Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR1184 BARC BEP Site 1
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
18PR1184, also known as BARC BEP Site 1, is located east of Beltsville, north of Powder Mill Road. Overall, the site is located within the western shore uplands section of the Atlantic Coastal Plain physiographic province, near the boundary with the Piedmont province to the west. Topography in the vicinity of 18PR1184 generally exhibits low relief, with elevations ranging from 36.5 m (120 ft) along Powder Mill Road to 45.7 m (150 ft). The nearest drainage to the project area is an unnamed tributary to Indian Creek, located approximately 0.5 kilometer (km; 0.3 mile [mi]) to the north. Indian Creek flows south to its confluence with Beaverdam Creek and continues southward to a confluence with Point Branch, where the two streams become the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River, eventually becoming the Anacostia River and discharging into the Potomac River.
Soils at 18PR1184 consist of the Russett-Christiana complex and the Christiana-Downer complex. Russett-Christiana complex soils are generally fine sandy loams and loams in the upper horizons, trending to clay loams in the lower horizons. Christiana-Downer complex soils are generally silt loams in the upper horizons and clay loams in the lower horizons.
There is a built feature nearby, both active and vacated agricultural research and operations buildings and a road system, many of which date to periods of development in the early to mid-twentieth century after the property was acquired by USDA in 1910. Site 18PR1184 includes fallow fields as well as manicured grassy areas south of Building 230.
Since there are still some gaps in our understanding of the cultural sequences in this area, the prehistory of this region is partially reconstructed from the data derived from the surrounding region. General sequence for the region begins with the Paleoindian period (ca. 11,000-9500 BC), followed by the Archaic period (ca. 9500-1250 BC) and ends with the Woodland period (ca. 1250 BC-AD 1600). Known site types for the Paleoindian period in the Middle Atlantic region include base camps located near high-quality lithic sources and smaller transient hunting camps near the game-attractive areas. During the Archaic period in the Middle Atlantic coastal plain, settlements became increasingly sedentary and a broader range of food resources were gradually incorporated into Archaic subsistence economies. Early Archaic sites with intact components are quite uncommon in Prince George’s County. The Middle Archaic occupations are small and limited primarily in tool manufacturing for tool kit replenishment; these sites are likely located in drowned valleys and estuaries along the margins of the Chesapeake Bay and such sites are difficult to identify. Settlement patterns in the western coastal plain during the Late Archaic show an increased riverine focus and an increase in size. This suggests that procurement strategies were intensively focused on locally abundant resources such as shellfish and fish prawns. Overall, Late Archaic subsistence economies remained diffuse in character, with the exploitation in the uplands of a broad range of resources such as acorns, hickory nuts, and butternuts as well as large and small seasonally abundant game. The Early Woodland period is marked by the introduction of ceramics and an intensification of burial ceremonialism. It is assumed that Early Woodland populations subsisted mainly by hunting, gathering, and fishing, not unlike the manner of their Late Archaic predecessors. The Middle Woodland period is characterized by intensification of trade networks, horticultural practices, and possible season aggregation and dispersal of large settlements. During the Late Woodland period, there still seems to have been a focus on intensive hunting and gathering, with large estuarine camps and villages surrounded by micro-band camps. Maize agriculture and evidence of settlement fortification is present in the coastal plain.
A chain-of-title was developed for site 18PR1161 (nearby), but it is also applicable to the historic component of 18PR1184 since both sites appear to have been located on the same property historically. Because the historic component of 18PR1184 was determined to not contribute to the site’s potential NRHP eligibility pursuant to the Phase I survey, 18PR1161 remains the focal point of this discussion. Site 18PR1161 was originally part of Thomas Snowden’s Black Walnut Level estate. Snowden had the 585-ac tract surveyed in May of 1745, receiving a patent for the land on August 24, 1747. The property passed from Thomas Snowden (1722-1770) to his son, Major Thomas Snowden (1751-1803), at an unknown date and via an unidentified instrument. Since Thomas the younger was 19 at the time of his father’s death, it appears likely that the property devised to him via his father’s will.
There is no documentary evidence to suggest Major Thomas Snowden lived on Black Walnut Level, as available records provide only a partial illustration of his residential history. Furthermore, this plantation was one of several large estates attributed to him throughout the eighteenth century. He enslaved 120 people; while slavery was common among his counterparts in the county, few people on the 1790 Census were enumerated along with his many enslaved people. Because Thomas Snowden owned a number of large properties at this time, this enslaved population would have been distributed across several thousand acres of discontinuous farmland. Though the distribution is not specified, subsequent archival records strongly suggest a portion of the enslaved laborers would have been assigned to the Black Walnut Level plantation. Black Walnut Level Enlarged was the second largest of Snowden’s tracts, serving as a tobacco plantation leased to, or overseen by, Samuel Cecil. The occupant’s dwelling was relatively large and perhaps nicely appointed, given its greater size and valuation as compared to similar properties in the Eastern Branch Hundred. Such comfortable accommodations sharply contrasted the undoubtedly harsher conditions of the enslaved people who dwelled in the three log quarters.
Upon the death of Major Thomas Snowden in 1803, Black Walnut Level Enlarged passed to his daughter, Mary Snowden and her husband Colonel John Carlyle Herbert. The property was renamed Walnut Grange and remained Mary’s property until her death in 1857. The portion of the late Mary Herbert’s 700-ac estate that included 18PR1161 and 18PR1184 was subsequently sold to Richard D. Hall as part of a 375-ac parcel. In 1906, “Walnut Range” as it was known under the Hall family’s ownership, was offered for sale in an Evening Star advertisement.
In a deed dated June 22, 1910, the Hall farm was transferred to the U.S. government. Several surviving Hall heirs with interest in the property, including several of Richard D. and Susanna’s children and their spouses, sold the 378.5-ac property for $18,500 after their unsuccessful solicitation of $23,000 in 1906. With this, Walnut Grange became part of the BARC Central Farm. Around 1914, Building 281 (House for Poultryman) was constructed within 18PR1161, followed by what appear to be agricultural buildings by the time of the 1938 aerial photograph. Little information was available documenting the occupational period and inhabitants of Building 281. It is possible that poultryman Frank C. Hare was living there in 1914, followed by superintendent T. Davis by 1917. No other buildings are known to have been built within 18PR1161, and it is unclear how long Building 281 was used for residential purposes. Within 18PR1184, there is no available documentary evidence for any buildings predating the construction of Building 230 (early 2000s, per modern aerial photography). The subject property last appears in county land records in a deed dated June 21, 1994, when it was consolidated along with several other federal landholdings into one legal property of 2,240.9 ac.
In 2019, AECOM conducted a Phase I survey of approximately 119 ac for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center undertaking. Research on previous investigations in the project vicinity was conducted using MHT’s Medusa electronic database as well as reports of archaeological investigations in the immediate vicinity. The primary goal of this research was to identify previous cultural resource investigations and previously recorded archaeological sites within a 0.8-km (0.5-mi) radius of the project area. Six previous Phase I archaeological surveys have been registered with MHT within 0.8-km (0.5-mi) of the APE. Surveys MO37 and PR172 are the only two to have overlapped the boundaries of the current APE. However, it does not appear that any shovel-test pits or other archaeological testing occurred within the current APE. Five archaeological sites have been previously registered with MHT within 0.8-km (0.5-mi) of the APE. Of these, 18PR456 overlaps the southwestern corner of the 19-ac addition to the APE. According to MHT records, this site represents a nineteenth century artifact concentration affiliated with a nonextant historic domestic occupation.
The Phase I survey encompassed the 104.17-ac APE, as well as an additional 14 ac that were initially part of the APE. In total, 1,190 STPs were excavated, resulting in the identification of 31 archaeological isolates and nine new archaeological sites. Seven sites represent low density surface or plowzone scatters lacking integrity and/or research potential and were determined not eligible for the NRHP. Sites 18PR1157 and 18PR1161 were recommended potentially eligible for the NRHP given that each appears to include domestic components predating BARC’s ownership. Site 18PR1157 has evidence for a mid-nineteenth century residence, possibly affiliated with an occupant of lower socioeconomic standing. Due to an APE revision, this site now lies largely beyond the APE, and no impacts associated with the current undertaking are anticipated.
In 2020, AECOM conducted a Phase I survey of an approximately 19-ac addition to the APE. In total, 300 STPs were excavated, resulting in the recovery of 145 artifacts and the identification of four archaeological isolates and one new archaeological site. The newly recorded site, 18PR1184, was identified near the central portion of the APE, south-southeast of Building 230 and on the northeast side of Animal Husbandry Road. The landform consists of gradually sloping, fallow pastures rising west from an unnamed Beaverdam Creek tributary to the relatively level manicured lawns south of Building 230. The site occupies a large portion of the level terrain near Building 230 but extends east down the gently sloping fields as well. The site was defined on the basis of 107 prehistoric and 31 historic artifacts recovered from 45 positive STPs in a 0.84 ac area.
Based on the Phase I investigation, the prehistoric component of 18PR1184 appears to represent a hunting/resource procurement camp, likely as one in a network of similar satellite camps tethered to a more intensively occupied base camp somewhere in the broader vicinity. The prehistoric component also retained good archaeological integrity, despite historic and modern agricultural activities; 40.19 percent of the prehistoric assemblage, including representatives from all artifact subgroups, were recovered from sub-plowzone contexts at similar frequencies and with similar horizontal distributions as their plowzone counterparts. This suggests that post-depositional disturbances have not severely impacted site integrity.
Given the foregoing considerations, AECOM recommended 18PR1184 potentially eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion D for its potential to contribute significant information to local prehistory. The historic component does not contribute to the site’s potential eligibility, but it cannot be spatially separated since its horizontal boundaries overlap the prehistoric component. AECOM further recommended that potential future ground disturbances avoid the site. If avoidance was determined not possible, a Phase II evaluation was recommended to formally determine its NRHP eligibility. It was subsequently determined that the proposed undertaking would adversely affect 18PR1184, necessitating the Phase II evaluation. The objectives of the Phase II evaluation of 18PR1161 and 18PR1184 were to conduct additional background research, identify the sites’ vertical and horizontal boundaries, conclusively determine their NRHP eligibility, and define the need for further archaeological work, if any.
The Phase II investigation of 18PR1184 consisted of test unit (TU) excavation based on the results of the Phase I survey, which included close-interval shovel testing. Each TU measured 1-x-1 m (3.28-x- 3.28 ft) and was excavated in 10-cm (0.33-ft) levels within natural stratigraphy to a depth of 10 cm (0.33 ft) into culturally sterile subsoil or to the practical and safe extent of hand excavation (approximately 1.2 m [3.94 ft] in depth). Representative TU profiles were drawn and photographed.
The Phase II evaluation of 18PR1184 consisted of the excavation of eight TUs, resulting in the
recovery of one organic, 118 historic, and 412 prehistoric artifacts. These were recovered from fill (n=7), plowzone (Ap or Apb horizon; n=381), E horizon (n=142), and B horizon (n=1) contexts.
Phase I and II investigations collectively yielded 669 artifacts, including one organic, 149 historic, and 519 prehistoric artifacts. Site 18PR1184 represents a multicomponent site. The historic component consists of a lowdensity, predominantly nineteenth century historic artifact scatter affiliated with a nearby, but as yet unidentified, rural domestic occupation located outside of the APE. According to background research, no nineteenth century dwellings are known to have been built within the immediate vicinity. The closest known historic dwelling is associated with an estate known throughout the mid-eighteenth century to early twentieth century in various iterations as Black Walnut Level/Black Walnut Level Enlarged/Walnut Grange/Walnut Range. Historic records suggest that the house shown on mid-nineteenth century maps as affiliated with the Hall family was constructed sometime around 1800 and was occupied by members of the Herbert family (associated with the Snowden family by marriage) until ca. 1859, at which time it became occupied by the Hall family until the house was abandoned and the property sold to the U.S. government in the early twentieth century. This house was located well over 300 m (>1,000 ft) northwest of 18PR1184. This distance is too great for Walnut Grange to reasonably be considered the origin of 18PR1184’s historic artifacts. As a large farmstead, however, Walnut Grange featured numerous outbuildings and may have included secondary residences, such as pre-Civil War slave quarters or post-Civil War tenant housing. Given the negative STPs east, west, and south of the site, the center of domestic activities and the location of the dwelling itself would have been to the north and possibly beneath Building 230.
The prehistoric component consists of a Late Archaic resource procurement camp where lithic tool production/maintenance and food preparation (inferred from FCR) were the most archaeologically visible activities. It is likely that Late Archaic populations repeatedly visited 18PR1184 as a satellite camp tethered to a larger base camp in the vicinity. According to MHT records, 18PR94 represents the closest known Late Archaic base camp, located along Indian Creek approximately 2.28 km (1.42 mi) to the southwest.
While TU excavation revealed additional intact prehistoric archaeological deposits, the artifact types, functions, proportions, and spatial patterns do not significantly differ from those documented during the Phase I survey. No archaeological features were encountered despite evidence to suggest potential hearths, pits, and other feature types. Furthermore, the Phase II did
not identify additional information that could refine the site’s prehistoric occupational sequence in terms of revisitation and/or seasonality.
Given that the Phase II did not identify archaeological features or additional significant deposits
related to site use, occupation, settlement/subsistence strategies, or other meaningful sociocultural data points, it is unlikely to yield important information to history or prehistory. AECOM therefore recommends 18PR1184 not eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criterion D; the site additionally lacks the associative and representative values necessary to be considered eligible under Criteria A, B, or C. No further work was recommended.
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