Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR317 O'Barr
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The O’Barr site, 18PR317, is a short-term resource procurement camp utilized in both the Early and Late Woodland periods. The site is located north of Bowie, adjacent to a small unnamed drainage a short distance from the tidal marshes of the Patuxent River floodplain. This part of Prince George’s County is part of the Chesnut Oak-Post Oak-Blackjack Oak natural forest association. Edible plants of this vegetative regime include 7 oak species, 2 hickory species, beech, black cherry, blueberry, huckleberry, deerberry, and sassafras. Soils at the site are primarily excessively-drained Galestown gravelly loamy sand.
The O’Barr site was discovered during a Phase I reconnaissance survey conducted in August of 1987. The Phase I work was conducted as part of a road reconstruction project involving a slight re-alignment of Jericho Park Road. The total road reconstruction project area was about 2,150 m long and between 40 m and 73 m wide. The O’Barr site was identified within the project right-of-way.
To facilitate survey, the project area was divided into 7 transects throughout the road project right-of-way, based on modern land-use patterns and topographic features. Low surface visibility required subsurface testing (shovel test pitting) throughout the project area. Shovel test pits (STPs) measured 40 cm in diameter, and were excavated to sterile clay subsoil on hilltops (averaging about 30 cm below surface), and to a depth of about 1 m in sandy floodplain soils. Soil was screened through hardware cloth, and artifacts were collected and bagged. Where cultural material was encountered, additional STPs were excavated within 10 m of the first to delineate the extent of the remains. A site record was filled out, the site was photographed, and it was mapped with compass and tape.
Site 18PR317 was identified by the excavation of 4 STPs, 3 of which were positive for prehistoric artifacts. Sixteen quartz flakes were recovered from these 3 shovel tests. Additional artifacts, both prehistoric and historic, were recovered from the surface as well, as portions of the site were a plowed field. The full Phase I assemblage from O’Barr included 1 quartz biface fragment, 20 quartz flakes, 7 whiteware sherds, 1 piece of molded glass, and 6 coal fragments. Based on these findings, Phase II testing was recommended.
Researchers returned to the site in the fall of 1987 to conduct the Phase II work, which entailed the excavation of additional shovel tests, surface collection, and excavation of five 1 X 1 m test units. Phase II fieldwork commenced with the establishment of a grid system on the site, aligned at 10° west of magnetic north. A limited amount of surface collection occurred in conjunction with grid layout. Shovel test pits were initially excavated at 15 m intervals on the grid system. This was followed by the excavation of additional STPs at 7.5 m intervals in areas where significant quantities of artifacts were found. STPs were 40 cm in diameter and excavated into sterile subsoil. This averaged 35 to 40 cm in depth for most shovel test pits, however shovel tests along the creek banks penetrated over 90 cm in some instances. All soil was screened through hardware mesh and prehistoric artifact totals were tallied in the field. A total of 53 STPs were excavated on the 15 m grid and an additional 64 shovel tests were subsequently excavated on the 7.5 m interval.
Following excavation of shovel test pits, five 1 X 1 m test excavation units were opened in the areas of high prehistoric artifact density. These units were excavated using arbitrary 10 cm levels within natural layers. All soil was screened through hardware mesh, and two walls were profiled in each unit. Three of these units were located in wooded portions of the site, while two were situated in open field.
The Phase II work revealed a general low-density prehistoric artifact scatter across the site. Soil profiles and physical features indicate that nearly all of the site area, including the wooden portion, was plowed at one time. Artifacts recovered from these areas are confined to the plowzone, or plowzone/subsoil interface. A narrow corridor adjacent to the drainage was never plowed, but appears to represent the silted in former channel of the stream. These deposits are heavily reworked, and contain occasional historic and prehistoric artifacts at relatively great depths. No intact prehistoric deposits and no cultural features were found.
The prehistoric artifacts recovered during the Phase II excavations at 18PR317 include 6 projectile points, 8 bifaces, 22 cores, 1 scraper, 2 retouched flakes, 247 flakes, 96 chunks, 125 pieces of fire-cracked rock, 10 hammerstones, and 13 pottery sherds. Quartz is the dominant raw material (419 objects), followed by much lesser amounts of rhyolite (33), quartzite (33), chert (13), limonite (8), and sandstone (11). Diagnostic projectile points include a Vernon point, a possible serrated Kirk point, a Bare Island, and a Late Woodland triangular point. Identifiable pottery types include 2 Marcey Creek sherds, 2 Accokeek sherds, and 1 Rappahannock (Townsend) sherd.
Phase II test excavations at the O’Barr site revealed a small prehistoric campsite dating largely to the Early Woodland subperiod, but also containing Late Woodland remains, and possibly even a late Early Archaic component. Hunting, butchering, and hide processing activities are suggested by the flaked stone tool assemblage. Debitage, the most plentiful artifact type recovered from the site, is nonetheless relatively low in overall quantity. Quartz debitage is heavily weighted towards the earliest stages of tool manufacture. Debitage of other lithic materials suggests maintenance and/or completion of tools from curated blanks brought to the site. Small numbers of very small sherds suggest food preparation activities, but overall short periods of occupation. Lack of cultural features, such as storage pits, also suggests transient occupation.
Two main artifact clusters may mark separate occupations, with the majority of Early Woodland artifacts occurring in the western portion of the site, and the majority of Late Woodland artifact occurring to the east. Alternatively, these clusters could represent different activity areas. Knapping debris, hammerstones, fire-cracked rock, and flaked stone tools are concentrated in the western portion of the site on a slope. The smaller eastern cluster also contains debitage, but fewer tools. Unrelated historic artifacts (not tallied above) are concentrated in the eastern area.
Due to the overall low density of artifacts, and the lack of intact sub-plowzone deposits, the O’Barr site has little potential to yield important information beyond that already gathered through systematic sampling techniques. It should no longer be considered a significant archeological resource.
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