Maryland Historical Trust
Public Access

Maryland Archaeological Synthesis Database

Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18SO147    Loretto Branch

Site Data
Site Number: 18SO147
Site Name: Loretto Branch
Other name(s):  
Prehistoric:
Historic:
Unknown:
Brief Description: Late Archaic & Middle Woodland lithic scatter, Early to Late 19th century tenant/slave house
Site Location and Environmental Data
Latitude: 38.22
Longitude: -75.69
Elevation: 5
Site slope: 0
Maryland Archaeo Research Unit No.: 3
SCS soil & sediment code:  
Physiographic province: Eastern Shore Coastal Plain
Terrestrial site:
Underwater site:
Ethnobotany profile:
Maritime site:
Site setting: -Site Setting restricted -Lat/Long accurate to within 1 sq. mile, user may need to make slight adjustments in mapping to account for sites near state/county lines or streams
Topography
Floodplain:
Hilltop/bluff:
Interior flat:
Upland flat:
Ridgetop:
Terrace:
Low terrace:
High terrace:
Rockshelter/cave:
Hillslope:
Unknown:
Other:
Other Text:  
Ownership
Private:
Federal:
State of MD:
Regional/county/city:
Unknown:
Nearest Surface Water
Name (if any): Loretto Branch
Saltwater
Ocean:
Estuary/tidal river:
Tidewater/marsh:
Freshwater
Stream/river:
Swamp:
Lake or pond:
Spring:
Min distance to water:
30 meters
Temporal Contextual Data
Paleoindian:  
Archaic:  
Early Archaic:  
Middle Archaic:  
Late Archaic: Y
Woodland:  
MD Adena:  
Early Woodland:  
Middle Woodland: Y
Late Woodland:  
Unknown prehistoric:  
Contact period site:  
ca. 1630 - 1675:  
ca. 1675 - 1720:  
ca. 1720 - 1780:  
ca. 1780 - 1820: Y
ca. 1820 - 1860: Y
ca. 1860 - 1900: Y
ca. 1900 - 1930:  
Post 1930:  
Unknown historic:  
Unknown context:  

Y=Confirmed, P=Possible

Ethnic Associations (historic only)
Native American:  
African American: P
Anglo-American:  
Hispanic:  
Asian American:  
Unknown:  
Other:  
Other Text:  

Y=Confirmed, P=Possible

Site Function Contextual Data
Prehistoric
Multi-component:
Village:
Hamlet:
Base camp:
Rockshelter/cave:
Earthen mound:
Cairn:
Burial area:
Misc. ceremonial:
Rock art:
Shell midden:
STU/lithic scatter:
Quarry/extraction:
Fish weir:
Production area:
Unknown:
Other PH context:
 
Historic
Urban/Rural?:
Rural
Domestic:
Homestead:
Farmstead:
Mansion:
Plantation:
Row/townhome:
Cellar:
Privy:
Industrial:
Mining-related:
Quarry-related:
Mill:
 
Black/metalsmith:
Furnace/forge:
Other industrial:
 
Transportation:
Canal-related:
Road/railroad:
Wharf/landing:
Maritime-related:
Bridge:
Ford:
Educational:
Commercial:
Trading post:
Store:
Tavern/inn:
Military:
Battlefield:
Fortification:
Encampment:
Townsite:
Unknown:
Other hist context:
tenant or slave
Interpretive Sampling Data
Prehistoric context samples
Soil samples taken: N
Flotation samples taken: N
Other samples taken:  
Historic context samples
Soil samples taken: N
Flotation samples taken: Y
Other samples taken:  

Diagnostic Artifact Data

Projectile Point Types
Clovis:  
Hardaway-Dalton:  
Palmer:  
Kirk (notch):  
Kirk (stem):  
Le Croy:  
Morrow Mountain:  
Guilford:  
Brewerton:  
Otter Creek:  
Koens-Crispin:  
Perkiomen:  
Susquehana:  
Vernon:  
Piscataway:  
Calvert:  
Selby Bay:  
Jacks Reef (notch):  
Jacks Reef (pent):  
Madison/Potomac:  
Levanna:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Prehistoric Sherd Types
Marcey Creek:  
Dames Quarter:  
Selden Island:  
Accokeek:  
Wolfe Neck:  
Vinette:  
Popes Creek:  
Coulbourn:  
Watson:  
Mockley:  
Clemson Island:  
Page:  
Shepard:  
Townsend:  
Minguannan:  
Sullivan Cove:  
Shenks Ferry:  
Moyaone:  
Potomac Creek:  
Keyser:  
Yeocomico:  
Monongahela:  
Susquehannock:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Historic Sherd Types
Earthenware
Astbury:  
Borderware:  
Buckley:  
Creamware: 21
Ironstone: 21
Jackfield:  
Manganese Mottled:  
North Devon:  
Pearlware: 265
Staffordshire:  
Tin Glazed:  
Whiteware:  
Porcelain: 3
Stoneware
English Brown:  
English Dry-bodied:  
Nottingham:  
Rhenish:  
White Salt-glazed:  

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Prehistoric Artifacts
Flaked stone: 42
Ground stone:  
Stone bowls:  
Fire-cracked rock:  
Other lithics (all):  
Ceramics (all):  
Rimsherds:  
Other fired clay:  
Human remain(s):
Modified faunal:  
Unmodified faunal:  
Oyster shell:
Floral material:
Uncommon Object:  
Other:
 

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Historic Artifacts
Pottery (all): 661
Glass (all): 163
Architectural: 596
Furniture: 1
Arms: 1
Clothing: 2
Personal items:  
Tobacco related: 21
Activity item(s): 41
Human remain(s):
Faunal material:
Misc. kitchen: 16
Floral material:
Misc.: 7
Other:
 

All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts

Lithic Material
Jasper:
Chert:
Rhyolite:
Quartz:
Quartzite:
Ferruginous quartzite:
Chalcedony:
Ironstone:
Argillite:
Steatite:
Sandstone:
Silicified sandstone:
European flint:
Basalt:
Unknown:
Other:
 

Features

Dated Features
Dated features present at site:
 
Prehistoric Features
Mound(s):  
Midden:
Shell midden:
Postholes/molds:
House pattern(s):
Palisade(s):
Hearth(s):
Lithic reduction area:
Storage/trash pit:
Burial(s):
Ossuary:
Unknown:
Other:
 
Historic Features
Construction feature:
Foundation:
Cellar hole/cellar:
Hearth/chimney:
Postholes/molds:
Paling ditch/fence:
Privy/outhouse:
Well/cistern:
Trash pit/dump:
Sheet midden:
Planting feature:
Road/walkway:
Depression/mound:
Burial(s):
Railroad bed:
Earthworks:
Mill raceway:
Wheel pit:
Unknown:
Other:
 
Radiocarbon Data
Sample 1:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 2:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 3:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 4:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 5:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 6:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 7:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 8:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Sample 9:   +-   years BP  
Reliability
 
Additional radiocarbon results available:
   
External Samples/Data
Additional raw data may be available online:
Collection curated at Fieldnotes and forms at MHT. The artifacts were retuned to the landowner.
Summary
The Loretto Branch Site (18SO147) is a multi-component site with an Early to Middle Woodland lithic scatter and an early to late 19th century tenant/slave house. This site is located in a wooded area along the bank of Loretta Branch, a tributary of the Manokin River in Somerset County. Survey work was carried out at the proposed location of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Access Road for the Maryland Department of Transportation, State Highway Administration. The project area contained pasture, farm, and commercial land, mostly privately owned. The environmental setting includes wetlands, wooded areas, cultivated fields, and several water channels that may be intermittent streams or field drainage ditches. The soils in the project area consist of poorly drained Othello-Portsmouth Association silt loams and well-to-moderately drained Matapeake-Mattapex Association silt loams. The site is located along the edge of a former millpond. The site had been partially plowed, while the remainder appears to be undisturbed. Three right-of-ways (or alternate routes) were proposed for the access road: Alternate 4, Alternate 6/6A, and Alternate 7. The purpose of the Phase Ib survey was to document the presence or absence of potentially significant archeological resources within the 2.7 kilometers of 30 meter wide right-of-way that comprises the project area. A review of historic sources did not indicate that any historic properties were located inside the project area. Phase I commenced in late 1990 and included the excavation of systematic shovel test pits (STPs) and pedestrian survey. Six STP transects were surveyed, 2 in each alternate route. The STPs were placed at 20 meter intervals with closer 5 meter testing placed in cardinal directions around positive STPs. A total of 255 STPs were excavated in the project area. Pedestrian surveys were walked at 6 meter intervals in areas with ground visibility, mainly limited to the west end of Alternates 6/6A and 7. Early 19th century artifacts were recovered from 16 positive STPs in a 60 x 40 meter area during the Phase I survey. The site (18SO147) was located on Alternates 6/6A and 7 where Alternate 6/6A diverges from Alternate 7. Architecture-related items included 5 nails and 1 window glass shard. Kitchen items included 37 whiteware sherds, 14 pearlware sherds, 2 redware sherds and 1 each yellowware and porcelain sherds. There were also 6 pieces of bottle glass. One unidentified piece of metal is the only miscellaneous item. Finally, one ceramic pipe stem fragment was recovered. A second Phase I assessment was undertaken in late 1991 in order to survey the area of the modified Alternate 6/6A tract. Four shovel tests were excavated within the boundaries of 18SO147 but no further artifacts or data were recovered. The goal of the Phase II testing as reported in 1993 was to assess the integrity, significance, and horizontal and vertical extent of the archeological deposits at the Loretto Branch Site. A 5 meter grid was established and a total of 196 STPs were excavated. The artifact types and frequencies were plotted on a map and eleven 1 meter X 1 meter units were excavated in the areas of highest artifact density. Phase II testing indicated that the site was much larger, measuring 460 x 53 meters, and also contained a prehistoric component. Only a few activity-related items were recovered. These are 30 pieces of barbed wire, 9 lighting fragments, and 2 staples. A total of 590 architectural items were found during Phase II. These are: 475 brick fragments, 17 cut nails, 1 wire nail, 37 unidentified nails, and 60 window glass shards. Two buttons were identified: 1 was made of brass and another was an unidentifiable material. One brass tack, possibly of a piece of furniture was found. Kitchen-related items included 218 whiteware, 251 pearlware, 38 redware, 2 yellowware, 3 porcelain, and 23 ironstone sherds. There were also 2 ‘other’ ceramic sherds, 1 lusterware sherd, and 38 unidentifiable ceramics. Glass was found in a number of varieties including 53 bottle glass fragments, 2 hand blown shards, 5 blown in mold shards, 32 machine made fragments and 4 table glass shards. There were 5 fragmented faunal remains and 11 shell, primarily oyster but with some clam. Four miscellaneous objects of unidentifiable metal were also recovered. There were 20 ceramic pipe fragments, 15 of these were bowl fragments and 5 were stem fragments. One cartridge shell was the only armament located. There was a very small prehistoric component to the site. Artifacts consisted of 35 pieces of debitage made from chert, jasper, quartz, and quartzite, 1 modified chert flake, 3 biface fragments and 3 projectile points. The points were identified as a jasper Rossville Point, a quartzite Rossville Point, and a chert Lamoka-like Point. These are dated from the Early to Middle Woodland periods. A number of disturbance factors including clearing and plowing have impacted the historic and prehistoric components at the Loretto Branch Site (18SO147). No historic features except for 3 possible post molds were identified. Artifacts representing historic occupations have been mixed and dispersed post-depositionally. The prehistoric component is sparse and has suffered that same post-depositional activity as seen in the historic occupations. Site 18SO147 is not NHRP eligible and further data collection would not contribute significantly to Maryland archeology.
External Reference Codes
Library ID Numbers: