Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR290 Bealle Hill
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Bealle Hill Site (18PR290) is an Early Archaic and Early and Late Woodland short-term resource procurement and rock quarrying site near Accokeek in rural Prince George’s County, Maryland. A 19th-20th century farmstead ruin and associated historic scatter are also present at the site. The site occupies the tip and eastern edge of an upland spur overlooking a tributary of Mattawoman Creek. The site primarily comprises mature woodland with low level secondary undergrowth. Native vegetation is mainly hardwoods, but in some places it is Virginia pine. Soils in the area are predominantly of the Beltsville series.
The site was first identified in 1985 during the course of a Phase I survey for several alternates of MD Route 228. Field methods during the Phase I work included a “windshield survey” of the entire project area followed by pedestrian survey of selected tracts. Pedestrian survey consisted of two basic strategies. In areas offering exposed surfaces (e.g., plowed fields, dirt roads, eroded areas, etc.), the ground surface was visually inspected during walkover of the alignment. The area was covered using parallel transects spaced at roughly 15 meters. In surface-obscured areas, shovel test pits (STPs) measuring roughly 60 cm in diameter were excavated into the subsoil. The STPs were cleared of leafmold or sod using shovels, and the soil was excavated either by trowel or careful shovel skimming. All excavated soil matrix was examined by hand to locate artifacts. Placement of shovel test pits in any given area was determined judgmentally, and the number excavated depended on the availability of other survey variables (e.g. amount of exposure at the bases of trees).
The artifacts encountered in the vicinity of 18PR290 came from exposures along a dirt/gravel road and at the bases of trees, and from a shovel test in a flat wooded portion of the site. They were recovered from an area roughly 50 X 75 meters in size and were all prehistoric in age. The artifacts collected in 1985 include 3 rhyolite flakes, 1 chalcedony flake, 1 quartzite flake, 1 chert cobble chunk, 73 quartz flakes, 3 quartz cobble chunks, and 2 Potomac Creek sherds (1 rim). Based on the Phase I work, 18PR290 was recommended for Phase II testing unless the site could be avoided.
No additional work was conducted at 18PR290 until 2004 when a Phase IA/Phase 1B survey was carried out in preparation for the construction of a new housing development. The work was conducted to comply with a condition from the Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission. The findings of this survey resulted in the extension of the site approximately 600 meters northwest from its original location and the inclusion of multiple components, both historic and prehistoric, as well as three historic structures and a possible historic cemetery. The 2004 Phase I research team recommended that the project move to a Phase II level of research primarily focused on the prehistoric component of the Bealle Hill site. This was also conducted in 2004. The area originally surveyed in 1985 was outside the boundaries of the development property and was, thus, not examined.
Due to the size of the site it was decided that, to enable more pertinent description and analysis, the site would be divided into two main sections; Area A, which represents the portion of the site located north of the Bellevue Manor House (PG 84-20), and Area B, to the south. Topographically, Area A comprises a relatively flat upland terrace which begins to slope gently to the east before sharply dropping approximately 20 meters to the bed of an unnamed tributary of Mattawoman Creek. In the southwest corner of Area A is a springhead and upland swamp. A deep ravine has been cut across the site by the drainage of these two natural features. Area B consisted of a wide upper, terrace immediately to the south of the Bellevue Manor House, and a narrower, lower, peninsula that continued south from the eastern side of the upper terrace and extended between the tributary on the east and an ephemeral channel to the west. Dense, mature woodland covered the area, with varying levels of underbrush. Some historic/modern disturbance was discerned within the area in the form of trash piles and small pits. Area B was further subdivided into distinct locales. Area B1 was situated on the lower peninsula in the vicinity where Site 18PR290 was first identified in 1985. Area B2 was located on the lip of the landform in the southwest corner of the upper terrace and Area B3 comprised the area immediately to the south of a fenced property between Bellevue Manor House and the Bealle Hill forested property.
Two close-interval grids were established on the site, one in Area A and one in Area B1 and shovel tests were excavated at 5-meter intervals on the respective grids. Shovel tests were excavated at 10 m intervals elsewhere. The shovel tests measured approximately 40.6 cm (16 in) in diameter and extended into undisturbed natural subsoil approximately 40.6 cm. All manually excavated soil was passed through hardware cloth to ensure uniform recovery of cultural materials. Whereas the STPs were plotted on site maps with regard to delineating the horizontal stratigraphy of the site, the test units were excavated in an attempt to help define the site’s vertical stratigraphy and illuminate potential living surfaces and cultural features. Thirteen 1 X 1 meter test units were excavated according to natural soil stratigraphy (layers) within arbitrary levels of approximately 10 cm in depth. Written records, photographs, and hand-drawn profiles were kept detailing the excavation of each unit. Eleven of the 1 X 1 m units were excavated in Area A and two were excavated in Area B1.
Cultural material was recovered from Areas A, B1, and B3 and produced an assemblage of 2,739 prehistoric lithic artifacts, 5 prehistoric ceramic sherds, and 897 historic artifacts. Even though 21 shovel tests were excavated over Area B2, no cultural materials were identified within any of them or on the surface. The artifact assemblage recovered from the shovel test pits and the test units excavated within Area A of 18PR290 revealed a substantial artifact assemblage comprising 2,305 prehistoric lithic artifacts and 35 historic artifacts (in addition to 20th century historic artifacts), while that recovered from Area B was more ephemeral in nature, containing at least 232 prehistoric lithic artifacts (the number reported in the full site report varies wildly), five ceramic sherds, and 24 historic artifacts (in addition to 20th century historic artifacts). The deposits in Area A, Area B1, and Area B3 all appear to exhibit distinct activity areas as well as deposits which may be intact beneath the disturbed plowzone.
The historic artifact assemblage, recovered from Area A, consisted predominantly of 20th century architectural debris. To a lesser extent, kitchen-related debris, in the form of ceramics (again largely 20th century) and glass fragments, was recovered. Only 3 items possibly dating to the 18th century were recovered; a single sherd of polished dry-bodied English stoneware, commonly referred to as Ellersware was recovered from Level 3 of one of the excavation units. A single fragment of olive green bottle glass was recovered from Level 2 of another unit. Aside from these possible 18th century materials, all other historic artifacts from Area A are recorded as miscellaneous items in the tables above. It is possible that these items may be associated with the earliest occupation of the area and that the later 20th century occupation has overwhelmed this much lighter artifact deposit.
The prehistoric assemblage from Area A consisted of 11 projectile points, 5 preforms, 4 bifacial scrapers, 38 other bifaces, 16 unifaces, 95 cores and tested/split cobbles, 158 utilized/retouched flake tools, 1,775 pieces of debitage, 189 pieces of fire-cracked rock, 4 lithics use-modified by grinding, 5 hammerstones, and 5 pitted stones. Diagnostics within the point assemblage include a Piscataway point, a Susquehanna Broadspear, and 1 Kirk point. The vast majority of the lithic assemblage was of the local quartz and quartzite.
The historic artifact assemblage from Area B came entirely from 6 STPs within Area B3 and consisted of fragments of handmade brick (at least 7), unidentifiable nails (at least 2), 1 Borderware sherd, 2 redware sherds, and one 20th century ironstone sherd. That the very early 18th century borderware sherd was recovered from contexts in this location and in association with handmade brick fragments may indicate that this area was an early locus of activity for European settlers. However, the mixed contexts may indicate disturbance from plowing, erosion, or just the 20th century occupation of the area.
The prehistoric assemblage from Area B consisted of 1 point fragment, 1 preform, 1 bifacial scraper, 5 other bifaces, 1 uniface, 10 cores and tested/split cobbles, 19 utilized/retouched flakes, 180 pieces of debitage, 9 pieces of fire-cracked rock, and 5 Pope’s Creek body sherds. The vast majority of the lithic assemblage was of the local quartz and quartzite.
In addition to the excavation work, a small focused, ground penetrating radar survey was undertaken in an attempt to locate a historic cemetery that may be located within the boundaries of the Bealle Hill Site. The GPR survey was conducted using a GSSI Sir 2000 GPR system with a 400 MHz antenna. A 38 m north by 15 m east grid was used to collect the GPR data within this portion of the Bealle Hill Site (18PR290). This grid was located southeast of the existing manor house. The GPR data was collected using a Y axis profile. The data was collected in 50 cm traverse along the Y axis. The area selected was suspected to be a 19th century cemetery based on vegetation identified during the Phase I survey. Soils were predominantly clay, which affected the quality of the GPR data. The surface conditions which consisted of heavy overgrowth and tree falls, also affected the quality of the data. Nonetheless, two anomalies were detected, aligned in an east-west direction and measuring 3 meters in length. These parameters coincide with the pattern typical of historic Judeo-Christian burial.
The Bealle Hill Site (18PR290), originally identified in 1986 and subsequently redefined, represents at least three separate prehistoric occupations. Area A most likely dated to the Archaic Period but also exhibits a distinct 20th century component. Area B most likely dates to the Early Woodland Period and also encompasses the possible cemetery south of the Bellevue Manor House. The results of the Phase II evaluation indicate the presence of intact cultural deposits across the Bealle Hill Site with areas of particular interest and significance represented by Areas A, B1, and B3. It is likely that these areas can provide information regarding prehistoric lifeways and, as such, these portions of the site should be considered archeologically significant. A determination was made by the developers that those portions of the site containing significant cultural materials be preserved in place during construction of the housing development. Those portions of the site located in Areas A and B1 were to be donated to the Archeological Conservancy and Area B3 was to be deeded to the owner of the nearby Bellevue Manor House and historic site.
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