Archaeology in Annapolis

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/10991

Archaeology in Annapolis was a city-wide excavation of Maryland’s capital city whose purpose was to recover and teach with the below ground remains of materials from the 1680’s to today. Archaeology in Annapolis is a part of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Maryland, College Park and has been, and in some cases remains, partners with Historic Annapolis Foundation, the Banneker-Douglass Museum, Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation, and the City of Annapolis. The project was begun in 1981 and continues to work in the City and to excavate on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The project works to provide understanding of the many peoples who have made up the City in the past and present. Under the direction of Mark P. Leone, the organization has conducted over forty excavations in the historic area of Maryland’s capitol city as well as in Queen Anne and Talbot Counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, including Wye House Plantation. This collection includes archaeological site reports, technical reports, and dissertations produced by the project between 1985 and the present. Where possible, separate files for artifact catalogs have been provided.

A physical component of the collection is housed in the National Trust room of Hornbake Library on the University of Maryland campus. It contains copies of site reports, field notes, drawings, slides, contact sheets, photographs, historic research, oral history transcripts, artifact cataloging sheets, analytical notes, dissertations, scholarly and public papers, presentations, journal articles, administrative planning notes, correspondence, visitor evaluations, press releases, brochures, exhibition planning notes and grant proposals.



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    Phase II Archaeological Testing at the James Holliday House on East Street (18AP116), Annapolis, Maryland, 2010-2012
    (2013) Deeley, Kathryn H.; Leone, Mark P.
    Archaeological excavations at 99 East Street began in December 2009, with two shovel test pits dug to determine if the stratigraphy was intact at the site. Preliminary analyses concluded that the site was archaeologically intact, with materials found at least two feet below the surface and intact layers of deposition. In June 2010, more intensive excavations began as part of the University of Maryland Field School in Urban Archaeology, and continued until June 18. Two large, deep units (5’x5’ squares) were excavated in the backyard of 99 East Street and produced thousands of artifacts, including buttons, broken dishes, whole bottles, and a very large number of food bones, which were processed, cataloged and analyzed in the Archaeology in Annapolis Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park. In June 2011, three additional units were placed at the site, two 4’ x 5’ units in the backyard and a 5’ x 5’ unit in the basement of the house. These three units produced over ten thousand artifacts, including animal bones, glass bottles, broken dishes, dozens of buttons, marbles, a Spanish coin, and a corroded gun. These artifacts were processed, cataloged and analyzed in the Archaeology in Annapolis Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park. Finally, in the June 2012, three final units were placed at the site, one 5’ x 5’ unit in the basement, one 4’ x 4’ unit in the basement, and one 4’ x 4’ unit in the backyard. Over five thousand artifacts were recovered in these three units, including glass bottles, broken dishes, assorted buttons, marbles, slate pencils, straight pins, thimbles, animal bones, a redware tobacco pipe bowl, and a wooden lice comb. These artifacts were catalogued and are currently being analyzed in the Archaeology in Annapolis Laboratory. These many thousands of artifacts will identify how the Holliday family lived their daily life, showing what the Holliday family ate, how they were eating their food, and what they threw away or lost. Excavations at 99 East Street will continue for an additional summer season of excavation, which will help provide even more information about how the Holliday family saw themselves, the extent of their ties to the Naval Academy and how they negotiated their way around racism in Annapolis.