Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR622 Parker Berry 1
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The Parker Berry 1 Site (18PR622) is a Late Woodland to Contact period hamlet near Fort Washington in Prince George’s County, Maryland. A Late Archaic short-term camp occupation is also present at the site. Site 18PR622 is situated in an upstream setting on the north side of Piscataway Creek, immediately downstream from a small, unnamed tributary. A smaller drainage feature runs along the eastern border of the site. Soils mapped for the area fall within the Sassafras-Croom soil association, with Woodstown sandy loam predominating. The site is situated on a property that has served, in modern times, as part of a large, self-pick berry farm (the Parker Berry Farm).
The site was first identified in 2002, during the course of a Phase I survey of the area. The survey was conducted prior to creation of an artificial wetland as environmental mitigation for improvements to MD Route 210. The wetland project called for the creation and enhancement of 8 acres of wetlands on the Parker Berry Farm parcel in which ground-disturbing activities would take place. Phase I investigations uncovered 2 archeological sites 18PR622 and 18PR623. Only Site 18PR622 would ultimately be determined to have any significance.
Phase I work at 18PR622 consisted of an intensive surface reconnaissance and the excavation of 67 shovel test pits (STPs), 23 of which yielded artifacts and defined the 5 loci which made up 18PR622. The shovel tests were excavated at 20 meter intervals within compass-based transects running perpendicular to Piscataway Creek. All STPs were excavated stratigraphically, according to natural soil horizons, or by 10 cm subdivisions of natural stratigraphic horizons. Soil removed from each excavation level of shovel tests was screened through hardware cloth. Profiles were drawn upon completion of each STP.
The Phase I work revealed that 18PR622 is comprised of 5 different concentrations (or loci) of prehistoric artifacts. Three of these loci are characterized as small, no-diagnostic lithic scatters recovered from surface or plowzone contexts (Loci 2, 5, and 6). Locus 3 is a larger scatter that contained a Late Archaic Lamoka projectile point. Artifacts recovered from all of the various lithic scatter loci (i.e. all areas except Locus 4) consisted of 1 Lamoka point, 3 unidentified bifaces, 1 core, 35 flakes, 1 piece of shatter, 9 worked cobble fragments, and 15 pieces of fire-cracked rock. The primarily lithic raw material was quartz, with much smaller quantities of quartzite, chert, and jasper being utilized.
In Locus 4, on the western edge of the site, a sherd of Late Woodland Potomac Creek ware was recovered from a shovel test on the western border of the field. Additional examination was performed in the vicinity of this shovel test to see if additional sherds were present, limited to the placement of four additional radial STPs ten meters out from the original shovel test. The northernmost of these radial STPs uncovered a dark organic stain below the plowzone that encompassed the entire shovel test. In order to explore this deposit, a small trench measuring 2.30 meters long by 0.5 meters wide (or 1.15 square meters) was opened over the STP in order to expose the stain, designated Feature 1. This trench revealed the edge of what appeared to be a moderate-sized prehistoric pit. The portion exposed in the trench was then bisected and excavated. This cross-section revealed two distinct layers in profile, the lower of which contained additional sherds of Late Woodland Potomac Creek ware. The artifacts encountered during Phase I work at Locus 4 are included in the discussion below of the Phase I/II assemblage from this area. Based on these findings, Phase II work was conducted in Locus 4 of 18PR622.
The Phase II investigations in Locus 4 were performed in order to excavate the previously identified Feature 1, as well as to search for additional archeological features and define the boundaries of Locus 4. These investigations included the excavation of sixteen one m2 test units and block excavations (15.15 square meters in extent) in the vicinity of Feature 1. All test units/blocks and trenches were excavated stratigraphically, according to natural soil horizons, or by 10 cm subdivisions of natural stratigraphic horizons. Soil removed from each excavation level of each unit/block was screened through hardware cloth. Profiles were drawn upon completion of each unit/block. The fieldwork revealed 5 subsurface features within the confines of Locus 4. The assemblage recovered included 371 artifacts, including 37 sherds of Potomac Creek pottery, 2 Late Woodland Madison projectile points, and a few historic artifacts recovered from clear subsurface feature contexts. These were likely associated with a Native American Contact period occupation, with most of the artifacts being recovered from feature contexts. Locus 4 was defined as approximately 20 meters on a side and encompassed an area of 400 square meters or 0.97 acres.
The limited block excavation (comprised of a rectangular central section divided into 5 units and two attached trenches) was conducted to further expose Feature 1 and search for any closely associated features (i.e. posts or small refuse pits). The block excavation revealed Feature 1 to be a large, ovoid stain that measured approximately 12 meters long by 7 meters wide. It was interpreted as a possible semi-subterranean house floor filled with midden materials. The block also revealed two postmolds (Features 2 and 3) and a small refuse or storage pit (Feature 5). Several cross-cuts made into Feature 1 were placed to assess its depth and sample its contents. Material recovered included additional Potomac Creek ceramics, an English white ball clay pipestem, and several possible wrought nails. Feature 5 also contained a box-like iron object possibly dating to the Contact period. A total area of 32.3 meters was excavated within Locus 4.
Two samples were selected from the deeper part of the Feature 1 midden for AMS radiocarbon dating. This was the same portion of the feature where the white ball clay pipestem was recovered, along with several Potomac Creek sherds. One of the AMS samples returned a modern date, suggesting contamination. However, the other sample was dated to 130 ± 40 radiocarbon years before present, which when calibrated equates to a calendrical date range of AD 1670-1953.
Four liters of fill from Feature 1 and one liter from Feature 5 were floated and submitted for ethnobotanical analysis. A full description of the ethnobotanical assemblage is provided in the linked ethnobotany profiles document. Of interest is the complete lack of cultigens (well documented in Potomac Creek phase occupations) and the very low density of nut fragments. The floral assemblage was dominated by fruit species such as raspberries and blackberry/mulberry, indicative of a summer occupation. Seeds from two herbaceaous plants were also recovered: knotweed and pokeweed. The fruits of these annual/perennial herbs ripen in summer through early fall. This floral suite suggests a temporary seasonal occupation, an interpretation also supported by the low density of ceramics and other artifacts recovered from the feature. The recovered wood charcoals all came from hardwood/deciduous species; no wood charcoals from softwood/conifer species were recovered. Conifer, or pine specie, are common secondary growth species in the Mid-Atlantic region. The lack of these species suggests that the inhabitants of 18PR622 did not undertake any extensive forest-clearing activities. It also indicates short-term occupations and could explain the lack of cultigens (i.e. no land cleared for long-term agriculture).
The full artifact assemblage from both Phase I and II excavations at Locus 4 of 18PR622 consisted of 2 Madison points, 5 other lithic bifaces, 29 worked cobble pieces, 195 flakes, 8 pieces of shatter, 86 fragments of fire-cracked rock, 1 groundstone object, 34 Potomac Creek sherds, a ball of fired clay, a 20th Century ceramic toy lion, an iron box, 3 unidentified nails (possibly hand-wrought), a ball clay pipe stem, 5 unidentified iron fragments, and a piece of nutshell.
As described previously, fieldwork in Locus 4 uncovered a Contact period occupation. This component is significant on two levels. First, it contained intact sub-plowzone features and, secondly, sites dating to this period are extremely rare and undocumented in the Potomac Valley. Fieldwork revealed a large feature interpreted as a semi-subterranean house floor filled with Contact period midden debris. Traditional Native-American cultural remains include Potomac Creek body sherds, two small Madison points, and miscellaneous lithic debris. Given the inclusion of European materials in feature contexts along with Potomac Creek pottery and the associated radiocarbon date (see above), the occupation probably occurred in the later 17th century.
Site 18PR622’s location in a relatively interior upstream setting is of significant interest in light of historically documented complaints by Native American groups of encroachment by English settlers on their traditional lands. The Maryland State Archives provide a number of accounts throughout the middle to late 17th century of various Native American groups complaining to the Colonial government in St. Mary’s City that they were driven off their land by settlers and had to move further inland (upstream) to find places for occupation. The information in the archives conveys a picture of settlement abandonment along the main Potomac and its tributaries, and a gradual removal to interior settings as Native American groups were pushed off their traditional lands by English colonists. If John Smith’s 1608 map of the Potomac and its tributaries is accurate, most of these settlements consisted of single dwellings, most likely oval to elliptical house structures, situated in a dispersed fashion along major floodplains.
The Contact component at 18PR622 has the potential to offer significant and novel insights into 17th century Native American and European interactions. Only around 20% of Feature 1 was ultimately sampled and this small portion of the intact feature contained 97 artifacts (26% of the total for the locus) and furnished an absolute date. Thus, this portion of the site appears to retain significant integrity. Based on the results of the Phase II investigations, researchers recommended that Locus 4 be avoided in developing the wetland facilities at the Parker Berry Farm. A buffer zone measuring 30 meters was established around the core of the site marked by Feature 1 and alteration to the site was avoided during construction activities.
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