2 furniture objects, 8,205 kitchen-related items, 24 personal objects, 26 tobacco-related artifacts, 54 arms items, and 2,005 miscellaneous objects. Activity items from the 1995 excavation include 20 toys (4 porcelain doll parts, a toy bell, 5 clay marbles, 3 glass marbles, a lead rocking horse, a lead ostrich, and 5 plastic toys), 80 lighting objects (76 glass lamp globe fragments, 3 lamp chimney fragments, 1 hand-blown light bulb), 9 clothespin fragments, 3 pieces of electrical tape, an aluminum tag, a piece of plastic strapping, 8 auto light fragments, an electric motor part, an electrical fuse, a plastic plant marker, 2 barbed wire fragments, a paperclip, 2 pencil nubs, 84 pieces of hardware (41 non-electrical wire fragments, 2 rivets, 3 metal disks, a chain link, 2 meat hooks, 3 pieces of plastic/rubber tubing, 9 washers, 1 nut, 2 metal rings, a lead cap, a chain link, 18 misc. hardware), 4 saw blades, a wrench, 1 unidentified tool, and 4 oxen shoes. The architectural objects were 435 fragments of brick, 77 pieces of mortar, 7 plaster fragments, 63 terra cotta drain tile fragments, 50 asphalt/macadam pieces, 2 slate roofing tiles, 251 plate window glass pieces, 3,791 cylinder glass shards, 3 unidentified flat pieces of glass, 1,572 nails (23 rosehead, 843 cut, 354 wire, 352 unidentified), 7 spikes, 3 tacks, 7 staples, 14 screws, 2 nuts/bolts, 17 miscellaneous architectural hardware items, 4 pieces of electrical wire, and 2 electrical parts. Clothing-related items were 24 buttons (2 bone, 8 metal, 3 glass, 1 shell, 1 hard rubber, 3 plastic, 6 porcelain), an iron/steel clothing rivet, an iron/steel loop fastener, a hook and eye, 2 iron/steel bra clips, 2 iron/steel belt buckles, 2 copper alloy belt buckles, a copper alloy thimble, 15 leather shoe parts, 7 metal shoe parts, a piece of nylon mesh, 2 metal suspender parts, and a safety pin head. The two furniture items recovered were iron stove legs. Among the 8,205 kitchen-related objects were 82 domestic brown stoneware sherds, 67 domestic gray stoneware sherds, 18 creamware sherds, 117 pearlware sherds, 22 porcelain sherds, 87 ironstone, 50 spongeware, 1,203 whiteware sherds, 58 yelloware, 2,586 redware, 1 burnt ceramic sherd, 5 other ceramic sherds, 157 table glass fragments, 6 pieces of milk glass, 31 free-blown bottle pieces, 157 blown-in-mold bottle/container fragments, 27 machine-made bottle/container shards, 2,955 other bottle/container glass fragments, 7 screw caps, 10 crown caps, 2 pull tabs, 2 canning jar lids, 1 canning jar seal, 3 sardine can keys, 11 freezer bag fragments, a toothpick container, 7 pieces of foil, 26 utensil parts, 5 pieces of plastic tableware, a plastic coffee stirrer, 2 key-type can opener fragments, 427 animal bones/teeth, 61 pieces of oyster shell, 7 apricot seeds, a peach pit, and 2 walnut seed/shell fragments. The personal items recovered in 1995 were 2 ceramic figurine fragments, 8 mirror fragments, 5 copper pennies, 2 plastic combs, a glass bead, 1 lipstick tube, a hair pin, a metal token, an upper denture plate, 1 medicine dropper, and a plastic toothbrush. Twenty six tobacco-related items were encountered, including 2 reed pipe stems, 9 clay pipe stem fragments, 4 clay pipe bowl pieces, 2 ball clay pipe bowls, 2 unidentified pipe fragments, a plastic cigar filter tip, 4 cigarette filters, and 2 pieces of cigarette lighter. Arms-related artifacts were 14 fragments of .22 caliber lead shot, 34 .22 caliber shell casings, 2 shotgun shell casings, and 4 shell casings. The miscellaneous items were 4 unidentified glass fragments, 534 unidentified metal objects, a piece of caulking, a wood fragment, 51 pieces of plastic, 1,045 pieces of cinder, 362 fragments of coal, a piece of charcoal, a yellow paint chip, and 5 unidentified objects.
Faunal remains encountered during the 1995 excavations were subjected to a thorough analysis. Sorting by species reveals 322 pig, 34 cow, 2 sheep, 323 large mammal, 1 artiodactyl, 16 turkey, 95 chicken, 41 medium bird, 1 large bird, 2 muskrat, 1 medium mammal, 6 small mammal, 2 turtle, 2 frog, 4 fish, 46 Norway rat, and 11 indeterminable species bones. Faunal material from Schiefferstadt provides an image of a middle class farm on which hogs and chickens were the primary livestock. If cattle were raised, it seems they were oxen or dairy animals and not regularly butchered for food. The percentage of cow bones showing saw marks and repetitive cuts suggests professional butchering. Beef, it seems, was purchased from the butcher. Too little sheep remains were found to make firm statements. The small amount of sheep suggests that mutton was purchased, not raised on the farm. There was a limited amount of wild game. This indicates that domestic meat was readily available and that wild game was either scarce, too time consuming to hunt, or too expensive to buy and that game was not desired enough to out-weigh these other factors.
In general, the excavations at 18FR134 have accumulated data regarding the 19th century occupation at Schiefferstadt. Detailed and important information regarding tenant farmers in Frederick County during this period has been obtained and these data are useful for guiding future management of the Schiefferstadt property and for public interpretation. Based on the presence of intact deposits and features the site has at least some potential to answer additional research questions. Few artifacts have been found which can be associated with the 18th-century occupation, and of those which could be tentatively dated to this time period, all were found in a mixed context.
Although all of the aforementioned archeological investigations conducted at the Schiefferstadt site focused on the historic component, they also revealed that the site locus was occupied before the Brunners arrived. Prehistoric artifacts have been found across the property mixed with the historic period artifacts. In addition, the 1995 excavations revealed intact features. A circular soil stain measuring approximately 101 cm in diameter and 12 centimeters deep was postulated to be a hearth. The presence of fire-cracked rocks and charcoal mixed throughout the soil matrix is consistent with this interpretation. Six quartz tertiary flakes, 15 quartz secondary flakes, 4 quartz primary flakes, 3 pieces of quartz shatter, 5 rhyolite tertiary flakes, 22 rhyolite secondary flakes, 5 rhyolite primary flakes, and 3 poorly preserved bone fragments were retrieved from the feature. The large number of artifacts in this feature suggests that tool manufacturing was taking place around this hearth. A small depression next to the feature was tentatively interpreted as the base of a post hole which further suggests that a drying or roasting rack may have been present over the hearth. The presence of animal bones also supports the use of the hearth for cooking meat.
Prehistoric artifacts recovered during all of the excavation work at Schiefferstadt include 2 quartz triangular points, 5 quartz projectile points, 8 rhyolite projectile points, 1 black chert projectile point, 8 quartz bifaces, 6 rhyolite bifaces, 1 chert biface, 2 rhyolite drills, 4 quartz scrapers, 1 utilized rhyolite flake, 292 quartz flakes, 344 rhyolite flakes, 1 white chert flake, 5 grey chert flakes, 6 chert flakes, 2 jasper flakes, 12 quartz modified chunks/blocks, 3 rhyolite modified chunks/blocks, 13 pieces of quartz shatter, 1 piece of chert shatter, 3 animal bones and some fire cracked rock (amount unspecified). Five of the quartz projectile points could be assigned to specific types. One point fragments and another whole point resemble Bare Island points typical of the Late Archaic period. Also representing the Late Archaic period are two Brewerton-like points. A Late Woodland occupation of the site is exemplified by the presence of a triangular, Madison-type point. The presence of the hearth feature and postmold suggest that the site was not simply a lithic scatter or special use area, but may have served as a campsite or possibly even a base camp. It seems that the site was in use long before Europeans showed up. Prehistoric peoples were likely attracted to the area because of its proximity to running water and local environs, just as they were in historic times.
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