Phase II and Phase III Archaeological Database and Inventory
18ST673 P-1
Diagnostic Artifact Data
Features
Summary
Site P-1 (18ST673) is a multicomponent site with a late 18th through mid-19th century refuse scatter and a small prehistoric component. The site is located in Leonardtown, St. Mary’s County. It is situated on an upland terrace along the southern side of an unnamed tributary of McIntosh Creek. Soils at the site are of the Sassafras series, which are well-drained soils good for agricultural activity. It measures approximately 165 m (540’) north-south by 137 m (450’) east-west.
Phase I archival and archeological investigations were conducted during the winter of 1996 ahead of proposed construction of the Tudor Hall Village development on Breton Bay in Leonardtown. The investigations were a condition of approval in response to a request for a wetlands permit from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Goals of the investigation were to locate, identify, and delineate all prehistoric and historic cultural resources within the project area, to make preliminary assessments of the potential significance of those resources applying the National Register criteria, to assess the impact of the proposed development activities on the cultural resources situated within the project boundaries, and to formulate management recommendations concerning those resources. Of the 480-acres (194.33 ha) that were part of the proposed development, a total of 271.13-acres (109.77 ha) were subject to Phase I study.
Archival research indicated that there has been human activity in the project area for thousands of years. Prehistoric activity and occupation in the general vicinity of the site can be dated from archeology back to at least the Early Archaic period (7,500 BC). Middle Archaic materials were found at a nearby site and Late Archaic diagnostics were found in the vicinity, for example on a broad flat terrace overlooking Breton Bay. Although not many in number, a few sites in the general project area contain materials definitively dating to the Early, Middle, and Late Woodland periods.
Documentary research revealed that in 1708, Leonardtown became the new county seat of St. Mary’s. The period of Rural Agrarian Intensification (1680-1815) provided the context for the evaluation of site 18ST670. Throughout the late 17th and early18th centuries Philip Lynes, a wealthy businessman, owned the property encompassing the proposed development area. As a member of the St. Mary’s Council, he was an active proponent of moving St. Mary’s County Court from St. Mary’s City to the head of Breton Bay. An act was passed that provided for the purchase of 50-acres of land belonging to Lynes called “Shepherd’s Old Field”. A county court house was erected on an acre of land and the remaining property was to be divided into 100 lots for the establishment of a town called ‘Seymour Towne’. Seymour Towne failed to develop and in 1728 a new commission was appointed to erect a new town at the location, a town that came to be called Leonard Town after then Maryland Governor Benedict Leonard Calvert. The original 50 acres of the former town were divided into 80 equal lots. In about 1741, Abraham Barnes purchased a parcel of land on Breton Bay, including Shepherd’s Old Field. By 1742, he had acquired all the land that encompassed the current boundaries of Leonardtown and the Tudor Hall development property. Barnes began construction of Tudor Hall in the 1740’s. The current project area, at that time, served as agricultural fields for Barnes’ Tudor Hall Plantation. There were no known structures. Philip Key purchased the property in 1813 and it remained with his family throughout the 19th century. A survey conducted in 1830 depicts a building called the ‘Over Seers House” within the project area. No other structures are indicated until the 20th century. Residential and agricultural complexes are located on the farm encompassed by the project area.
Phase I archeological investigations included pedestrian survey in areas where the slope was more than 15%, surface collection in fields where visibility was greater than 75%, and systematic sub-surface testing in all portions of the woodlot and areas where the slope was less than 15%. The project area was divided into 42 survey areas based on current land use patterns. Current and former agricultural fields and pasture areas were designated by a single alphabetic prefix (Areas A-U). Woodlot areas were designated by use of a double alphabetic prefix (Areas AA-AU). A temporary datum (N1000/E1000) was established for each survey area. Pedestrian survey and surface collection were done on established at 10 m intervals. Shovel tests were excavated at 20 m intervals along transects set at 20 m apart. All soils were screened through ¼” hardware cloth. All artifacts except for clearly modern debris were retained.
Site 18ST673 was situated in the northeastern section of Area P, a 13.45-acre (5.44 ha) agricultural field in the western portion of the project area. A total of 136 shovel tests were originally excavated within the field with an additional 63 shovel tests dug in order to delineate artifact concentrations. A surface collection produced further artifacts. Results of the Phase I testing revealed that the prehistoric artifacts were distributed evenly across the site and that the historic artifacts tended to cluster in two distinct areas designated as Locus 1 and Locus 2. The material from both loci suggested historic activities related to the late 18th through the mid-19th century.
A total of 62 historic artifacts were retained during the Phase I survey. There were 2 architectural items (1 window glass shard and 1 unidentified nail). There were 58 kitchen related items (8 bottle glass fragments, 6 white salt-glazed stoneware, 8 early porcelain, 7 ironstone, 4 creamware, 8 whiteware, 8 pearlware, 3 brown glaze redware, 1 unidentified redware, 3 domestic gray stoneware, 2 imported brown stoneware). There was 1 tobacco item (1 white clay pipe stem piece with part of the bowl attached). There was 1 miscellaneous item (1 unidentified melted glass fragment).
A total of 4 prehistoric artifacts were retained during the Phase I survey including 2 quartz flakes, 1 quartzite flake, and 1 core.
A Phase II commenced at 18ST673 in the summer of 1997. The objectives of the Phase II were to identify the vertical and horizontal boundaries of the site, to identify the cultural affiliation and functional ranges represented by the site, to determine the level of integrity present, to provide an assessment of the potential significance of the site’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, and to make management recommendations for the resource. The prehistoric component was not recommended for Phase II evaluation and was, therefore, not specifically targeted during the Phase II investigation.
Phase II testing consisted of the excavation of 26 shovel tests at 10 m intervals along the previously established grid orientation to supplement information obtained during the Phase I survey. A total of twelve 1X1 m test units were also dug. Four test units were placed in Locus 1, six in Locus 2, a two on a slight rise to the west of Locus 1. The prehistoric artifacts were evenly divided between both of the historic loci with no obvious concentration. The historic artifacts from the 2 loci and from the remaining field scatter indicated contemporaneous utilization of the site. No surface or sub-surface cultural features were identified.
A total of 141 historic artifacts were recovered during the Phase II investigation. There were 7 activity items (lamp glass fragments). There were 29 architectural items (14 window glass shards, 1 rosehead nail, 11 unidentified nails, 2 metal spikes, and 1 nut). There were 95 kitchen-related items (24 bottle glass fragments, 7 table glass pieces, 14 creamware, 33 pearlware, 4 domestic gray stoneware, 2 yellowware, 3 whiteware, 1 Staffordshire slipware, 1 white salt-glazed stoneware, 2 gray ironstone, and 4 unidentified ceramic sherds). There were 7 miscellaneous items (1 unidentified melted glass piece, 1 cast iron unidentified fragment, 1 piece of coal, and 4 unidentified metal fragments). There were 2 tobacco items (pipe stem fragments). There was 1 arms-related item (an English gunflint flake or spall).
A total of 16 prehistoric artifacts were recovered during the Phase II investigation. There were 15 pieces of debitage and 1 Morrow Mountain point, commonly dated to the Middle Archaic period. Quartz and quartzite were the only raw materials identified.
One component of Site P-1 (18ST673) is a late 18th through mid-19th century refuse scatter. All of the artifacts were recovered from the plowzone and lacked stratigraphic integrity. The relative lack of architectural material and low density of domestic material was suggestive of the casual discard of items into an active agricultural field. The prehistoric component, possibly dating to the Middle Archaic period, was represented by a limited quantity of artifacts suggestive of short-term, ephemeral activity. No further work was recommended for the site.
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