Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR460 Bevard - 4
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Bevard-4 Site, 18PR460, is an Early Archaic, Late Archaic, and Early Woodland short-term use camp north of Fort Washington in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Bevard-4 is located on a two-tiered terrace above Tinker’s Creek in an area of flat or gently rolling alluvial terraces frequently dissected by dendritic streams of the Potomac drainage. The terrace on which the site is located has been plowed, both for agricultural uses and in a waste-water treatment program that involved plowing sewage sludge into the soil across the site with a 30 inch blade. At the time the site was first discovered, it was forested with small saplings. Soils at the site are Iuka silt loams.
In the mid-1990s the Maryland State Highway Administration began a roadwork project on Maryland Route 5. The roadwork necessitated wetland mitigation at the Bevard Property. As is typical of wetlands creation, portions of the property would be subject to grading and landscaping tasks to create the new wetland, activities which would directly impact any archeological resources present in the area. Thus, a Phase Ib study was required for compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Maryland Historical Trust Act. Several proposed mitigation sites on the Bevard property were examined in the fall of 1994 as part of the Phase Ib study. This work led to the discovery of 4 prehistoric archeological sites and 1 historic archeological site. Phase Ib fieldwork in the area of 18PR460 involved the excavation of 65 shovel tests (36 X 36 cm) along a 20 m grid. Two 1 X 1 m test units were also excavated in order to refine site stratigraphy.
A cultural feature was encountered in one of the test units, a cluster of fire-cracked rock interpreted to be a hearth. A sandy, possibly undisturbed soil horizon containing some artifacts was also encountered in 2 areas of the site. In addition, distinct clusters of artifacts were recognized. Prehistoric artifacts recovered from the site during Phase Ib investigations consisted entirely of lithic artifacts. No prehistoric ceramics were recovered, although a few pieces of modern glass and a few nails were recovered from upper fill zones. A total of 634 prehistoric artifacts were recovered from the site. This total breaks down into 7 projectile points and point fragments, 4 biface fragments, 24 core fragments, 1 utilized flake, 457 flakes, 15 pieces of core shatter, 22 hammerstones, and 106 fire-cracked rock fragments. Projectile points recovered include an Early Archaic Kirk point, 2 Late Archaic Lamoka points, 1 Early Woodland Piscataway point, and 3 unidentifiable point fragments.
Based on these findings, and the decision to move forward with the construction of the wetland mitigation area at 18PR460, the decision was made to proceed with Phase II testing at the site. The first step in Phase II work was the implementation of a survey to relocate the Phase Ib grid, and many STPs, and to establish a new grid which was based on the Phase Ib survey data. The Phase II grid also employed a 20 m interval but was offset by 10 m from the Phase Ib grid in both the north and west directions. Staggering the grids in this way reduced the maximum distance between STPs to about 14 m, thus increasing the chances of recovering smaller concentrations of material. Shovel tests were 40 cm in diameter and were excavated below Pleistocene deposits, when possible. Shovel tests were carried to a minimum depth of 37 cm and the majority of the tests reached depths exceeding 60 cm. Quartz cobbles, pebbles, and heavy gravel were encountered in most of the tests, and some shovel tests were terminated when it was no longer possible to excavate through this material.
The results of the shovel testing, coupled with on-site consultation with the project geomorphologist, were utilized to place twelve 1 X 1 m test units across the site. These units were located so as to test four previously defined clusters of artifacts as well as the fire-cracked rock feature located during the Phase Ib study. Excavations were conducted in natural strata, unless they exceeded 15.24 cm (6 in) in depth, when arbitrary levels were necessary. All excavated soil was screened through hardware cloth.
The base of each excavation unit was cleaned and mapped. All apparent features were numbered, described, and mapped. Since there were few features, all were excavated. All feature fill was collected for flotation. During the course of fieldwork, it became apparent that all excavated features had been previously disturbed. Because of this, soil samples obtained from features were not subject to flotation.
Phase II shovel testing and unit excavation, in conjunction with a detailed geomorphological study of the site and vicinity identified 3 features, in one of which was found the remains of an early Middle Woodland period Pope’s Creek vessel. All 3 features were found to be entirely within the Ap/fill Horizon which directly overlaid a pre-Holocene gravel deposit. Each of the three features was severely disturbed by plowing and exhibited very limited contextual integrity and interpretive potential. The buried sandy soil horizon that contained artifacts (identified during the Phase Ib study) was found to be restricted to a very small area measuring about 40 m in diameter on the T2 terrace of the site. This was determined to be disturbed as well, even though numerous flakes were encountered within it. No features were identified in this sandy layer.
Artifacts recovered during the Phase II testing include 1 Piscatway point, 7 bifaces, 18 cores, 175 flakes, 29 fragments of shatter, and 72 sand-tempered Pope’s Creek Net-Impressed body sherds.
In light of the considerable amount of disturbance in evidence at Site 18PR460, it was determined that the site did not have the potential to yield additional important information on Maryland prehistory beyond what had already been collected during the Phase Ib and Phase II studies. No further work was recommended or required prior to the construction of the wetland mitigation site. Any remaining archeological deposits were likely destroyed during grading and landscaping of the site.
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