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Maryland Archaeological Synthesis Database
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Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18MO274 Newton
Site Data
Site Number:
18MO274
Site Name:
Newton
Other name(s):
Prehistoric:
Historic:
Unknown:
Brief Description:
prehistoric base camp
Site Location and Environmental Data
Latitude:
39.09
Longitude:
-76.93
Elevation:
Site slope:
0-8%
Maryland Archaeo Research Unit No.:
12
SCS soil & sediment code:
61UB
Physiographic province:
Eastern Piedmont
Terrestrial site:
Underwater site:
Ethnobotany profile:
Maritime site:
Site setting:
-Site Setting restricted -Lat/Long accurate to within 1 sq. mile, user may need to make slight adjustments in mapping to account for sites near state/county lines or streams
Topography
Floodplain:
Hilltop/bluff:
Interior flat:
Upland flat:
Ridgetop:
Terrace:
Low terrace:
High terrace:
Rockshelter/cave:
Hillslope:
Unknown:
Other:
Other Text:
Ownership
Private:
Federal:
State of MD:
Regional/county/city:
Unknown:
Nearest Surface Water
Name (if any):
Unnamed tributary of Little Paint Branch
Saltwater
Ocean:
Estuary/tidal river:
Tidewater/marsh:
Freshwater
Stream/river:
Swamp:
Lake or pond:
Spring:
Min distance to water:
160
meters
Temporal Contextual Data
Paleoindian:
Archaic:
Early Archaic:
Middle Archaic:
Late Archaic:
Woodland:
MD Adena:
Early Woodland:
Middle Woodland:
Late Woodland:
Unknown prehistoric:
Y
Contact period site:
ca. 1630 - 1675:
ca. 1675 - 1720:
ca. 1720 - 1780:
ca. 1780 - 1820:
ca. 1820 - 1860:
ca. 1860 - 1900:
ca. 1900 - 1930:
Post 1930:
Unknown historic:
Unknown context:
Y=Confirmed, P=Possible
Ethnic Associations (historic only)
Native American:
African American:
Anglo-American:
Hispanic:
Asian American:
Unknown:
Other:
Other Text:
Y=Confirmed, P=Possible
Site Function Contextual Data
Prehistoric
Multi-component:
Village:
Hamlet:
Base camp:
Rockshelter/cave:
Earthen mound:
Cairn:
Burial area:
Misc. ceremonial:
Rock art:
Shell midden:
STU/lithic scatter:
Quarry/extraction:
Fish weir:
Production area:
Unknown:
Other PH context:
Historic
Urban/Rural?:
Domestic:
Homestead:
Farmstead:
Mansion:
Plantation:
Row/townhome:
Cellar:
Privy:
Industrial:
Mining-related:
Quarry-related:
Mill:
Black/metalsmith:
Furnace/forge:
Other industrial:
Transportation:
Canal-related:
Road/railroad:
Wharf/landing:
Maritime-related:
Bridge:
Ford:
Educational:
Commercial:
Trading post:
Store:
Tavern/inn:
Military:
Battlefield:
Fortification:
Encampment:
Townsite:
Unknown:
Other hist context:
Interpretive Sampling Data
Prehistoric context samples
Soil samples taken:
N
Flotation samples taken:
N
Other samples taken:
Historic context samples
Soil samples taken:
Flotation samples taken:
Other samples taken:
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Projectile Point Types
Clovis:
Hardaway-Dalton:
Palmer:
Kirk (notch):
Kirk (stem):
Le Croy:
Morrow Mountain:
Guilford:
Brewerton:
Otter Creek:
Koens-Crispin:
Perkiomen:
Susquehana:
Vernon:
Piscataway:
Calvert:
Selby Bay:
Jacks Reef (notch):
Jacks Reef (pent):
Madison/Potomac:
Levanna:
All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Prehistoric Sherd Types
Marcey Creek:
Dames Quarter:
Selden Island:
Accokeek:
Wolfe Neck:
Vinette:
Popes Creek:
Coulbourn:
Watson:
Mockley:
Clemson Island:
Page:
Shepard:
Townsend:
Minguannan:
Sullivan Cove:
Shenks Ferry:
Moyaone:
Potomac Creek:
Keyser:
Yeocomico:
Monongahela:
Susquehannock:
All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Historic Sherd Types
Earthenware
Astbury:
Borderware:
Buckley:
Creamware:
Ironstone:
Jackfield:
Manganese Mottled:
North Devon:
Pearlware:
Staffordshire:
Tin Glazed:
Whiteware:
Porcelain:
Stoneware
English Brown:
English Dry-bodied:
Nottingham:
Rhenish:
White Salt-glazed:
All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Prehistoric Artifacts
Flaked stone:
71
Ground stone:
Stone bowls:
Fire-cracked rock:
1
Other lithics (all):
Ceramics (all):
Rimsherds:
Other fired clay:
Human remain(s):
Modified faunal:
Unmodified faunal:
Oyster shell:
Floral material:
Uncommon Object:
Other:
All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Historic Artifacts
Pottery (all):
Glass (all):
Architectural:
Furniture:
Arms:
Clothing:
Personal items:
Tobacco related:
Activity item(s):
Human remain(s):
Faunal material:
Misc. kitchen:
Floral material:
Misc.:
Other:
All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts
Lithic Material
Jasper:
Chert:
Rhyolite:
Quartz:
Quartzite:
Ferruginous quartzite:
Chalcedony:
Ironstone:
Argillite:
Steatite:
Sandstone:
Silicified sandstone:
European flint:
Basalt:
Unknown:
Other:
Features
Dated Features
Dated features present at site:
Prehistoric Features
Mound(s):
Midden:
Shell midden:
Postholes/molds:
House pattern(s):
Palisade(s):
Hearth(s):
Lithic reduction area:
Storage/trash pit:
Burial(s):
Ossuary:
Unknown:
Other:
Historic Features
Construction feature:
Foundation:
Cellar hole/cellar:
Hearth/chimney:
Postholes/molds:
Paling ditch/fence:
Privy/outhouse:
Well/cistern:
Trash pit/dump:
Sheet midden:
Planting feature:
Road/walkway:
Depression/mound:
Burial(s):
Railroad bed:
Earthworks:
Mill raceway:
Wheel pit:
Unknown:
Other:
Radiocarbon Data
Sample 1:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 2:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 3:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 4:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 5:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 6:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 7:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 8:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Sample 9:
+-
years BP
Reliability
Additional radiocarbon results available:
External Samples/Data
Additional raw data may be available online:
Collection curated at
MAC
Summary
The Newton Site (18MO274) is a prehistoric short-term use campsite or possibly a base camp. The site is located near the Burtonsville area of Montgomery County, Maryland. It is situated in the backyard of a modern residence amid the low rolling hills that characterize the local Piedmont and Western Coastal Plain. Two tributary streams of the Little Paint Branch flow near the site. The site’s soils are Sassafras loam. The site first came to the attention of archeologists in the fall of 1986 during a Phase I survey prior to the expansion of US Route 29. Surface survey was conducted within the construction project right-of-way in the vicinity of 18MO274. The site was noted within a freshly plowed backyard garden. Artifacts collected from the garden included 1 quartz biface (non-diagnostic), 3 quartz biface fragments, 2 quartz secondary flakes, 9 quartz chunks, 2 quartz pieces of shatter, and 1 rhyolite chunk. Based on the limited amount of information available and given that construction plans endangered the site, Phase II testing was recommended to determine if the site had any significant research potential. Phase II investigations were carried out in April of 1988, consisting of a controlled surface collection, 19 systematically arranged shovel test pits, and three 1 X 1 meter excavation units. Surface collection and shovel test pit (STP) excavation were used to define the horizontal limits of cultural materials, while excavation units were used to establish its vertical boundaries and find subsurface cultural features. The contextual integrity of the cultural materials was evaluated from information obtained in the excavation of 1 meter units. Determination of intrasite artifact patterns, if present, was established from a synthesis of all three. The controlled surface collection on a 2 X 2 m grid was restricted to the limits of the cultivated garden. Beyond the garden, surface visibility was impaired by ground cover, so a systematic pattern of 50 cm diameter STPs placed at 10 m intervals out from the edge of the garden. If artifacts were recovered from an STP, a second was placed 10 m away from the last. Testing was to continue until no artifacts were recovered on each line of testing. These tests were dug to a depth of 10 cm into culturally sterile subsoil and were excavated by natural soil layers and cultural deposits. Results revealed that the site’s horizontal limits conformed roughly to the boundaries of the cultivated garden. One meter square excavation units were placed in areas where the greatest cultural activity was indicated from the surface and STP surveys. Units were dug by natural soil and cultural depositional layers; where a layer’s depth exceeded 10 cm, it was divided into levels not exceeding this dimension. Excavation continued through cultural deposits to a depth of 10 cm into sterile subsoil. Most artifacts throughout the site were recovered from a plowzone context, and no subsurface cultural features were found. Artifacts consisted solely of debris related to the manufacture of lithic tools and weapons; no finished artifacts were found. Temporally/culturally diagnostic artifact types were not recovered, thus prohibiting the establishment of a site history and determination of cultural affiliation. Surface artifact distribution consisted of two low frequency clusters of quartz chunks, flakes, and discarded unfinished biface fragments. The complete artifact assemblage consisted of 1 quartzite biface fragment, 4 quartz biface fragments, 2 quartz cores, 6 retouched quartz flakes, 1 quartz primary flake, 4 quartz secondary flakes, 6 quartz tertiary flakes, 9 quartz chunks with cortex, 1 quartzite chunk with cortex, 19 quartz chunks, and 1 piece of fire-cracked rock. Because of the lack of artifacts with temporal or cultural attributes, the disturbed context of cultural materials, and the absence of subsurface features, 18MO274 is considered to have limited research value. Additional investigations will only duplicate existing information and not make a significant contribution to the archeological record of Montgomery County.
External Reference Codes
Library ID Numbers:
