Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18ST272 M-17 (22) Area 4
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
The M-17 (22) Area 4 Site (18ST72) is a Late Archaic-Early Woodland prehistoric short term camp location and a late 17th and 18th century midden site. This site is located on a flat terrace above a small tributary flowing towards a cove of Breton Bay in St. Mary’s County. Several springs located to the south would have made an ideal location for prehistoric and historic period activities. Soils in the area are of the Othello Association. Soils in the plowzone are uniformly sandy silt loam, light grayish brown in color and overlying Pleistocene sands and gravel. The site is in a sewage plant spray area, and has been disturbed by this and by plowing. The site measures approximately 90 m long by 55 m wide.
Phase I archeological reconnaissance was conducted at the site in the spring of 1980 ahead of proposed construction activities at the St. Clement Shores Wastewater Treatment Facility. The goals of the work were to identify cultural resources, to assess the nature of those resources, and to determine the horizontal boundaries of those resources. The project area consisted of a large agricultural field with small wooded areas around the periphery of the field. The project area was divided into fields Area A through Area J that were established using natural or cultural (such as roads) boundaries. Fieldwalking transects were approximately 6.096 m (20’) apart. While walking transects, observations were noted and numbered wooden stakes were placed in the center of areas where artifact concentrations were observed. One or more stake clusters formed a “Debris Area” where future investigation was deemed necessary. Ten “Investigative Units” were defined within the project area and designated “I” through “X”. Each investigative unit contained anywhere from 1-10 ‘possible sites’ as identified by “Debris Areas”. Shovel test pits and cuts were excavated in areas with low ground visibility and along stream banks.
Artifacts were referenced to a nearby stake before being collected. All historic period artifacts from the surface collection were retained with the exception of brick, which was sampled. Only a sample of prehistoric artifacts was retained from the surface collection in order to identify the variety of raw materials used and object types. No more than several specimens from a staked concentration of material were collected and not all staked areas were sampled if similarities of type were encountered. One complete surface collection (all artifacts seen were collected) was made within a 4.57 m (15’) radius of stake 24 in order to determine the ratio of historic:prehistoric objects as well as to test the accuracy of field methods. Isolated samples, defined as artifacts either 30.48 m (100’) from the nearest staked concentration or in no significant context (such as an artifact concentration), were collected.
Archival research and information from local informants indicated that the area of potential effect was located on a land tract known as Belview, part of Society Hill, as early as the start of the 20th century. Although records are scare, a local informant indicated that her father and grandfather had worked the land since at least the latter half of the 19th century. Her family’s dwelling had been built to the northeast of the site area in the later part of the 19th century and had burnt down. A new, extant, structure was built in its place. A wooden shack had been built on the tract in the 1940’s and torn down in the 1960’s. A tobacco barn may have once been located in the eastern portion of the study area and a cattle barn was once located in the southeastern portion of the study area. Both structures were apparently razed sometime in the 1950’s. Extant barns were built in the 20th century.
Additional archival research was conducted ahead of Phase III investigations at nearby site 18ST271. It was learned that the project area is situated in an area once known as the Newton Hundred, which was established in the first half of the 17th century. From the 17th century to the late 18th century there are no records indicating that the land was developed. In the early 18th century, the land was apparently subdivided into smaller tracts. The site is located on a 19-acre tract of land known as “Roundabout” that was patented to Philip Ford in 1792 (originally surveyed in 1783 for Ford). Ford served as County Sheriff in 1788, was a member of the House of Delegates from 1792-1796, Justice of the Peace in 1795, Trustee of the Poor in 1803, and Judge of Orphans and Circuit Courts in 1804. It is unlikely that Ford resided on the property, but he may have rented it to a tenant. A 1793 County Tax Assessment indicated that Joshua Graves owned the land. In the 1824 County Tax Assessment, the land was recorded as belonging to the then Sheriff, Thomas Morgan.
During the Phase I survey, site 18ST272 was identified in Investigation Unit VI, at stakes 60, 62, and 64-66, in the southernmost section of the study area. The radius around stake 64 contained a light scatter of brick fragments and a small amount of other historic period artifacts. The area around the 4 stakes consisted of concentrations of broken and worked cobbles and associated debris.
Only 3 prehistoric artifacts were collected. There was 1 piece of debitage (a core), 1 tool (a biface fragment), and 1 other lithic (an unworked cobble).
Only 4 historic artifacts were collected. There were 2 architectural items (1 hand molded brick bat with pebble temper and 1 wrought nail) and 2 kitchen items (redware sherds).
The Phase I survey delineated a number of areas which were recommended for further research. Those recommendations were based on the discovery of both prehistoric and historic cultural resources within the proposed construction area. Phase II investigation at the site was conducted in the fall of 1980. The goals of the Phase II survey were to delineate the limits of the site boundaries and to determine the significance of those sites for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places. The same identification scheme employed during the Phase I survey was used in order to prevent any unnecessary confusion. During the pedestrian survey portion of the study, a transit point location method of recordation was utilized. The technique involved walking an area and placing all artifacts in bags. Artifacts were grouped in a single bag when 2 or more were found within a 1.524 m (5’) area. Each bag was then numbered and located by transit from a previously established datum point. Site datums were tied into engineering base line stations. Subsurface testing consisted of shovel pit excavation and/or trench test excavation. When features were encountered during subsurface testing they were excavated. All excavated soil was screened through ¼” hardware cloth.
No additional work was done at stake 62 in Phase II, but the area between and around stakes 60 and 64-66 was subjected to surface examination and subsurface testing where it was warranted. Two 3.048 m by 0.914 m test units were excavated in areas with the highest artifact concentrations. Testing revealed that the historic and prehistoric material was scattered across the site. However, the historic material had a slightly high incidence of recovery in the eastern half of the site and the prehistoric material had a higher incidence of recovery in the southwest quarter of the site in an area about 42.67 m X 24.38 m (140’X80’). The two test units were excavated in the area of the prehistoric concentration. No features except plowscars were identified in the subsoil. The artifact inventory for 18ST272 in the appendix of the original report does not contain any artifacts from the first test unit and none are described in the text; therefore, it is assumed that no artifacts derived from that unit.
A total of 44 prehistoric artifacts were collected during the 1980 Phase II study. There were 15 pieces of debitage (14 flakes and 1 core). There were 11 tools (3 flake tools, 4 preforms, 2 biface fragments, 1 Kittatinny-like point fragment, and 1 scraper). There were 11 fire-cracked rocks. There were 8 other lithics (cobble fragments).
A total of 32 historic artifacts were collected during the 1980 Phase II study. There were 7 architectural items (5 brick fragments, 1 ceramic tile, and 1 window glass fragment). There were 23 kitchen related items (4 fragments of bottle glass, 7 stoneware sherds, 8 pearlware, 3 redware, and 1 whiteware sherd). There was 1 miscellaneous items (a slate piece). There was 1 tobacco item (white clay pipe stem fragment).
An additional Phase II investigation was conducted at the site in the spring of 1981 at the same time that Phase III work was being done at nearby site 18ST271. The previous Phase II work in Unit VII investigated 18ST272 and determined that a section of the site extended into an adjacent portion of the project area. The artifacts recovered during the Phase II indicated that it may have been a prehistoric lithic ‘workshop’ site and it was thought that 18ST272 might be part of a larger site containing other areas. As the site is directly impacted by the proposed construction at the St. Clement Shores Wastewater Treatment Facility, additional Phase II work was recommended in order to better delineate the extent of the site.
The work consisted exclusively of systematic surface collection of all artifacts from the plowed field. A 9.14 m (30’) grid was set up within a 45.72 m X 100.58 m area directly west of the previous Phase II investigation. The 9.14 m squares were then divided into 3.048 m (10’) square collection units in the area where a large concentration of historic artifacts and shell was noted in the northern portion of the study area.
A total of 449 prehistoric artifacts were recovered during the additional Phase II testing in 1981. There were 56 flakes made of quartz, quartzite, and jasper. There were 19 tools and tool fragments (1 rhyolite and 11 milky white quartz bifaces and unifaces, 2 Bare Island points, 1 Clagett point, 1 Merom point, 1 Piscataway point, 1 Rossville point, 1 Savannah River point, and 2 unidentified points. There were 8 other lithics (hammerstones). There were 366 fire-cracked rocks. The diagnostic points are all within the range of the Late Archaic to Early Woodland periods. The 610 oyster shells from the site, with the possible exception of one small cluster in the south of the grid, appear to be primarily associated with the prehistoric component at the site.
A total of 336 historic artifacts were recovered during the additional Phase II testing in 1981. There were 21 architectural items (1 wrought nail, 9 unidentified nails, 9 brick fragments, and 2 pieces of plaster). There were 209 kitchen related items (18 bottle glass, 135 redware, 2 buff-bodied earthenware, 7 creamware, 1 pearlware, 1 English brown stoneware, 2 Rhenish stoneware, 17 gray and brown salt-glazed stoneware, 1 white salt-glazed stoneware, 1 porcelain, 2 fish bones, 4 box turtle shells, and 18 animal bone fragments). There were 106 tobacco pipe fragments. Tobacco pipe bowl fragments dated between AD 1700 and 1740. The 84 measurable pipe stem fragments gave a mean date of AD 1670. The artifact collection indicates that deposition most likely took place from the terminal 17th century throughout the 18th century.
The M-17 (22) Area 4 Site (18ST72), although representative of a Late Archaic-Early Woodland prehistoric short term camp/lithic reduction location, did not turn out to be a significant prehistoric site. The artifact assemblage indicates a single depositional component. The late 17th and 18th century midden is in close proximity to an 18th century house site located in adjacent Unit V. This suggests that the midden site has potential significance to provide temporal and socio-economic inter-site comparisons in Southern Maryland, particularly in the Chesapeake Region.
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