Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18PR692 Salubria
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Salubria (18PR692) is the archeological remains associated with a 19th century plantation of the same name in the Oxon Hill area of Prince George’s County. Evidence of a series of prehistoric short-term camps has also been encountered at the site. 18PR692 is situated on a south and east trending ridge that terminates over Carey Branch, a tributary of the Potomac River. Vegetation within the site consists of grasses and weeds surrounding the former locations of the Salubria farmhouse (MIHP# PG:80-2) and outbuildings (burned in the 1980s and demolished in 2003) and forest at the perimeters of the site. Several mature or senescent trees still stand in the former yard area (southern magnolia, and osage orange). Boxwoods are present in rows leading to the front entrance of the no longer extant dwelling. A stand of bamboo is also situated at the northeastern edge of the clearing. The medium aged to mature forest stands at the peripheries of the site are dominated by oaks and eastern red cedar. A long gravel and earthen driveway leads approximately 150 meters east from Oxon Hill Road to the ruins in the core area of Site 18PR692. Two brick pillars mark the entrance. Soils at the site are primarily Beltsville silt loams with some Sassafras sandy loams and Croom gravelly loams as well.
The Salubria farmhouse was a large four-part gable-roofed frame structure: an example of an early nineteenth century frame plantation house (ca. 1830), expanded and altered by over five generations of the same family (the Baynes). Immediately northeast of the house was a small gable-roofed log kitchen. East of the kitchen was a small, square pyramidal-roofed well-house and a small pump house. Further to the southeast was a small gable-roofed house purported to have once served a slave quarter. A log dairy was also present. The farmhouse was still occupied as late as 1973, but it and the kitchen were heavily damaged by fire in the early 1980s and left to deteriorate. The farmhouse and all associated outbuildings with the exception of the dairy were demolished in 2003 under the supervision of architectural historians and archeologists. However, ruins of the former buildings are still extant.
In the late 18th century, the property upon which Salubria would be built was part of the 3,663 “Oxon Hill Manour” estate, patented to Thomas Addison, Jr. on August 3, 1767. A close alliance between the Addison and Bayne families had developed by the latter part of the 18th century. In a deed dated May 19th, 1798, Walter Dulaney Addison leased a portion of Oxon Hill Manor to brothers John and Ebsworth Bayne. The portion of Oxon Hill manor containing Site 18PR692 was not part of this lease, but was part of a 64 acre lease obtained by John and Ebsworth Bayne in 1811. Although the specifics of business dealing between the Bayne brothers and Walter Addison are not known, Addison mortgaged the portion of the estate upon which 18PR692 is situated to secure a debt to Ebsworth Bayne later in 1811. A deed dated January 1st, 1817 documents the full conveyance of the lands, including Site 18PR692, from Addison to Ebsworth Bayne and the surrender by Bayne of other lands that had been let to him earlier.
John H. Bayne was born to Ebsworth and Mary Bayne on February 15th, 1804. John H. Bayne would eventually attend the University of Maryland School of Medicine and receive his degree in 1826. He married Mary Francis McDaniel around 1827. Perhaps as a wedding gift, his father conveyed the 65 acres of land upon which the main house at Salubria would be built as recorded in a deed dated October 6th, 1827. The construction of the farmhouse at Salubria likely commenced soon after John H. Bayne took possession of the land. The farmhouse was of frame construction on brick foundations.
Prince George’s County tax records for the year 1828 list John H. Bayne as Piscataway and Hinson Hundreds, assessed with 3 ounces of plate valued at £3 and other personal property valued at £140. He was also assessed taxes on 65 acres of Oxon Hill Manor valued as 46 shillings per acre, a total of alittle over £398. He also owned numerous slaves.
In 1832, Mary Catherine Bayne, infant daughter of John H and Mary F. Bayne, died September 26th, 1832 aged 7 months and 13 days amidst a typhus epidemic. Two years later, Dr. Bayne’s two sons, six year old George Bayne and four year old John Bayne also died under mysterious circumstances on November 7th, 1834 and November 9th, 1834 respectively. Ultimately, a 14 year old enslaves African-American girl from Salubria named Judith confessed to poisoning the Bayne children with arsenic taken from Dr. Bayne’s medical office. She also confessed to attempting to burn the main house in 1832 and the killing of Mary Catherine Bayne that same year. Judith was tried in Upper Marlboro and hanged after a two week trial. She is thought to be the youngest woman ever put to death in the State of Maryland. According to newspaper of the time, no one understood Judith’s motives because “she came from a nice family”. Mary Catherine, John, and George were all buried in the Bayne family cemetery on the Apple Grove plantation.
In 1835, it appears that John H. Bayne made a sizable real estate purchase of over 211 acres from Oxon Hill manor. Although Bayne was taxed on the land in the interim, the transaction involved litigation that was not fully settled until January 18th, 1848.
The wife of John H. Bayne, Mary F. Bayne, died August 7th, 1840 at the age of 32. In November of that year, the first in a series of advertisements seeking “runaway slaves” from Salubria appeared in the Daily National Intelligencer. Dr. Bayne suspected that his slave, Samuel Tyler, had absconded with a slave named Jacob Shaw from the Oxon Hill plantation. It has been speculated that runaways from these plantations could find assistance or refuge in nearby Washington, DC. Dr. Bayne continued to face escape attempts from his enslaved laborers, as evidenced by his advertisement in the Daily National Intelligencer, on May 3rd, 1849. Other advertisements were made in the 1850s. Resistance and the desire to escape from slavery may have become manifest within the slave community on Oxon Hill and Salubria.
On December 15th, 1841, John H. Bayne married Harriet Addison. Salubria appears to have remained prosperous and increased in size during this period. John was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1841, representing Prince George’s County, and in 1842, John Bayne took an oath before Jno T. Hoxton to become a Justice of the Peace. Tax records for 1842 list John H. Bayne owner of “part of Hart Park and Oxon Hill Manor”, a total of 250 acres valued at $15 per acre or $3,750. He was also charged with taxes on three enslaved laborers that year. By 1850, Bayne’s total estate was valued at $5,571 in real and personal property including his slave holdings in the Prince George’s County tax records. However, the US Census for 1850 lists John H. Bayne as a 45 year old Maryland-born physician with real estate valued at $11,200. His household included his wife Harriett (aged 44 years), his 6 year old daughter Clara Bayne, his 4 year old son Jno Bayne. The 1850 Census Slave Schedules records Bayne’s slaveholdings with eight males and eight females. The valuation of Bayne’s real estate is nearly 3 times more than an average PG County farm and was within the upper 10% of all farms and plantations in the county sorted by cash values. This is believed to be related to the valuation of Bayne’s mature orchards and orchard products. Unlike most of the farms in the county, Bayne grew no tobacco at Salubria and his produce appears to have been of excellent quality and in high demand.
John H. Bayne has been remembered, in part, as an agricultural innovator. He is credited with popularizing the tomato to the American populace as an edible fruit and the invention of the “cardboard tomato”, or a tomato that was capable of being shipped over long distances. Numerous articles in horticultural and agricultural journals of the period were written about and by Dr. John H. Baynes.
The US Census of 1860 lists John H. Baynes as a 56 year old male, born in Maryland; a physician with real estate valued at $25,000 and personal property valued at $30,000. Bayne’s household included his wife Harriett Bayne (aged 55 years), his 13 years old daughter Clara Bayne, his 16 year old son John W. Bayne, and Edgar W. Wood, a 28 year old Maryland born physician. The Slave Schedule for 1860 enumerates under John H. Bayne a total of 19 slaves including 11 males and 8 females. The schedule also notes that Bayne was the owner of three “slave houses”. Salubria is again valued in the upper 20% pf all farms in the county. It is also apparent that Bayne, counter to most of his contemporaries, continued to focus on orchard and garden products.
In the fall of 1861, John H. Bayne ran on the Unionist ticket as a state senate candidate and defeated the Peace and States’ Rights candidate Oden Bowie, a planter from Collington. The Unionists were victorious at the polls. The Planter’s Advocate printed an opinion that “Numerous rumors of intended [military] interferences, not only prevented a full turnout of the people, but, we have no doubt, affected the course of many who did vote”. He was also involved in education. Bayne served as the first Superintendent of Schools in Prince George’s County and assisted in the planning of the Maryland Agricultural College.
By 1864, John Bayne foresaw the inevitable end of slavery and wrote a declension speaking out against slavery in favor of a unified nation. Partially in recognition of this, Maryland lawmakers finally abolished slavery in the state with the Constitution of 1864. Although it is often noted that John H. Bayne ended his life as an abolitionist, as state senator in the earlier 1860s he actively opposed the abolition of slavery in Maryland and federal interference with the rights of Maryland slave owners. He expressed these sentiments in letters to President Abraham Lincoln and Maryland Governor Augustus Bradford. These sentiments are also obvious in correspondence between family members in the aftermath of the abolition of Maryland’s slaves. Still, Bayne remained a Union loyalist and was commissioned as a Surgeon in the US Volunteers Medical Staff Regiment on July 28th, 1863. He held the rank of Major and severed at Fort Foote in Maryland. His son, John W. Bayne graduated with a degree in medicine in 1868, and for 11 years served as an acting assistant army surgeon at Fort Foote.
Between the years 1865 and 1869, John H. and Harriet Bayne began selling small tracts out of their extensive landholdings, reducing the size of their estate by just over 46 acres. Most of the lands ultimately went to relatives. The United States Census of 1870 lists John H. Bayne M.D., aged 68 years with real estate valued at $24,000 and personal property valued at $2,000. His household included his wife Harriet Bayne (aged 67 years) keeping house, and his 24 year old son John W. Bayne, M.D.
John H. Bayne died August 18th, 1870, aged 67 years. He is buried at St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church in Oxon Hill. The will of Dr. John H. Bayne, dated February 19th, 1869, appointed his wife Harriet executrix of his estate, bequeathed Salubria with “all real estate that I at present cultivate and occupy; all household furniture, agricultural implements, and stock of every description, money, and notes” to her, and requested that his wife at her death bequeath all her real estate and personal property to their son, John W. Bayne. Harriet would die in 1878.
The Bayne family continued to live and Salubria, with John W. Bayne as head of household until around the turn of the century. The US Census of 1900 shows that the Bayne family had moved to 116 2nd Street S.E., however, they retained ownership of the Salubria property and appear to have used it as a country home or retreat. This state of affairs appears to have continued following John W. Bayne’s death in 1905.
Salubria was continuously owned and likely occupied by members of the Bayne family until October 11th, 1984, when the property was conveyed from the estate of J. Breckenridge Bayne to Salubria Limited, a land holding company based in Bethesda, MD. The farmhouse at Salubria was partially destroyed by fire in the early 1980s, rendering in uninhabitable. Reportedly, members of the Bayne family lived in a frame cottage or tenant house constructed over an older stone foundation in the 1940s from this time into the 1980s or 1990s. During this period, a series of fires and general neglect led to Salubria becoming ineligible for nomination to the NRHP as a standing structure. In 2003, after an archeological investigation was conducted on the 2.7 acres of land surrounding the buildings, all but one of the standing buildings was razed.
The site was first documented archeologically in 2003 during the course of a Phase I survey within the 2.7 acre Environmental Setting of Salubria (MIHP# PG:80-2), which had been established as a Prince George’s County Historic Site. At the time of the 2003 survey, the ruins of the farmhouse and four standing ancillary buildings (the detached kitchen, a well house, a dairy, and a frame house) were present within the Environmental Setting. The kitchen building stood north of the ruins of the farmhouse. Four sections were described within the kitchen. The two western sections were of log construction, however, it was noted that with the exception of the use of historic logs, the other construction materials appeared to date to the 20th century. The southeastern portion of the kitchen was described as “constructed of brick over cinderblock and the northeastern portion of the structure was clad in wood siding”. It was thought that this was likely a 20th century building that incorporated historic building materials such as logs and bricks.
The well house stood to the east of the kitchen. It was determined to date to the mid 20th century. The dairy stood to the east of the well house and was constructed of log covered in vertical boards. The dairy had a pyramidal shake roof and was thought to date to the 1820s. The small frame house was situated east of the dairy. The “house” was believed to have been constructed ca 1940 by the Bayne family (possibly as a tenant dwelling) atop an existing historic foundation. The stone foundation of this building, built into the bank of a terrace with its eastern elevation exposed, was dated to the early to mid 19th century. This building was likely originally utilized for cold storage and may have functioned as a storehouse, icehouse, spring house, or dairy.
In addition to documenting the extant outbuildings (the standing farmhouse had been previously documented by architectural historians and recorded in the MIHP), Phase I fieldwork entailed shovel test pit (STP) excavation conducted at 5, 10, and 15 meter intervals. The hilltop in the vicinity of the farmhouse ruins, the kitchen, and the dairy were initially tested at 10 meter intervals, and subsequently delineated at 5 meter intervals. The eastern portion of the Environmental Setting, in the vicinity of the frame “tenant house”, was tested at 20 m intervals due to the presence of ground disturbance and the steep slopes of the terraces. A total of 165 STPs were excavated.
Soil profiles seen in the 2003 Phase I STPs were generally consistent with soils mapped for the area. A typical profile seen on the hilltop surrounding the main house ruins and ancillary buildings showed two A horizons overlying subsoil, corresponding to the expected profile for Beltsville silt loam. Shallow and disturbed soil profiles were seen in several STPs north of the farmhouse ruins. Additional evidence of disturbance identified in the 2003 investigations included a debris-filled drainage in the field to the north of the main house ruins. This disturbance may be related to the mid 20th century destruction and removal of a garage located in this area. The area surrounding the “tenant house” was also considered disturbed where a shallow A over a compact sandy clay was encountered. This likely reflects the artificial nature of the landscape around this structure created when the natural bank was cut to construct the stone foundation in the mid 19th century.
In general, a low density scatter of historic artifacts was noted across the site. However, a major concentration, believed to represent a historic midden, was noted east of and adjacent to the former kitchen location. Minor concentrations were also noted to the south of the farmhouse, several meters north of the kitchen and surrounding the “tenant house”. Despite these findings, no specific recommendations were made regarding 18PR692 at that time. Prehistoric finds recovered during the Phase I suggested that the site may have served as a Late Woodland camp.
The Phase I study produced 1,249 historic artifacts and 60 prehistoric artifacts. The prehistoric assemblage consisted of 3 early stage bifaces, 54 flakes, 1 piece of fire-cracked rock, and 2 Mayoane sherds. The historic assemblage included 1 activity item (a screwdriver), 461 architectural artifacts (36 pieces of brick, 32 cut/wrought nails, 19 wire nails, 131 unidentified nails, 5 spikes, 228 window glass fragments, 7 bolts, and 3 asphalt roofing fragments), 274 ceramic sherds (27 creamware, 15 pearlware, 165 whiteware, 16 transitional earthenware, 4 ironstone, 7 redware, 5 yelloware, 6 Rockingham, 14 porcelain, and 15 stoneware), 293 kitchen glass fragments ( 20 dark green bottle glass fragments, 262 other container glass fragments, 6 piece of glass tableware, and 5 pieces of milk glass), 48 other kitchen-related artifacts (30 bone/tooth fragments, 20 pieces of shell, and 8 can fragments), 1 personal object (a 1978 penny), 2 tobacco-related artifacts (2 kaolin pipestems), and 178 miscellaneous objects (73 miscellaneous glass fragments, 94 indeterminate metal objects, and 11 plastic objects).
Following the 2003 Phase I documentation, many of the standing structures at Salubria were demolished (see above) as it was determined that they were in severe states of disrepair and could not be saved.
In 2006, a Phase I investigation was carried out on a property sitting adjacent to 18PR692. Shovel testing was conducted to the northwest and south of the previously recorded site. Three of the initial shovel tests carried out during this study (excavated north of the driveway that leads to Salubria) yielded artifacts from plowed contexts that appeared to be associated with the historic component of the site. Eight unidentified glass fragments and a lime soda window pane shard were recovered. The ridge spur that extends south from the farmhouse location was shovel tested at 15 m intervals, with additional shovel tests excavated at 7.5 m intervals in a cruciform pattern around the artifact-bearing STPs. A total of 24 shovel tests excavated on this landform along the periphery produced 13 artifacts. They produced 1 lime soda windowpane fragment, 2 brick fragments, 1 whiteware sherd, 1 ironstone sherd, 1 buff-bodied stoneware bottle sherd, 5 unidentified glass fragments, 4 metal fragments, 2 pieces of coal, and a quartz flake. All objects recovered during the 2006 Phase I came from the plowzone. The artifacts recovered during this survey expanded the size of Site 18PR692 from approximately 100 X 85 m to 170 X 100 m. These artifacts were, however, likely field scatter and not significant artifact deposits.
In 2011, a Phase II evaluation of 18PR692 was conducted within the 2.7 acre Environmental Setting of Salubria (MIHP# PG:80-2), pursuant to a Historic Area Work Permit issued by Prince George’s County. The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) requested the Phase II work due to the impending development of the Tanger Outlets shopping center at the National Harbor in Prince George’s County, portions of which would impact the environmental setting for Salubria. All work was carried out in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (federal laws), the Maryland Historical Trust Act of 1990 (state law), and Subtitle 24-104, 121 (a)18, and 24-135.01 of the Prince George’s County Code (local law).
The initial step in the Phase II evaluation of the site involved the re-establishment of portions of the STP grid utilized during the 2003 Phase I investigations that would allow the excavation of additional STPs at 5 m intervals to be integrated into the existing data. Attempt to reconcile the 2003 Phase I grid evident in the field with the Phase I grid as mapped relative to extant buildings and ruins within the site, were unsuccessful. Despite this state of affairs, a 5 m grid was established to fill in the “gaps” between previously tested areas as best as possible given the extant mapping.
A total of 18 Phase II STPs were excavated on the newly established 5 m sampling grid. Soil profiles seen in the Phase II STPs were generally consistent with the results of the Phase I shovel tests. Shovel tests measured 35 cm in diameter. Vertical excavation was by natural or cultural soil levels with excavation halting when sterile soils were reached. Soil horizons observed at the site were classified according to pedological designations. All soils were screened through hardware cloth. Soil profiles were made of representative units, with soil descriptions recorded using standard soil terminology and methods.
Ten 1 X 1 m test units were then placed around the site based on the combined Phase I and II STP data. In addition, one unit had a 50 X 50 m extension added alongside it to further expose a possible feature. Vertical excavation of test units was by natural soil levels or cultural levels with excavations halted when sterile soils were reached. Soil profiles were made of representative units and cultural features. Soils data and other aspects of excavation otherwise followed the same methods as were used for Phase II STPs. Soil samples were collected from all intact cultural features. A single 1 liter sample was retained from soils excavated from within each stratum of intact feature fill. The intent was to utilize these samples for recovery samples of very small artifacts or ecofacts if such analysis was deemed necessary to interpret features. Ultimately, only one such sample was floated, but all were retained for future analysis. All features were photographed, drawn, and sampled.
Phase II work revealed evidence of disturbance, possibly associated with the demolition of the majority of the buildings at the site, in the vicinity of the no longer extant kitchen. Minor disturbances associated with the 20th century occupation of the property were identified in limited locations within the site. Significant disturbance to surface soils was also encountered surrounding the 19th century stone foundation of the 1940s “tenant house” and excavations within that foundation failed to provide additional data useful in dating or determining the function of that structure. The excavations indicated that intact contexts or significant archeological deposits associated with the foundation are unlikely. However, some possibility remains that such contexts might be found surrounding the building.
Despite these disturbances, portions of the historic component of Site 18PR692 have remained remarkably intact. Based on the functional diversity of the artifacts recovered from the midden, its stratigraphy, its scale and location, and fragmentary oral history, the midden appears to represent a well preserved remnant of the farm’s historic domestic yard space. Stratified deposits here may be associated with refuse disposal, no longer extant ancillary buildings, gardens, and other activity areas.
Seven cultural features, in addition to the midden, were identified in Phase II excavations. Of these, three appeared to represent intact historic features associated with the 19th century occupation of the site. These include 1) a historic terra cotta water pipe and associated trench that seems to have been utilized to convey water from the well or pump house to the dairy in the mid 19th century, 2) a remnant of the brick foundation of the main house with an associated builder’s trench, and 3) and another possible builder’s trench or drip line feature associated with that dwelling. As major subsurface disturbances within the site were limited and confined, it was thought that additional intact features might be preserved. Artifact concentrations identified within the site during Phase II work may also indicate the locations of at least two no longer extant 19th century ancillary buildings: a possible rustic greenhouse (documented through oral history) and a possible domestic structure south of the main house.
The Phase II historic assemblage from the site consisted of 183 activity items (11 porcelain doll fragments, 1 vinyl record fragment, 167 redware flower pot sherds, 1 piece of aluminum wire, 1 brass ring, 1 other ring, and 1 brass clasp), 1,244 architectural artifacts (76 terra cotta pipe pieces, 222 pieces of brick , 30 asbestos shingle fragment, 7 asphalt shingle, a piece of particle board, 80 pieces of mortar, 61 pieces of plaster, 4 pieces of cement, 15 pieces of concrete, 1 piece of carpet, 386 window pane fragments, 1 wrought nail, 142 cut nails, 63 wire nails, 152 unidentified nails, 2 screws, and 1 bolt), 5 clothing-related artifacts (1 glass button, 1 brass button, 2 pieces of cloth, and 1 piece of leather), 434 ceramic sherds (5 buff-bodied earthenware, 125 refined white earthenware, 31 creamware, 113 pearlware, 64 whiteware, 12 ironstone, 11 redware, 4 yelloware, 9 Rockingham, 12 porcelain, and 48 miscellaneous stoneware), 703 kitchen glass fragments (3 tableware fragments, 700 container glass fragments), and 182 other kitchen-related artifacts (29 animal bones, 59 oyster shells, 83 other faunal objects, 1 aluminum pull tab, 7 aluminum can fragments, 2 pieces of aluminum foil, and 1 seed), 7 personal objects (5 mirror fragments, 1 eyeglass lens, and a modern penny), 5 tobacco-related artifacts (kaolin pipe fragments), 1 arms object (a lead bullet), and 970 miscellaneous objects (2 pieces of safety glass, 462 unidentified glass pieces, 3 unidentified lead fragments, 1 unidentified brass object, 155 pieces of metal, 173 coal/charcoal fragments, 79 pieces of plastic, 1 piece of rubber, 70 slag fragments, 22 cinder, and 2 stones).
Two clusters of prehistoric artifacts identified through shovel testing were evaluated during the Phase II study. The excavation of multiple test units in these areas revealed that undisturbed A horizons containing prehistoric cultural material are not likely present within 18PR692. It is probable that the artifacts recovered in these area during the Phase I investigations originated from plowed soils and historic or modern yard fill. Additionally, no prehistoric features were found in the Phase II test units.
The Phase II prehistoric assemblage from the site consisted of 1 rhyolite Susquehanna Broadspear, 1 quartzite biface fragment, 1 utilized quartzite cobble, 1 chert flake, 22 quartz flakes, and 9 quartzite flakes.
Based on the Phase II investigations at Salubria in 2011, the prehistoric component of the site was determined ineligible for listing on the NRHP or the MIHP. However, Phase II work revealed significant intact deposits related to the historic occupation of the site. Phase III data recovery was recommended if the site could not be avoided by future development.
Phase III data recovery was carried out at the site in November and December of 2012. The archeological work was required by the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) and the Prince George’s County Planning Department as a condition of the property owner’s request to develop the property as a commercial retail center and remove the remains of the Salubria Plantation (18PR692) from the County’s Historic Sites and Districts Plan. The Tanger Outlets shopping center would soon be constructed at the site.
Phase III fieldwork consisted of the excavation of forty-one 1 X 1 m test units and additional mapping of above ground structures and building ruins. All test units were excavated in 10 cm arbitrary levels within natural stratigraphy using shovels and trowels. Excavation proceeded to a depth of at least 10 cm into culturally sterile subsoil. Excavations were recorded on standardized forms, with each level of each test unit recorded individually. Standardized level and feature forms included horizontal grid location within the site, vertical location within the soil column, soil color and texture descriptions using standard methods and nomenclature, a summary of artifacts recovered, and brief interpretations about stratigraphic context. All stratigraphic levels, features, and test unit profiles were photographed. At least one hand-drawn soil profile for each test unit was drawn. All soils were screened through hardware mesh for uniform artifact recovery. A detailed site plan recording the location of all test units, cultural features, above ground structures, and building ruins was created with the use of a survey-grade Nikon Total Station with sub-centimeter accuracy.
The Phase III excavations in 2012 were successful at documenting structural and landscape changes at Salubria (18PR692) spanning the time period from ca. 1830 through the late 20th century. A total of 18,488 artifacts were recovered, including items associated with both pre-contact Native American as well as historic period occupation of the site. Prehistoric period artifacts (96 objects) account for 0.519% of the total artifact assemblage, and span a temporal range of between 5000 BC to AD 1600. Historic period artifacts (18,392 objects) account for 99.48% of the total artifact assemblage, and span a temporal range of between ca. 1830 to ca. 1990.
The vast majority of the prehistoric artifacts recovered in 2012 came from mixed historic contexts. Diagnostic artifacts accounted for within this assemblage include a single intact Late Woodland period quartz Levanna projectile point, a single sherd of Middle Woodland period Potomac Creek pottery, and a single intact Late Archaic period quartzite Bare Island projectile point. The remainder of the prehistoric artifact assemblage is comprised of temporally non-diagnostic lithic debitage (3 non-diagnostic points, 2 bifaces, 2 scrapers, 2 utilized flakes, 73 flakes, and 1 piece of shatter) and fire-cracked rock (10 pieces). Aggregated, diagnostic artifacts represent a potential Native American occupation date range of between 5000 BC to AD 1600. This date range coincides with diagnostics recovered in the Phase I and II investigations.
Much of the ca. 1830 plantation frame house was severely damaged by fire and subsequently abandoned in the 1980s. By the time of its demolition in 2003 (see above), the main house had almost completely collapsed and was considered a hazard. The disturbance to the main structure associated with the fires may have impacted potentially intact archeological deposits dating from John H. Bayne’s mid 19th century occupation. Complicating this issue were construction activities associated with a series of early 20th century structural alterations to the house that likely disturbed these deposits prior to 2003. These early 20th century alterations included the repairing of structural foundations and installing modern utility lines that necessitated the removal of interior flooring. It was determined that there was little to no archeological integrity to the interior sections of the main house.
The stone foundation and associated frame structure (referred to as the Tenant House) located to the east of the main house was significantly disturbed as a result of constructing a new house on the historic foundation around 1940. This structure has been purported by some to be a former slave quarter. However, this supposition is not based on historical documentation or other evidence to support a definitive identification. All pre-1940 cultural deposits appear to have been graded away as a result of site preparation and construction of the modern frame house. These include both pre-1940 exterior and interior cultural deposits. Phase III fieldwork documented modern ground surfaces on top of graded subsoil surrounding the exterior of the structure and a modern concrete floor on top of subsoil in the interior of the structure. This pr
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