Archaeology in Annapolis
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Item Preliminary Report on Archaeological Investigations in The Eastport Neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland: 119 Chester Avenue (18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP94)(2003-02) Palus, Matthew M.; Leone, Mark P.From June 11- July 19, 2001, the University of Maryland archaeology field school conducted test excavations at two properties in the Eastport neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County Maryland, at 119 Chester Avenue (Site 18AP93) and 110 Chesapeake Avenue (Site 18AP94). This investigation was initiated by Archaeology in Annapolis, a cooperative project between the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) and the Historic Annapolis Foundation (HAF), and was conducted in association with the instruction of the summer field school in urban archaeology offered annually through the Department of Anthropology at UMCP. Investigations at these two properties were undertaken as part of an initiative to explore Eastport as a potential area to host future seasons of excavation with the UMCP archaeology field school, both to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the history and development of this community and to provide archaeological data where currently there is very little available. This research is being developed in consultation with Peg Wallace at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Eastport. The research described in this report was conducted under the direction of Dr. Mark P. Leone, Department of Anthropology at UMCP, and Dr. Jessica Neuwirth, formerly with the Historic Annapolis Foundation, with field supervision by Matthew Palus and Kris Beadenkopf.Item The Material Culture of American Utopias(1980) Leone, Mark P.The problem I am interested in is why our culture has produced a set of utopian groups whose mundane objects--material culture--often operate explicitly at a religious as well as a utilitarian level. Both in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries American utopian groups isolated themselves from mainline American society and in doing so often established a direct relationship between their religious principles and the objects in daily use. This was, and remains, very different from the rest of America. We today do not have large ranges of objects whose religious or ideological significance is explicit and apparent to the population at large. There are, of course, iconographic items but these are in a different category since their explicit function is to represent the ineffable; they have no primary utilitarian value. Further, utopian groups usually consciously eliminated all such items. They were not concerned with crosses, emblems, statues, colored windows, and the rest of traditional Christian representationalism. Utopian groups often explicitly contained anti-iconographic statements in their doctrines.Item Final Report on the National Geographic Society: Archaeology of Town Planning in Annapolis, Maryland, NGS Grant Number 3116-85(1986) Leone, Mark P.; Shackel, Paul A.The purpose of the research supported by this grant was to refine our understanding of the Baroque town plan of Annapolis, Maryland through archaeology. The plan of 1695, which was prepared under the supervision of Royal Governor Francis Nicholson, has long been considered one of the most sophisticated and best preserved town plans in Colonial North America (Figure1). The town plan is well understood synchronically through the work of a number of scholars, but the plan was less well understood in terms cf its gradual development and alteration over the almost three centuries since it was laid down. Therefore, a primary goal of our work was the initiation of a diachronic understanding of town planning in Annapolis. Further, while the joint Historic Annapolis/ University of Maryland, College Park program called "Archaeology in Annapolis;" had established that a large part of the archaeological record of Annapolis was intact, no one knew how much of the original and subsequent street patterns could be recovered archaeologically, nor exactly how one could go about that. Therefore, the second aspect of this project was to establish a set of methods to document street and lot borders. Such a project was urgent since the city of Annapolis plans to dig trenches throughout the core of the Nicholson Plan to bury utility wires. Among other things, these utility trenches provided an opportunity to understand how the third dimension of a Baroque town plan, depth, was handled. This work will allow us to see how the plan was used through time to structure activities and in turn how it was altered to better suit them.Item Cultural Resource Survey of the United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland(1993-09) Bodor, Thomas W.; Anroman, Gilda M.; Russo, Jean B.; Jopling, Hannah; Etherton, Kevin M.; Leone, Mark P.This report presents the results of the Legacy Resource Management Program, Cultural Resource Management survey as it relates to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland. Sponsored by the United States Department of Defense and managed through the Naval Facilities (CHESDIV), a multi-faceted project was initiated by Archaeology In Annapolis, an on-going research project jointly sponsored by Historic Annapolis Foundation, and the University of Maryland, College Park. The project was comprised of an archaeological survey conducted over a 2 month period, title searches on properties now occupied by the USNA, oral history interviews conducted with residents of a former neighborhood purchased by the Academy, and the use of the AutoCAD computer mapping program to assist with the archaeological survey and to potentially generate a predictive model of where historic or prehistoric cultural resources may exist on USNA property. Conclusions drawn from this study highlight the rich amount of cultural resources which exist in the form of artifacts dating from the late-1700's, deeds information that shows changing economic and social patterns throughout the 290 year history of the ground occupied by the Academy, memories of individuals who lived through the expansion of the Academy into their homes, and a series of maps which can be used to indicate the likelihood of further cultural resources.Item Phase Ill Investigations for the Banneker-Douglass Museum Expansion, The Courthouse Site (18AP63), 86-90 Franklin Street, , Annapolis, Maryland, 2001(2002) Larsen, Eric L.; Leone, Mark P.; Beadenkopf, Kris; Lev-Tov, Justin; Madsen, AndrewPhase III archaeological excavations for the Banneker-Douglass Museum Expansion Project were conducted over a six-week period in July and August of 2001. Archaeology in Annapolis undertook the project at the request of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The open lot on the north side of the Museum is part of the larger Courthouse Site (18AP63), a multi component site in the historic district of Annapolis. Previous archaeology for the Banneker-Douglass Project determined this area to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D (archaeological significance). A new addition to the Banneker-Douglass Museum will impact all remaining cultural contexts. As no other alternatives are available, archaeology was planned to mitigate these losses. Known to have once held four separate dwellings built during the mid 19th century, the property was occupied until the structures were tom down in the 1970s. During the late 19th century, the area grew to become part of Annapolis' African-American community. Previous archaeology found intact cultural remains from this period including two different households' privies, a sheet midden, and other structural features. Current excavations pursued the retrieval and analyses of these contexts to increase the understanding of site formation processes and to provide additional information and insights into Annapolis' African-American community- its households, material culture, and adaptations. The development and everyday workings of African-American communities during the period of Jim Crow segregation have not been well documented. Examination of the built environment provides new insight into how and when this community developed. Ceramic, glass, and faunal analyses provide material comparable to other post Civil War African-American sites in Annapolis. This comparison allows the acknowledgment of the inevitable differences present within the African-American community-while also pursuing the nature of a common identity built around race and place.Item Test Excavations at Gott's Court, Annapolis, Maryland(1992) Leone, Mark P.; Little, Barbara J.; Warner, Mark S.In the summer of 1989 Archaeology in Annapolis undertook three weeks of archaeological testing in a parking lot in the Historic District of Annapolis located to the immediate west of Church Circle. The property was scheduled to be destroyed by the construction of a below-ground parking garage. Historical research on the area had indicated that property to have been occupied since the mid 18th-century. The primary purpose of test excavations was to determine the integrity of the archaeological remains below the modern asphalt surface. Results of the excavations indicated that significant archaeological deposits remained from Gott's Court, the early 20th century occupation of the property by working-class African Americans. There was also strong evidence to suggest substantial deposits from earlier occupations of the area. Unfortunately, constraints upon the archaeologists' access to the property did not allow for a more thorough study of that aspect of the site's occupation.Item Phase II Archaeological Testing on Schwar’s Row (18AP120), Annapolis, Maryland, 2012(2015) Deeley, Kathryn; Pruitt, Beth; Skolnik, Benjamin; Leone, Mark P.This report is a summary of excavations conducted by Archaeology in Annapolis between May 29 2012 and July 6 2012 on Cornhill Street, Annapolis, Maryland. The report is divided into the following sections: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Context and Historical Background Chapter 3: Archaeology and Interpretations Chapter 4: Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter 1 of this report is an introduction to the Cornhill Street excavations in 2012 at two areas designated Schwar’s Row East and Schwar’s Row West. Included within in this chapter are the dates of fieldwork, laboratory processing and analyses, the identification of key project staff, as well as research design and methodology. Chapter 2 of this report details the context and historical background of the properties. Included within this chapter is a short history of the ownership of the structures and the research questions for this investigation. Chapter 3 of this report details the results of archaeological testing of a total of four units at Schwar’s Row East and Schwar’s Row West. Included within this chapter is an account of stratigraphic layers, features, and significant artifacts encountered within individual test units. Also included within this chapter are interpretations of layers, features, and artifacts. Chapter 4 of this report details the conclusions based on the data recovered from these excavations and recommendations for further investigations.Item Preliminary Report on Phase I/II Archaeological Testing at 12 Fleet Street, 40 Fleet Street (18AP110), 30 Cornhill Street (18AP114), and 41 Cornhill Street (18AP115), Anne Arundel County, Annapolis, Maryland, 2008-2010(2015) Knauf, Jocelyn; Leone, Mark P.; Tang, Amanda; Uehlein, JustinIn June 2008, June 2009, and June 2010, undergraduate and graduate students under the supervision of staff from the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), Archaeology in Annapolis Project, conducted archaeological testing in privately owned backyards at 40 Fleet Street (18AP110), 12 Fleet Street, 30 Cornhill Street (18AP114), and 41 Cornhill Street (18AP115). These sites are all located in the historic district of Annapolis, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. This project was an intellectual extension of previous testing that was conducted along the public right-of-ways at 26 Market Space (18AP109) and on Fleet Street (18AP111) and Cornhill Street (18AP112) during the spring of 2008. A total of eleven test units were excavated in the backyards on Fleet and Cornhill Streets during the summers of 2008, 2009, and 2010. The Fleet and Cornhill Street project area falls within the Council for Maryland Archaeology’s Maryland Archaeological Research Units, Coastal Plain Province, Research Unit 7, Gunpowder-Middle-Back-Patapsco-Magothy-Severn-South-Rhode-West Drainages. The project area is bounded on the east side by the Annapolis Historic District Market Space and on the west side by State Circle. The previously excavated streetscape units helped to address many of the research questions related to the development of Fleet and Cornhill Streets, and the ways in which the streetscape changed between the seventeenth and the twenty-first centuries. The backyard units provided the opportunity to further address research questions related to the archaeology of a working class neighborhood, providing the opportunity to compare different work and living spaces within the neighborhood. The test units excavated during the course of the project provided evidence of the use of backyard spaces during the historical development of the neighborhood. Historic features uncovered during the excavations included a late 19th and early 20th century privy at 40 Fleet Street, a 19th century cistern at 30 Cornhill Street, and evidence that the early 20th century owners of 41 Cornhill Street may have had indoor plumbing privately installed in their home. Excavated levels and features also revealed evidence of changing usage of backyard spaces through features associated with outbuildings that are no longer extant, as well as artifacts related to domestic and work related activities. This site report is an addendum to the 2008 site report, which details the archaeological findings from the test units that were placed along the streetscape of Fleet and Cornhill Streets, and the Market Space. The test excavations at 40 Fleet Street (18AP110), 12 Fleet Street, 30 Cornhill Street (18AP114) and 41 Cornhill Street (18AP115) indicate that the archaeological resources in the back yard spaces of Fleet and Cornhill Street generally have a high degree of archaeological integrity and are historically significant. The units excavated at the sites of 40 Fleet Street, 30 Cornhill Street, and 41 Cornhill Street provide supporting evidence that these sites meet National Register Criterion D for potential inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, although 41 Cornhill Street showed more disturbance than the other sites. These sites have revealed important information about the historical development of Fleet and Cornhill Streets, and the historic district of Annapolis, over the past two hundred and fifty years, and future work at the sites should be monitored.Item Report on Archaeological Investigations in the Eastport Neighborhood of the City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 2001-2004(2015-05) Palus, Matthew M.; Napoli, Janna M.; Leone, Mark P.This report details the archaeological excavations in Eastport, Maryland at eight different properties during the summers of 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. These include 119 Chester Avenue (18AP93), 110 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP94), 102 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP100), 201 Chesapeake Avenue (18AP101), 512 Second Street (18AP102), 127 Chester Avenue (18AP103), 520 Third Street (18AP105), and 108 Eastern Avenue (18AP106). The Eastport community developed over the later 19th and early 20th centuries on the peninsula immediately to the south of the City of Annapolis, on the eastern shore of the Severn River in Maryland. This peninsula, known as Horne Point, was the location of a series of farms until the second half of the nineteenth century. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, Eastport contained a glass company that was utilized by the City of Annapolis. Jurisdictionally, Eastport was an independent village under the Anne Arundel County government until it was annexed into the City of Annapolis in 1951. The county paid for Eastport to receive some services from Annapolis to compensate for its slowly developing infrastructure. The Annapolis Gas and Electric Light Company placed its first arc light on the Spa Creek Bridge in the 1890s, which would mark one of the first such infrastructural connections between the two communities. This connection multiplied during the early 20th century. The Eastport community has not been subjected to systematic archaeological excavations prior to this study. Archaeological research in the Eastport neighborhood has mainly focused on the community of craftspeople, watermen, boat-builders, oyster shuckers, crab pickers, merchants and grocers, builders and tradesmen, engineers and technicians, laborers and domestics that grew up on the peninsula throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Traditionally Eastport is remembered as a community where working meant more than skin color. However, distinctions were realized between black and white residents, just as they were between old families and recent settlers, skilled and unskilled labor, home owners living in comfort and poor renters crowded into narrow frame dwellings. These dimensions of the community have become a part of its contemporary geography, and they figure strongly in the identity of its residents. The sites investigated from 2001-2004 suggest this diversity. The investigations from 2001 to 2004 aimed to increase these archaeological investigations in order to gain a more thorough understanding of this borough of Annapolis. The excavations took place as part of the University of Maryland Summer Field School in Urban Archaeology offered by Archaeology in Annapolis. The first and second seasons of archaeological excavations took place during the summers of 2001 and 2002, at sites 18AP93 and 18AP94. The third season of archaeological excavations took place during the summer of 2003, at sites 18AP100, 18AP101, 18AP102, and 18AP103. The fourth and final season of archaeological excavations took place during the summer of 2004, at sites 18AP105 and 18AP106. As part of these excavations, shovel test pits (STPs) and excavation units were placed across the front, side, and back yards of the properties. At 18AP93, a total of forty-six STPs were excavated, along with nine 5’ by 5’square excavation units. At site 18AP94, a total of thirty-two 4 STPs were excavated, along with six 5’ by 5’, one 2.5’ by 2.5’, one 4’ by 5’, and one 6’ by 5’ excavation units. At site 18AP100, a total of one 5’ by 5’ and one 6.8’ by 5’ units were excavated. At site 18AP101, a total of seven STPs were excavated, along with five 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP102, a total of fourteen STPs were excavated, along with three 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP103, a total of nine STPs were excavated, along with two 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. At site 18AP105, a total of twenty-three STPs were excavated, along with four 5’ by 5’ and one 4’ by 5’ excavation units. At site 18AP106, a total of forty-four STPs were excavated, along with three 5’ by 5’ square excavation units. Each unit was excavated to sterile soil. After excavations finished each season, all units were backfilled and closed. The excavations within Eastport show that the archaeology of Eastport is intact. The archaeology of house lots has been made to comment on domestic and work life in Eastport from the time of its settlement as a planned town just after the close of the American Civil War. The major contribution that comes from understanding the archaeology of Eastport derives from the work of Matthew Palus in understanding utility lines and their relationship to road building, paving, and the extension of gas, water, sewage, electric, and telephone lines into house lots. Continued excavations have the potential to reveal more information about the changes in the landscape of Eastport during the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, as well as information on the lives of the families who occupied these properties.Item Phase I and II Archaeological Testing at the Talbot County Women’s Club, 18 Talbot Lane, Easton, Maryland, 18TA439(2015) Jenkins, Tracy H.; Leone, Mark P.The University of Maryland, College Park, Archaeology in Annapolis Project, conducted Phase I and II archaeological excavations of the Talbot County Women’s Club (TCWC) in Easton, Maryland, from July 8th through July 26th, 2013. This site is located at 18 Talbot Lane. The Women’s Club granted permission for this excavation as a part of The Hill Community Project to document and publicize the history of the Easton neighborhood known as The Hill and of the community of free African Americans that coalesced around this neighborhood in the nineteenth century. Following on the heels of the 2012 successful public excavation of the Home of the Family of the Buffalo Soldier (HFBS), this second public excavation within The Hill Community Project sought more information on early members of the free black community and on the material conditions of tenants living on The Hill in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. It also continued archaeologists’ efforts at the HFBS to test the capability of archaeological sites of bringing together people of different backgrounds to forge a more open, civil discourse about the past. To these ends, archaeologists conducted a shovel test pit (STP) survey of yard spaces at the Women’s Club and opened seven test units to further investigate activity areas and construction phases, while maintaining a public dig site. While the HFBS excavation focused on African-American landowners from 1879 to 2002, the Women’s Club excavation focuses on the non-landowners who lived here from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries in order to highlight the diversity of experiences among neighborhood residents through the years. These residents included enslaved and free African Americans in the nineteenth century and tenants of unknown ethnic background in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Today, upwards of two thirds of the residents of The Hill rent their homes. The high rate of tenancy has been identified as a major contributor toward the gentrification processes that currently threaten the integrity of the African American community by pushing black families from dilapidating homes and demolishing historic community and racial landmarks in attempts to remove blight from the neighborhood. Excavations at the Women’s Club therefore sought more information on the material conditions of tenancy and the ways in which community can exist even without home-ownership. The most promising archaeological materials for addressing these questions at the Women’s Club are a nineteenth-century kitchen used by both enslaved and free cooks and a sheet midden created by the several families renting the property from 1891-1946.