Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18FR14 Biggs Ford
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Biggs Ford Site (18FR14) is an exceptionally well-preserved multicomponent Late Woodland village in Frederick County, Maryland. It is situated in a large floodplain complex near a bend in the Monocacy River, just north of the town of Frederick. Details regarding the soils at the site are scanty (as there are few formally published reports). A dark topsoil lies atop a light colored clayey subsoil that is very distinct. It is likely that the rich floodplain soil deposits account for the location of the site.
The site was known to local collectors for decades before any systematic excavation was ever performed there. The first documented subsoil testing was a brief examination in the mid 1950s by Spencer O. Geasey, a well known amateur archeologist and prominent member of the Archeological Society of Maryland. No details are known regarding this early work, but Geasey did encounter undisturbed archeological deposits and features below the plowzone. Geasey later would donate his collection of materials from the site to the Maryland Historical Trust and would be the first to notify the Trust (then the Maryland Geological Survey, Division of Archeology) that a proposed sewer interceptor would soon cross the site. Data recovery excavations were subsequently conducted by the Division of Archeology to mitigate the impact to the site. The local landowner granted permission for excavation within the pipeline right-of-way and work commenced in October of 1969. Local volunteers provided much of the labor, which continued until July of 1970.
Prior to the excavations related to the sewer line, small test holes were dug across the site to gain a better understanding of the site stratigraphy and soil makeup. Researchers discovered that the light-colored clayey subsoil could be easily differentiated from the much darker plowzone. Data recovery involved the mechanical excavation of approximately 25 to 35 cm of this dark plow disturbed soil using a road grader. Excavation was limited to a long strip measuring approximately 7 X 230 meters where the site would be impacted by the sewer line installation. The top of the exposed subsoil was then hand scraped using trowels, flat-bladed shovels, or hoes to reveal soil stains and possible features. Some of the features turned out to be rodent disturbances, but a majority did not. In the small section of the site within the right-of-way, hundreds of postmolds were present along with over 30 other cultural features.
Not all of the postmolds could be excavated due to time constraints, but all were accurately mapped. A few of the postmolds were cross sectioned, as were all of the other features lying wholly within the excavation trench. Those extending outside the trench were only partially excavated. After photographing and mapping of the cross section, the second half of each feature was hand-excavated with trowels. All soils were screened, and large dirt samples were saved from several of the large pits and subsequently washed through window screen. In addition to a lot of rather randomly placed postmolds, mapping and excavation of features revealed 5 elongated refuse-filled pits arranged end-to-end in a large arc, 10 graves, at least 2 rectangular structures (with parallel sides and rounded corners), possible palisades, and numerous circular pits (some appear to be hearths) scattered at random throughout the site.
The features reveal at least two Late Woodland components at the site; a Montgomery Complex (AD 1000-1450) component associated with the elongated pits and a Luray Complex (AD 1300-1500) component associated with the randomly scattered circular pits and possibly a palisade. The former is associated with crushed quartz and rock tempered Shepard wares and refuse pits laid out in an arcing or circular pattern. The latter is associated with very distinctive mussel shell tempered Keyser wares. These distinctive wares were largely segregated within the site based on the form of the pit (elongated or circular) in which they were found. All of the graves, except one (represented by fragmentary human crania) appear to be related to the later Luray Complex and some are intrusive into the elongated pits.
Three of the pit features were subjected to radiocarbon dating. A sample of charcoal was removed from Feature 4, one of the elongated pits, which contained 3 pipe fragments, 38 rimsherds, 700 bodysherds, 28 points/point fragments, 2 chipped stone netsinkers, 3 drills, 1 scraper, 783 flakes, 6 quartz crystals, a shell bead, 75 pieces of shell, 6 turtle shell bowl fragments, 21 turtle shell fragments, 1154 bone fragments, 5 corn cob fragments, 1 unidentified artifact, charred seeds, charred wood, and stones. The pottery sherds were primarily quartz or limestone tempered and many can be identified as Shepard ware. In addition, 50 pieces of human skull (apparently two young adult females) indicate that the pit was used as a grave at some point. Radiocarbon analysis of the charcoal yielded an uncalibrated date of 915 ± 60 years before present. Calibrated (2 sigma), this date corresponds to the calendar years AD 1017-1226, squarely within the accepted date range for the Montgomery Complex. Feature 6 also yielded a radiocarbon date. Feature 6 is one of the circular pits and contained 27 Keyser bodysherd, 10 possible Keyser bodysherds, 31 shell tempered body sherds, 1 quartz and shell tempered bodysherd, 2 quartz tempered body sherds, 1 grit tempered bodysherd, 1 sand tempered body sherd, 2 quartz point fragments, 72 quartz flakes, 114 other quartz fragments (shatter etc.), 102 burned bones, 177 animal bones, 14 fish bones, 7 mussell shell fragments, 141 snail shell fragments, stones, and charred wood. The uncalibrated date obtained through C-14 analysis of the charcoal from Feature 6 was 765 ± 70 years before present. When calibrated (2 sigma), this translates into a likely calendrical date between AD 1150-1320. This date is generally early, but does overlap with the accepted date range for Luray Complex sites. The final feature to be subjected to radiocarbon dating, Feature 20, was also a refuse-filled pit, containing 3 Shepard rimsherd, 19 Shepard bodysherds, 14 possible Shepard bodysherds, 16 possible Page bodysherds, 22 quartz tempered bodysherds, 1 stone tempered bodysherd, 5 sand tempered bodysherds, 2 projectile points/point fragments, 1 quartz core, 80 flakes, 16 pieces of shatter, 16 cobbles, 273 bone fragments, 1 clam shell disk, 24 mussell shell fragments, 3 terrapin shell fragments, 1 musk turtle shell fragment, 4 snail shell fragments, charred wood, and stones. The charcoal yielded an uncalibrated date of 550 ± 90 years before present, which is calibrated (2 sigma) to be between AD 1269-1515. This date is, again, within the acceptable range for the Montgomery Complex. Altogether, this would seem to indicate that the site was occupied during the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
Several soil samples were retained from the various features, and some were submitted for palynological analysis. Pollen and spores were very scarce in all of the samples. In samples from Features 2 (a burial) and 4 (see above), a few grass grains, ragweed, and an occasional linden or possible yew fragment was observed. However, the assemblage from Feature 6 (see above) is much more robust. Details concerning the ethnobotanical assemblage from Feature 6 can be found in the linked Ethnobotany Profile for 18FR14, but generally the pollen assemblage suggests clearance for cultivation.
The ten graves at Biggs Ford contained the remains of some 18 individuals. All appear to be associated with the later Luray occupation, with the exception of two young adult females who are represented by several skull fragments intermingled within Feature 4. The remaining human remains were 6 neonates, 6 infants, 3 juveniles, and 1 adult male age 40-49. Periostitis and other skeletal abnormalities were noted on some of the remains. Those graves where preservation is adequate (the juveniles and the adult male) indicate a preference for single, flexed burials with heads oriented to the east or south. Typical grave goods include drilled marginella shell beads, shell disk beads, flaked stone tools, and pottery (including a whole Keyser pot with punctated lugs and an incised rim). In addition, red and/or yellow ochre covered some of the remains. Perhaps the most exceptional of the graves, is that of the adult male, who was buried with what appears to be a bow, a quiver with 10 arrows, a vasiform steatite pipe, modified bird claw and wing bones (possible necklace?), a 2-hole stone gorget, two celts, 2 bone awls, and a beaver incisor.
As no formal report had ever been published concerning the Biggs Ford site work completed in the 1970s, there is no precise count of artifact types from the site. Collections from the site (both Geasey’s and the collection from the sewer line project) were reexamined in the late 1970s as part of Peck’s Monocacy Valley Survey and again in 2003 as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities funded project by the Maryland Archeological Conservation (MAC) lab. The tallies provided below come primarily from the MAC lab study in consultation with extant accession records and field notes, with the exception of the diagnostic lithic counts, which come primarily from Peck’s analysis.
A total of 4,551 ceramic sherds and one whole pot were recovered from 18FR14 prior to 2009. The whole pot is a small Keyser vessel with punctated lugs and an incised rim. Identifiable Late Woodland ceramic sherds include 66 Page, 1108 Shepard, 24 Shenks Ferry, and 755 Keyser specimens. An Early Woodland component is also represented at the site by the presence of 2 Selden Island and 3 Vinette I sherds. At least 142 of the various sherds are rimsherds. In addition to the ceramic vessels, 16 ceramic pipe fragments (7 with various surface decorations), a ceramic pendant, and 6 baked clay lumps were also recovered.
The lithic assemblage of 7,630 objects from 18FR14 included 7,455 flaked stone objects, 6 groundstone objects, 3 steatite vessel fragments, and other lithics. Most of the material is quartz, followed by rhyolite, and other materials. Diagnostic tools recovered from the site include 1 Kirk point, 1 LeCroy, 2 Guilford Lanceolates, 1 Brewerton eared-notched point, 4 Lackawaxen points, 2 Bare Island, 5 Savannah River stemmed, 1 Halifax side-notched, 1 Koens-Crispin, 5 Susquehanna Broadspears, 1 Vernon point, 1 Orient Fishtail, 2 Piscataways, 1 Rossville, 2 Accokeek, 1 Wormans Mill, 14 Selby Bay points, 34 elongate triangular points, 144 Madison/Potomac points, and 76 Levannas. In addition to the diagnostic projectile points, 191 unidentifiable point fragments were recovered. Other flaked stone lithics include 37 bifaces, 10 drills, 7 scrapers, 2 chipped stone netsinkers, 6,613 pieces of debitage, and numerous fragments of shatter. The six groundstone items were 2 celts, a 2-hole gorget, a stone discoidal, a vasiform pipe, and a sandstone pipe bowl. Most of the remaining lithics are nowhere enumerated (minimal estimates are provided above), but 1 grinding stone, 1 pitted stone, 6 quartz crystals, cobbles, stones, and fire-cracked rock are listed in the original accession records for the site.
Extremely good faunal preservation was observed at the site. A total of 10,337 unmodified faunal remains were excavated, along with 96 modified faunal objects. The unmodified faunal objects include 305 mussel shell pieces, 521 snail shell fragments, and 9,513 bone/tooth/claw fragments. Species represented within the last group include various fish, turtle and terrapin species, squirrels, rabbits, muskrat, beaver, dog, deer and elk. The modified faunal remains include a bone fish hook, 2 bone awls, 2 bird bone cylinders (possible beads), a birds head carved from bone, a modified claw, 70 shell beads, 2 shell disks, 2 drilled shell pendants, and 10 turtle bowl fragments. In addition to these enumerated items, several bones seem to exhibit evidence of polishing and some may be burned. These objects are included in the count of “unmodified” faunal objects as no formal analysis of them has yet been performed.
In addition to the items described above, several of the features yielded charred wood, charred corn cobs, charred seeds (including corn kernels), and charred beans. However, no formal analysis of these materials has ever been published. Some of the more uncommon/exotic objects from the site were the 9 marginella shell beads (mentioned previously), a charred bow, five lumps of red ochre, and 4 lumps of yellow ochre, all of which came from burial contexts.
The only historic items recovered from the site were 3 pieces of porcelain, 1 fragment of glass, and 3 unidentified objects.
In 2009, a crew of between six and eight archeologists conducted the selective collection of certain classes of precontact Native American artifacts from the surface of the Biggs Ford site. The aim was to collect all ceramic sherds visible along with their precise two-dimensional locations, as these data would be required to test the hypotheses. The survey was conducted using the east-west plow furrows as transect orienting and spacing guides. Archeologists were assigned transects centered between two furrows and with two furrows between transects. In this way each transect covered one full inter-furrow space and two half inter-furrow spaces, one to each side of the center full inter-furrow space, for a transect width of between two and three meters. Each identified artifact was marked with a pin-flag placed through a punched hole in the lip of a two by three inch ziplock bag. If multiple artifacts were within 30 centimeters of each other a single pin-flag and collection bag were placed within the cluster. In addition to precontact Native American ceramic sherds, diagnostic or unusual lithic artifacts (generally projectile points) were also flagged for collection, as was the occasional fragment of bone and antler. Collection of flagged artifacts was accomplished by three archeologists, one reading the total station, one collecting the artifacts, and one recording the information. Over the span of the three days 1,271 objects were collected at 1,096 find locations. These artifacts included ceramics (x=1,088) lithics (x=118), bone and antler (x=41), and non-cultural material misidentified as cultural material (x=24). Of the 1,088 sherds collected 1,051 were classified as body sherds, and 32 as rim sherds. A rim strip fragment, two pipe stem fragments, a basal sherd, and one piece of fired clay waste were also among the ceramics collected.
Over three consecutive years (2013-2015), the Maryland Historic Trust (MHT), and Towson University (TU), the excavations occurred under the auspices of the Annual Tyler Bastian Field Session in Maryland Archeology and a concurrent Towson University field school. Three primary areas of inquiry to guide excavations at the Biggs Ford site were identified. First, with the apparent presence of both Montgomery and Keyser Complex occupations, Biggs Ford presented an opportunity to investigate community patterning including domestic structures, palisades, pit locations, and use of village centers. Second, with the expectation of uncovering numerous pit features in each of Biggs Ford’s two complex loci, excavations had the potential to shed new light on questions of subsistence and economy in the Late Woodland. Third, investigators hoped the same in-tact, single-complex features which might offer clues to the subsistence practices of Montgomery and Keyser peoples would also offer carbon samples for dating.
In the first year, three excavation loci were established: a southern locus near Bastian’s trench in the Montgomery village, a central locus in the Keyser village, and a northern locus on the anticipated Keyser palisade line. In 2014 and 2015, excavations continued in the central and northern loci but not the southern one. Excavation units were established on a 2 x 2 meter grid, designated by their southwest corner. Only in rare cases, primarily in the northern locus, were half units excavated.
In the course of three summer field sessions, the crew excavated some 75 units, exposing 276 square meters of the field. A total of 224 postmolds and 48 other features were identified in these units. Six were identified in the Southern Locus, associated with the Montgomery village. One, Feature 62, appeared to be hearth with FCR, burnt corn, charcoal, shell beads, faunal remains, rhyolite and some quartz debitage, and Shepard and some Keyser ceramic fragments. The adjacent shallow basin, Feature 61, contained a similar mix along with turtle shell and bone, antler, and two rhyolite tools. Adult human remains were present in the excavated area of the Southern Locus in the large oblong pit of Feature 51 and the intrusive gravel lens of Feature 58. As soon as the remains were identified as such, excavation of those Features ceased, they were documented in situ, and re-buried.
Sixteen features were identified and excavated in the Central Locus, the Keyser Village area. At least three of these, Features 55, 73 (not excavated), and 84, appear to be hearths characterized by FCR, charcoal, Keyser ceramic fragments, and assorted debitage. Feature 72 was eventually identified as a subadult burial and, following project guidelines, was not excavated further. Additional artifacts from upper levels of that feature include a bone tool, at least eight quartz projectile point fragments, more than 500 pieces of quartz debitage, a small quantity of rhyolite debitage, charcoal, FCR, faunal remains, and Keyser with some Shepard ceramic fragments. This combination of an apparent domestic feature overtop a burial feature may offer insight into the treatment of the dead by people of the Keyser village or it may simply point to the palimpsest of the clearing at Biggs Ford as successive generations occupied the site. Numerous, shallow ‘kitchen basin’ features in the Central Locus contained few artifacts but were clearly anthropogenic and provide yet another line of evidence of that the Central Locus encompasses the interior, domestic space of the Keyser village.
The remaining 21 identified features are located in the Northern Locus, those units situated along and on either side of the anticipated palisade line. Several of these, for examples Features 63, 64, and 65, are circular pits adjacent to post molds and contained very small quantities of charcoal, debitage, and ceramic. These may be related to the construction and maintenance of the palisade line and other structures. Features 59 and 54 are long oblong pits interpreted to be the palisade trench. Artifacts recovered from these features include faunal remains, Keyser and some Shepard ware, at least 4 projectile point fragments, 10 shell or bone beads, charcoal, FCR, assorted quartz, rhyolite and chert debitage, and both 1 pipe stem and 1 piece of coal.
There is at least one abundantly clear feature in the post molds: the palisade, referring only to the Keyser occupation of this site as the 2013-2015 excavations did not positively identify a palisade associated with the Montgomery village. The palisade post molds at Biggs Ford reveal a consistency in size, depth, and placement in relation to each other. While there is a fairly wide diameter range for all post molds represented at the site, the mean diameter and depth for the palisade post molds are larger, indicating that larger, sturdier posts were used to form the palisade. This could indicate that it was built to be more structurally sound than the interior structures, either with longevity of settlement or robust defensive structures in mind. Presumably, the builders selected for trees or branches that could be cut into a consistent size for this initial building event, hewed the end into a point, and then drove them into the ground at a consistent distance from the adjacent posts, creating a uniform and structurally sound palisade.
The postmolds forming the palisade arc in Bastian’s trench all measured between 6 and 10 centimeters in diameter, which is generally larger than the other postmolds in the vicinity. Postmolds uncovered during the 2013-2015 excavations and attributed to the interior palisade. We need more post molds from the exterior palisade arc to make more useful assumptions about its uselife or construction. Currently, the only evidence points to it being a less sturdy palisade than the interior arc.
What is not clear at the Biggs Ford site is the footprint or evidence for domestic structures, though the abundance of post molds suggest they must be there. With the myriad post molds scattered across the site, it is clear that the people who occupied this village were busy building and maintaining structures. It is unclear what shape those structures may have taken, and we can only use examples from other sites to draw comparisons and make predictions.
A total of 119,587 prehistoric artifacts were catalogued with the majority by count unsurprisingly lithics (x=74,700, or 61%), 23% faunal remains, and 13% (x=15,000+) of the total artifact count identified as either Keyser- or Shepard- ware. The majority ceramic ware represented is Keyser, accounting for about 2/3 of the ceramic assemblage by weight. Second is Shepard ware which represents about 1/3 of the assemblage by weight. The other or miscellaneous category is about one per cent which includes some Page (limestone-tempered) ceramics and small unidentified sherds. A total of 12,612 sherds (23,286.1g) were recovered from the plow layer (level 1) and 1736 sherds (2882.3g) were recovered from sub-plow zone layers. The remaining 3% of the artifacts (approximately 3000 ct) consisted of historic period materials, FCR, and other small finds categories.
The most common specimens in the Montgomery Complex assemblage are turtle carapace and plastron fragments, and freshwater bivalve shells (NISP 58 and 53, respectively). Deer and large mammal elements are the third most common of the major groups. At least two deer are represented. Due to the low number of identifiable specimens, Montgomery assemblage MNI values are flat and not particularly informative. That there are two deer relative to the other taxa, may be an indicator, that even in this limited assemblage, deer are more visible, and thus were more frequently hunted than other fauna.
The larger Keyser Complex assemblage shows a broader taxonomic diversity and a larger number of individuals are represented. This may be due in part to the larger assemblage. Yet again, the sample sizes are too small for statistical analysis of diversity and richness (e.g., Shannon-Weaver Index). Nevertheless, the data are trending towards a wider diet breadth in the Keyser assemblage.
Deer are once again the most frequently represented taxon, both by NISP and MNI. The analysis of body part representation suggests that whole deer were returned to the site for butchering. This might mean that deer were hunted close enough to the site to make returning whole carcasses more efficient than butchery at kill sites. In addition to deer, smaller upland and lowland game were also hunted. These included raccoon, turkey, rabbit, fox, muskrat, and waterfowl. Turtles are also highly abundant. The canid remains may be from foxes, wolves or dogs. The ethnohistoric record suggests that dogs were not regularly consumed by societies in the Mid-Atlantic region, although they were sometimes ritually sacrificed, or eaten when other sources of protein were scarce. Many of the identified taxa show a penchant for hunting lowland and forest edge habitats. It is unclear whether the fish identified at the site were caught in the small stream near the site, on the Monocacy, or even elsewhere.
Over the three field sessions at Biggs Ford, excavators collected more than 60 charcoal samples from features and other contexts. Each sample was assessed for size, quality, and the integrity and analytical value of its provenience. Three samples, one from each locus of the site, were submitted to DirectAMS for radiocarbon dating.
From the southern locus, the Montgomery Complex, the team selected Sample A from Lot 198. The corn produced a date range of 550BP with 1σ error of 30, or 1370-1430 CE.
In the central locus, the team tested Sample A from Lot 207, collected from Feature 72. Ceramics in Feature 72 are overwhelmingly Keyser. The charcoal returned a date range of 304BP with 1σ error of 29, or 1617-1675 CE, rather beyond the previously established dates of Keyser occupation in the region. This range of later, post-Contact dates are supported by trade goods such as copper triangles and glass beads recovered from the Central Locus.
The northern locus of excavation includes the northern extent of the Keyser village and a likely palisade line. Sample B from Lot 188 was collected from the very large Feature 54, interpreted as a palisade trench. The sample returned dates of 449BP with 1σ error of 28, or 1463-1519 CE. which, like the previous sample (1617-1675 CE), suggests some people in the region were still practicing Keyser lifeways when European colonizers first began incursions on the continent.
Only 535 artifacts appear to be either historic or modern in origin, including artifacts relating to Architecture (x=96), Ceramics (x=30), Activity items (x=10), Personal items (x=18), Arms (x=4), Clothing (x=2), and miscellaneous (x=201). Only three of these items were recovered from feature contexts, and an additional 17 were discovered in float samples (largely from floated feature fill). The vast majority of the historic assemblage was recovered during test unit excavation and predominantly from within the plowzone. No distinct pattern emerges when the artifacts are segregated out into functional categories as in Table A, and most of these items can probably be interpreted as field scatter.
Diagnostic ceramics are few, with nondiagnostic redware sherds predominating. The only potential colonial ceramic is a single sherd of creamware. All of the other sherds post-date 1780 and span the time period of the Ramsburg and Neidig occupations of the site (or those of their tenants). During earlier periods of occupation, manure would have been removed from earthen-floored structures, a situation much more likely to have resulted in the incorporation of artifacts and other debris from elsewhere on the property into the material being spread on fields. Another likely culprit in the movement of historic artifacts from the off-site areas of European occupation and into the agricultural field at 18FR14 is the periodic flooding of Glade Creek.
The Contact component at Biggs Ford is admittedly quite small. Nonetheless, analysis of the historic component at Biggs Ford (18FR14) reveals evidence of two primary occupations: 1) a 19th- and 20th-century occupation associated with the Niedig and Crum farms, and 2) a late 17th- or early 18th-century occupation associated with a continued Native American presence on the site. The 19th and 20th-century occupation is very likely a field scattering of artifacts associated with periodic flooding of farm fields, manuring, and other agricultural activities. It is not a significant assemblage warranting additional archaeological attention. However, there are opportunities for future work across Glade Creek and south of Site 18FR14. Somewhere on the Crum property there are likely remains associated with a very early colonial-era occupation of the Monocacy Valley by Allen Farquer. In addition, the property to the west of the Crum Farm, the Bailey property, may hold clues about one of the earliest mills erected in Frederick County.
The presence of European trade goods reveals the persistent presence of Native Americans on this piece of real estate following contact with Europeans. Given the small size and spatially concentrated nature of this component, the best explanation for its existence (at present) is occupation by a small number of individuals, perhaps a single-family unit, who were isolated from the larger native populations living along the larger rivers (Heaters Island on the Potomac, or Conestoga along the Susquehanna). Why they were isolated and which historically documented cultural groups they were affiliated with remains to be studied.
The Biggs Ford site (18FR14) is an exceptionally well-preserved site with tremendous research potential. Numerous intact deposits were encountered during excavations. Datable carbon was present as well as very good bone preservation and abundant corn remains. With the apparent presence of both Montgomery and Keyser Complex occupations, Biggs Ford presented an opportunity to investigate foodways and community patterning including domestic structures, palisades, pit locations, and use of village centers, as well as Contact and Post-Contact occupations on site.
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