Exhibit Closing

The end of a year always comes with a sense of closure for people whether it be closure on a good year in hopes of an even better one next time, closure on using one calendar and moving on to the next, and so on.

The end of 2008 will bring with it the closing of Seeking Liberty: An Imagined Community at the Banneker-Douglass Museum. The exhihibition will continue on in new forms with satellite exhibit cases at each of the five sites featured in the exhibition going on display in the coming month and the website will remain live. There is even talk of at least part of the exhibit going on display in other areas in Maryland.

Jess and I have been in discussion over the past few weeks regarding the future of the Seeking Liberty blog trying to determine how we would like to proceed. This blog has been a quiet one in terms of comments, however we know that there are many people out there reading it. Just to give you a taste, since the blog was launched, over 1500 people have visited from over 25 countries around the world. It is really gratifying to know that this exhibition has interested people from 6 continents. With that being said, we pose the question to you: What do you think we should do? We have come up with a few different options and would like to hear what you have to say.

Option 1: Do nothing. Continue the blog as usual, although most likely with fewer posts.
Option 2: End the blog when the exhibition ends on 31 December 2008.
Option 3: Convert the blog into a Banneker-Douglass Museum blog with occasional postings on archaeology and Seeking Liberty-related information.

What do you think? Send us your answers by posting below. If you do not want to leave a post, feel free to email me at BDMPrograms(at)goci(dot)state(dot)md(dot)us with your answer.
Thank you!

Horse harness decorations

The Four Rivers Heritage Area is compiling information about horses in the region, which led me to examine some of our collections for horse related artifacts. The following image is of a brass harness decoration which measures about three inches long and was found during excavations at the Governor Calvert House:

In his influential book A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America published in 1969, Ivor Noel Hume briefly mentions similar artifacts and attributes them to the 18th century.

Archaeology in Annapolis uncovered a similar, though less ornate, brass harness decoration from the Reynolds' Tavern site. During William Reynolds' occupation of the site, there was a stable behind the Tavern, which further supports the claim that this object was a harness decoration.

The MAC Lab website also features information and photographs of similar artifacts, which they identify as leather ornaments. The website states, "More often than not ... the metal ornaments were purely decorative and might have been placed on just about any leather strap, bag, saddle pad, sword hanger, etc." The information on leather ornaments is included in the "small finds" section of the website. The term "small finds" is used for objects that are found in small quantities on sites and therefore are difficult to analyze and interpret. The idea behind this portion of the MAC Lab website is to compile information on "small finds" so that they may eventually be used in site analysis.

As you can see we would love to learn more about leather ornaments so please add comments to this post with any additional information you may have.

To view the MAC Lab "small finds" site follow this link: http://www.jefpat.org/diagnostic/Small%20Finds/leather%20escutcheons/Web%20Pages/LeatherOrnaments.htm

Anne Arundel County Courthouse: Part III

Here is another really interesting artifact found at the courthouse site:

This is an 1896 presidential campaign button for the Republican candidate, William McKinley. As we mentioned before the courthouse block was occupied predominantly by African Americans through the middle of the 20th century. The Republican Party was in support of Emancipation and was therefore the political party of choice for African Americans during this time period. This button serves as a reminder that African Americans were politically active, having just received the right to vote in 1870 with the ratification of the 15th Amendment.

The McKinley election was actually the first time celluloid was used for campaign buttons. Celluloid buttons became very popular and are still commonly used today. Unfortunately, this material decomposes easily and therefore buttons like these are very rare to find during archaeological excavations.

Archaeology in Annapolis is currently working with the Historic Annapolis Foundation to create a small exhibit at the Anne Arundel County Courthouse on Church Circle in Annapolis. The exhbit will feature artifacts from excavations on the courthouse block and should be installed in the the coming year. We'll keep you posted on progress!

Archaeology on Vacation

Working as a museum educator requires me to become very knowledgeable on whatever topic the museum I work at focuses on. For instance, working at the National Building Museum years ago I learned more about city planning, bridge engineering, and geodesic domes (think Spaceship Earth aka the big golf ball shaped building at Epcot) than I ever thought I would. I still can't drive home to the midwest without looking at the different types of bridges along the way.

Last month I traveled around the Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Loire Valley regions of France and everywhere I went I ran across archaeological digs. One city I visited was Reims, the location of the signing of the Germany's surrender at the Allied headquarters at the end of World War II. Reims had a front row seat to history throughout the past century. After nearly being completely destroyed during WWI (85% of the buildings were gone) the city went on to serve as the home of the Allied Headquarters in France at the end of WWII and was the location of the signing of the ceasefire on 7 May 1945 bringing WWII in Europe to an end. A more widely known second signing was held one day later in Berlin.

While walking to the Musee de la Reddition, home of the former Allied headquarters, I came across an archaeological dig in progress on a main road in the city. This dig was part of pre-construction archaeology required by law. One of the things that I was very impressed with at this site as well as the one I came across in the Loire Valley was that each dig had signage explaining what was going on for anyone passing by. This took the form of the sign above in Reims.

Within the past 10 years, an intensive archaological study was conducted in Reims to trace the city's history back to the Roman times. The city has Roman ruins and archaologists have been able to successfully trace their findings as far back as two thousand years ago. The findings from this study are available by clicking here. Be aware the study is published in French, so you will need to translate the page if you don't read French.

When looking at the picture on the left you can see the stratigraphy (layering) of the ground. Evidence of roads and road construction from the past 100 years is on view for anyone passing by to view. Imagine what these roads have laid witness to especially given the few events I listed above. While I was at the Musee de la Reddition, I saw a film showing what the city of Reims looked like before and after its moment in history including events such as the V-E Day parades down the streets of the city, including this street. It was a great way for me to have some context as to what types of finds and materials the archaeologists might be looking for.

Coming soon: Archaeology in Angers, France -- The discovery of 5th century artifacts while building a city tramway

Anne Arundel County Courthouse: Part II

Now for the long-awaited Part II of the Anne Arundel County Courthouse blog entry...

So, as I mentioned before, prior to the expansion of the courthouse the entire courthouse block in Annapolis was home to an ethnically diverse community. Pictured below are ceramic pipe bowls embossed with the words "Home Rule" which were found at the site:

These pipe bowls are likely connected to Irish immigrants who called the Courthouse block home. "Home Rule" refers to the demand made by the Irish "Home Rule League" for greater autonomy for Ireland within the British Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The presence of these pipes show that even while living in the United States, Irish immigrants were still involved in the politics of their home country. In 1879, Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Nationalist movement, visited the United States to raise money and support for the movement.

Check back later this week to learn about another interesting artifact found at the courthouse site!

Rumney's Folly

I was just forwarded an announcement about a talk that will be given at Historic London Town and Gardens in December. The subject of the talk is Edward Rumney, Sr. who lived at London Town and is also connected to an archaeological site there. Here is the announcement:

"Rumney’s Folly
On Tuesday, December 2nd, at 7:00pm, Rod Cofield, Director of Interpretation and Museum Programs at Historic London Town and Gardens will present his latest research on London Town's Edward Rumney, Sr. Rod will discuss how Rumney, who had lived in Anne Arundel County since at least 1686, overextended himself in the 1710s due to his financial involvement in the ferrykeeping and innkeeping business. Once a respected man in the community, having served on juries and as a road overseer, Rumney saw the last few years of his life become debt-ridden and litigious. More people know about Rumney, Jr. (a known counterfeiter); now learn about his father. Admission is $5. London Town members and volunteers are free. Please RSVP at 410-222-1919."

Sounds like an interesting subject- Hope you can attend!

London Town is located in Edgewater, Maryland about a 20 minute drive from downtown Annapolis. For more on London Town visit their website: http://www.historiclondontown.org/

Online Survey

I just wanted to post a quick entry to let everyone know that I've recently updated the survey for the online version of the Seeking Liberty exhibit. The survey is available online and can be reached from the Seeking Liberty homepage. Or just paste this link in your address bar to fill-out the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=U8gk65cK16jATnVL176_2bOQ_3d_3d%22%3EClick%20Here%20to%20take%20survey

The survey includes 10 questions and should only take about 10 minutes of your time. We love to hear your comments so please fill-out the survey when you get a chance. Also, feel free to email any comments, questions or suggestions to seekingliberty@gmail.com.

I'm continuously updating the website with new images and information so check back frequently to view the new additions.

More news coverage of the African bundle

Here is the video from WUSA Channel 9 news coverage of the bundle. Stay tuned as we post more media hits throughout the week.

African Cache found on Fleet Street!

Featured in yesterday's New York Times' science news and the Capital newspaper were articles on a bundle of artifacts related to African Spiritual Practices found here in the historic district of Annapolis.

Last spring while Archaeology in Annapolis was performing excavations on Fleet and Cornhill Streets we came across a particularly interesting find. Archaeologists Alethea Williams and Matt Cochran initially uncovered the tip of a stone axe blade resting vertically, approximately 4 feet below ground along the side of Fleet Street. As they excavated around the axe head they found that it was encased within a solid clay mass. They carefully removed the mass from the ground and discovered that the clay was full of pieces of lead shot along with numerous nails. The clay mass dates to the early 18th century and was of a distincly different material from the surrounding soil. The bundle was in an ovular shape and was most likely enclosed in a cloth bag which would have deteriorated over time. The Maryland Archaeological Conservation lab x-rayed the bundle and produced the following image:

The white circles are pieces of shot, while the outline of nails and pins are also apparent. Archaeology in Annapolis has found evidence of West African Spiritual practices during other excavations inside of the Carroll House, the Brice House and Reynolds' Tavern. The cache found on Fleet Street is different though, in that it was discovered within a public context. This find was a major breakthrough because it suggests that different spiritual rituals were practiced in public and possibly were more generally accepted than we had previously thought. Archaeology in Annapolis is still working with specialists in West African Spiritual traditions to uncover the origin of this discovery. We'll keep you updated on future finds!

To view the articles visit the following links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/science/21arch.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/10_21-10/CAN

Dr. Kelso to speak at the Naval Academy

This Tuesday night at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Dr. William Kelso will give a lecture entitled "Jamestown: The Buried Truth." In 1607, 104 English men and boys landed on the James River, built a fort and established Jamestown, what was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Dr. Kelso is the Director of Archaeology at Jamestown and oversaw excavations of the 1607 James Fort. This should be a really interesting talk... Hope to see you there!

The lecture is open to the public and will begin at 7:15 in Mahan Auditorium. For more information on entering the Naval Academy visit their website: www.usna.edu

View the announcement in the Capital newspaper: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/10_12-52/TOP

For more information on archaeology at Jamestown see the following sites:
http://www.apva.org/jr.html
http://historicjamestowne.org/

Anne Arundel County Courthouse: Part I

While archaeologists are making exciting discoveries at the Charles County Courthouse site, I thought I would highlight some of the history of the Anne Arundel County Courthouse block right here in Annapolis, MD. The Anne Arundel County Courthouse and the Banneker-Douglass Museum are actually located on the same city block in the Historic District of Annapolis.

The map to the right dates to around 1890. You can see the original size of the courthouse and the AME Church which is now part of the Banneker-Douglass Museum. The addition to the museum, built in 2003, extends about 50 feet toward the courthouse along Doctor Street (now Franklin Street). The remaining yellow and pink blocks on the map represent houses and small businesses. As a result of development over the past century the remainder of the Courthouse Block is now occupied by additions to the courthouse.

In 2000 and 2001 Archaeology in Annapolis held summer Field Schools on the courthouse block prior to the construction of the museum addition. Students excavated privies, former backyards, cellars and house foundations. They discovered the material remains of the culturally and ethnically varied residents of the courthouse block.

In 1897 Bellis Court was built in the center of the Courthouse Block. This alley community was composed of predominantly low-income African-Americans who according to census records worked almost exclusively as laborers. By 1951 Bellis Court and all the houses along South Street had disappeared and were eventually replaced by courthouse additions. Archaeologists recovered a large amount of buttons while excavating what would have been the backyard area of the Bellis Court houses. In a time when employment was severely limited for African-Americans many female residents of the Courthouse Block worked as washerwomen.

Check back for Part II including more details about excavations at the Courthouse.

Charles County Courthouse

Speaking of archaeology in the news. There was an article in The Capital recently about an important discovery in Charles County. It seems that archaeologists from St. Mary's College of Maryland have discovered the original Charles County courthouse which dates to the 1620s.

The courthouse has taken almost 75 years to locate. The group of archaeologists led by St. Mary's professor Julia King were able to identify the courthouse due to an unusually large amount of artifacts found while digging test pits. Shovel test pits commonly known as STPs are a standard in the early stages of excavation and are a common way for archaeologists to assess where cultural remains may or may not be located on a given site. STPs are usually laid out in a grid over the project area. Archaeologists then dig small test holes typically only a foot to a foot and a half in diameter in order to determine artifact densities. Based on the results from the STPS, archaeologists determine if further excavation is necessary. STPs are most commonly used for Cultural Resourse Management(CRM) work.

Among the artifacts found at the courthouse were a large number of glass and ceramic shards from wine bottles, beer tankards and drinking vessels. Professor King explained that it was common practice for judges and councilmen to drink while at the courthouse. According to King there are no 17th century buildings which still exist in Maryland or Virginia so to find the foundation of an early government building like this is very significant.

For more information on the Courthouse find see the following Capital and Washington Post articles:
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/09_16-11/REG
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060802057.html

London Uncovered

Archaeology has been in the news quite a bit lately with many digs and their findings being presented to the public. The finds have been all over the map both literally and figuratively. From the discovery of a 1,900 year old Thracian chariot in Bulgaria to the uncovering of a 3,000 year old head of Ramses II from a large statue in Egypt to the uncovering of Shakespeare's first theater in London. The stories have been really interesting to watch. I never realized how frequently archaeology came up in the media until this exhibit opened and now I can't stop seeing archaeology articles. I suppose it goes to show how aware I have been.

The article on the London findings particularly caught my eye as the images from the digs on the Museum of London Archaeology Service website somewhat resemble the digs that took place this summer in downtown Annapolis. The picture on the left really reminded me of some of the backyards along Fleet and Cornhill Streets. The two digs also have similarities in that they were conducted metropolitain areas in preparation of construction projects. Annapolis was preparing for utility undergrounding while London was studying the site as the home of a new theater.












Annapolis

Tree dedication

Yesterday was the dedication ceremony of the Honey Locust Memorial tree in the backyard of the Maynard-Burgess House. Everyone gathered around 2pm to hear opening remarks by the Mayor of Annapolis, Ellen Moyer. Janice Hayes Williams, a prominent African American Historian for the City of Annapolis also talked to the audience about the Maynard and Burgess families and generally what life was like for free African Americans in Annapolis. Dr. Mark Leone spoke on the archaeological finds that were recovered at the site during excavations in the 1990s. Lastly, Mamie Williams of Fowler's Methodist Church gave a blessing of the tree which included a prayer and song. Two decedents of Willis Burgess attended and officially uncovered the dedication plaque for all to see. Archaeology in Annapolis displayed artifacts from the excavations and the Mayor's Office produced signs interpreting the archaeology from the site.

As Mayor Moyer explained this dedication was the first step in transforming the backyard of the Maynard-Burgess House into a representation of a 19th century working yard. While performing archaeology at the house in the early 1990s archaeologists found the remains of a privy which was full of household refuse including bottles and ceramics. From census records we know that members of the Maynard and Burgess families worked as laundresses. Archaeologists found an unusually large amount of buttons in the yard to support this information. A privy and a clothes line will be included in the representation of the 19th century yard as well as a small garden. It was typical for middle class families in the 19th century to maintain small gardens as a means of supplementing their groceries. While Annapolis has many house museums this will be an especially important site because it will be the only representation of a free African-American household.

Work on the backyard will take place over the coming year with the site opening to the public sometime in 2009.

Charles Carroll House Cache

One of the most popular and intriguing portions of the Seeking Liberty exhibit is the Brice House material which includes a model of the East wing of the house that was excavated by Archaeology in Annapolis in 1998. In the basement of the east wing archaeologists discovered a series of caches or distinct, intentional deposits of material placed there by African Americans in order to control spirits which is a common practice in West African cultures. What many may not know is that Archaeology in Annapolis discovered a similar cache at the Charles Carroll House in 1991.

Dr. Robert Worden was a volunteer excavator at the site when he discovered a white ceramic bowl with a blue asterisk placed upside down approximately 18 inches beneath the modern dirt floor of the East wing of the Carroll House. When he removed the broken ceramic bowl he found that it had been placed over a whole array of other artifacts including 14 rock crystals, a half-dozen white bone discs, a smooth black pebble, two coins (one dated 1790 and the other 1810) and a number of straight pins.

This being the first deposit of its kind found in Annapolis, archaeologists were unaware of the meaning and significance of these materials. They did however know that the artifacts had been intentionally deposited in the room, and that they had most likely been associated with the African and African American slaves who worked in this area of the Carroll House.

The finds were published in an article in the Sunday Times on September 15, 1991. That Monday Dr. Frederick Lamp, Curator of African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art telephoned to suggest that the materials were a spirit bundle associated with West African culture. Lamp further explained that within this tradition crystals were used to contain spirits and that the four holes on the buttons most likely represented a cosmogram. A cosmogram is a symbol of the vertical world axis and the horizon showing a divide between the worlds of the living and the dead. These items were most likely placed in the ground by spiritual practitioners to control spirits for various purposes, especially to protect inhabitants. No one in Annapolis had ever found anything tied so clearly to African culture.

Before these discoveries many thought that African cultural traditions did not survive the Middle Passage. The cache at the Carroll House provided compelling evidence that Africans did retain religious practices in the New World well into the 19th century. Thus, the history of Annapolis was no longer strictly European it also contains clear African influence as well.

The cache of materials from the Carroll House are currently on display at the History Quest Welcome Center in Annapolis located at 99 Main Street right near the city dock. For details see their website: http://www.annapolis.org/index.asp?pageid=44

For more on the Carroll House finds see Dr. Mark Leone's book "The Archaeology of Liberty in An American Capital: Excavations in Annapolis" (2005).

If a tree falls in the forest...

I was recently in a meeting discussing the use of technology by historic sites in Anne Arundel County when we began talking about the use of blogs as a very user-friendly means of talking about what historic sites are up to. One of the meeting attendees commented on the blog at Port Tobacco here in Maryland as one of the better examples. This blog provides information as to the status or projects, new ideas, and what staff members are up to in bite-sized amounts which gave you quite a bit of detail without being overwhelming and conveying the excitement and energy the writer is feeling towards a particular project. As I was reading the blog, I found myself thinking about how information is provided to visitors by museums and vice versa and how it it changing.

Using Seeking Liberty as an example, we have tried to provide information in four different ways, each one with differing approaches and results. The first method is through the exhibition itself. The exhibit has physical objects, labels, and text panels - all things expected in a museum exhibition. The exhibition has been extremely popular with visitors near and far, with many people coming specifically to see this exhibit. Within the exhibition is a survey asking visitors to take a few minutes to provide us their feedback. I am very interested in the fact that few visitors fill out the forms and when they do, they do not leave us much feedback. However, in our permanent exhibition on the second floor, we have a nearly identical survey which is filled out quite frequently. On this form we ask visitors to rate different experiences they had in the exhibit as well as tell us how they connected with the exhibition. On the permanent gallery forms, we receive quite a bit of feedback - sometimes quite extensive feedback. In Seeking Liberty, that is not the case. The forms, when they are filled out, generally only have numeric answers without any comments.

At first I found this to be rather disheartening. I found myself asking whether or not the visitors were truly engaging in the exhibit or were they simply walking into the exhibit and walking out, following the directions of the security guard to go into the first room they saw. I saw some truth to that when I worked the front desk and would provide a different overview of the museum and would not direct the visitors to immediately enter the exhibit they were standing next to. After doing so, I found that visitors would often actually choose to go to the permanent exhibition first. What did that mean for the attracting power of Seeking Liberty? Is this exhibit not as engaging as we once thought? Are people simply not engaging with the subject matter beyond what they read within the exhibit? Do they not take anything out of the museum from the exhibit?

I ended up getting my answer in a very unexpected place - this blog. One of the major concerns many museum folks have it that if you put exhibitions and exhibition content online, people will not want to actually come and see the physical exhibit. My argument has always been that putting information online is a way of attracting visitors to the exhibition and to allow people who will never be able to see the physical exhibit a means of accessing it. To put in another way, if someone does not have the means to go to Paris themselves, does that mean that looking at images, reading about the city, and owning Paris-themed objects will deter them from ever wanting to actually go?

When reviewing the statistics for this blog and the exhibition website I was very surprised to learn that while people are not necessarily filling out the evaluation forms, they are giving us feedback through their visitation to the blog. We are seeing that many visitors have come to the museum and then gone home to view the website and blog. This showed me that perhaps I was a bit hasty in my thinking that people are not getting anything out of the exhibit because they were not filling out paper forms. The return visits, to me, are far more gratfying because they show me that people are enjoying the exhibition so much that they are willing to give the museum a second visit - this time virtually.

If you visited the exhibit at the museum and this blog, which did you visit first? What made you come back for a second look at Seeking Liberty? If you have only seen this blog, or the exhibit's website for that matter, has it stopped you from wanting to come to the museum to see the physical exhibit?

Lion of Baltimore

The Capital published an article today outlining a new project for the Maritime and Archaeological Historical Society. They are launching, with the assistance of a grant from the Maryland Historical Trust, a land and water survey of Bodkin Creek in an effort to find the remains of the Lion of Baltimore and a now-vanished lighthouse at Bodkin Point.



The Lion of Baltimore was one of the famous Baltimore Clipper ships known for their speed and agility, even in shallow waters. The ship was lost in 1814 at the Battle of Bodkin Creek when it was burned by the British during the War of 1812. If the search is successful, it would be one of the first times a clipper ship has been found.

Divers will be searching this location as well as the rest of Bodkin Creek and parts of the Chesapeake Bay over the next week and a half. If anyone has any suggestions for where in the Bodkin divers should look, contact Brian Jordan, assistant underwater archaeologist for the Maryland Historical Trust at 410.514.7668.

One of the intriguing parts of the article talks about a man reporting to have seen a schooner ship off his property two years ago after a storm. The comment couldn't stop my mind from wandering to the idea of a Loch Ness Monster in the area.


Click here to read today's article.



Click here for 2003 article published in the LA Times on the search for the Lion of Baltimore.



Click here for a 2007 article published in the Maryland Gazette on the history of the Lion of Baltimore.

Thomas Jefferson's Toothbrush!

While doing some reading for this week's Featured Artifact I came across another really interesting artifact:

This bone toothbrush handle was found in 1988 during excavations at Colonial Williamsburg. The handle is engraved with the name “Thos. Jefferson.” Thomas Jefferson did live at Williamsburg when he served as the second Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia beginning in 1779. Jefferson left Williamsburg in 1780 when the capitol was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. The toothbrush handle was found in a trash deposit near the Governor's Palace. According to the context of the find, archaeologists know that the toothbrush handle was discarded in the late 18th century and therefore almost certainly belonged to Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States.

It is extremely rare to recover an artifact that can be connected to a specific person. While this is an exciting find it doesn't really tell archaeologists anything they didn't already know. Historical Archaeoloy is actually more useful for accessing the cultural remains of those who we don't already know much about because they were left out of written history, typically the lower class, women and minorities.

For more information on Thomas Jefferson's toothbrush and other archaeological finds at Williamsburg visit their website:

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/may03/iotm.cfm

You never know what you are going to get...

The Washington Post published a fascinating article today on an archaeological dig in the Sahara Desert which has the remains of two different groups of people over a 5,000 year period. The article details how the site was found in 2000 when University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno was searching for dinosaur bones in Niger and came across this site. He returned three years later with researchers from several different countries to dig at the site.


The article is fascinating in that it is proof that you never know that you will find when you are digging.





Archaeologist Elena Garcea of the University of Cassino in Italy brushes sand from a skeleton at Gobero. Garcea, who has spent nearly three decades excavating Stone Ages sites in northern Africa, used pot sherds and other artifacts to help identify Kiffian and Tenerian cultures at Gobero. Photo © Mike Hettwer, courtesy Project Exploration.
http://www.projectexploration.org



Click here to see the article from the Washington Post.


Click here to link to Project Exploration's website for more information, videos, and images.

More than just digging...

Today I thought I would address a frequently asked question. What happens to the artifacts archaeologists find once the excavations have ended?

Archaeologists actually spend a majority of their time in the Laboratory processing and analyzing artifacts. Archaeology in Annapolis has completed the Fleet-Cornhill Mitigation project and the summer Field School and now we have artifacts recovered from almost 14 weeks of excavation to process. The estimation is that for every week spent in the field excavating archaeologists
spend a month in the lab processing the artifacts.

The first step in processing collections involves washing all the artifacts. There are specific standards for washing artifacts which vary according to the material and the condition of the artifact. This is also the point where archaeologists identify artifacts that require special conservation attention and then create a plan of action to address these needs.

Next we must catalog the collection which is a way of recording a description of each artifact along with all other artifacts found within the same provenience. Provenience is the single most important word within the discipline of archaeology. Provenience refers to the three-dimensional context or location of an archaeological find which allows us to date our discoveries and is essential to the interpretation of a site. Next we carefully label each artifact with provenience information. Ideally we try to label the object itself so that the information cannot be separated from the object. Artifacts are stored permanently in temperature and humidity controlled facilities to reduce the rate of deterioration. The idea is to preserve and store these artifacts indefinitely for future research.

The next stage is the interpretation. For each site excavated, archaeologists must produce a site report which interprets and explains the archaeological finds. Site reports vary according to location and time period of the site but most historical archaeology site reports contain similar elements. Before excavation begins archaeologists perform documentary research in order to understand the site they are digging. This background information is included in the report. Each unit, which refers to the individual holes dug on the site, has a section in the site report. Each of these sections generally includes a brief level-by-level description of how the unit was excavated and then gives greater detail on significant finds including drawings and/or photographs. Cultural Resource Management site reports also include a section for "recommendations" where the the archaeologists make suggestions as to the future care and preservation of the historical site.

Many archaeologists try to publish their findings in a professional journal or if possible a more main-stream publication in order to reach a larger audience. Archaeology in Annapolis certainly has plenty of work to do in the next few months- we'll keep you posted!

The Society for Historical Archaeology provides a great outline for how to properly process an archaeology collection. Here's the link: http://www.sha.org/research_resources/curation_standards.htm

Tenement Museum

I just got back from a trip to New York City and while we were there I visited a really great house museum called the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The building was erected in the 1860s and was home to an estimated 7,000 people between then and the 1930s. At any one time this single address housed around 20 families.

I went on the "Getting by Tour" which took us to the apartments of the German-Jewish Gumpertz family who lived at the address in the 1870s and the Sicilian-Catholic Baldizzi family who were there in the 1930s. Each of the apartments were around 300 square feet and had a small bedroom, a kitchen area and a small living room. Of course due to the size of the apartments all of the these rooms doubled as living, dining and work spaces. There were outhouses in the back yard for the 20 families until the early 1900s when they received indoor pluming. After that each floor had two bathrooms to share between the 4 apartments on each floor. In the early 20th century they ran electricity to the tenement building.

Much of the information known about the Gumpertz family was taken from historical documentation. They showed us pictures of the family members as well as census records and citizenship papers and used these documents to tell the story. As for the second apartment (pictured here), the museum was able to contact a member of the Baldizzi family that lived in the tenement as a young girl. They have around 15 hours of oral history interviews with her and she played a major part in helping reconstruct the apartment as she remembered it for the museum. They played a few minutes of the oral history recording for us where she describes her mother and some of her daily activities.

At the end of the tour they took us into what they call the "Ruin Room" which is an apartment left exactly as the museum found it in 1988. The guide wrapped up the tour by talking about current immigration in the city. I asked if there had been any archaeology done at the museum. The guide said that archaeologists had excavated the backyard and had found the privy and they are currently excavating the cellar area. As you can imagine they found a tremendous amount of domestic material but beyond that the guide couldn't give me too many details.

For me this museum was so interesting because it wasn't about one time period or one group of people. It was about the urban immigration experience as a whole. It managed to tie so many different types of people together but also kept it personal and relevant to the present. If you're in NYC I recommend a visit. Don't forget to ask about the archaeology!

For more information on the museum check out their website: http://www.tenement.org/index.htm

How many people does it take...

One of the things that strikes me about the objects on display is the presence of several toys. At the Calvert House, Brice House, and Maynard-Burgess House archaeologists found toys ranging from different types of marbles at Maynard-Burgess, parts of a porceline doll at Brice House, and several different toys including toy soldiers and small toy pitchers at the Calvert House.

One of the toys found at Reynold's Tavern caused us a bit of trouble during installation. The object was a toy soldier and horse made out of metal that had broken into a few different pieces. As you can see in these pictures, attaching the toy was no easy feat. It took three people to attach these pieces to the case and secure them so that they will not fall over. Thankfully after several attempts, the installation was successful.

Expanded Cell Phone Tour

An expanded version of the Seeking Liberty Cell Phone Tour is hitting the streets today - literally. The new version of the tour covers not only objects inside the exhibit, but takes visitors out to each of the sites featured in the exhibit. The cell phone tour also includes new stops within the exhibit.

Visitors can pick up brochures for the cell phone tour at the Banneker-Douglass Museum or at the Annapolis Visitors Center starting this week. To learn more about the Seeking Liberty tour, check out our March posting on Cell Phone Tours.

Wye House Dig Video

To learn about the work Archaeology in Annapolis' field school is doing at Wye House, check out this video from Discovery News filmed in 2007.

Field School

Right now Archaeology in Annapolis is nearing the end of our six-week field school. Each year AIA teaches a class in archaeological field methods which offers beginners instruction in excavation methods, laboratory work, stratigraphic analysis, technical drawing, writing and interpretation. This year the last half of the field school was held at the Wye House in Talbot County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Wye House is a plantation that was founded in the late 18th century by Edward Lloyd, a wealthy Maryland landowner. Wye House is a National Historic Landmark and is still privately owned by descendants of the Lloyd family. The field school is currently excavating in a location on the property called the "Long Green" where slaves to the Lloyds worked and lived. Frederick Douglass actually spent a few years of his childhood as a slave at Wye House. One of the best accounts we have of the property comes from one of Douglass' autobiographies, My Bondage, My Freedom, where he describes the landscape and living conditions in some detail. Students are excavating what we believe was a slave quarter. Through excavation we hope to confirm that this was in fact a domestic site for slaves and to further gain some insight into their everyday lives.

For more information on the AIA field school see the following link: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/anth/aia/school.htm

For information on field schools that are held throughout the country and all over the world check out the Shovel Bums website: http://www.shovelbums.org/component/option,com_sobi2/catid,10/Itemid,880/

Underwater Archaeology part 2

A few weeks ago, I posted about the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. I then asked my friend Michelle Damian, an underwater archaeologist with the museum to write a posting about her experiences in the field. Here is her response.

Genevieve introduced everyone to underwater archaeology in a recent blog post, and kindly invited me to talk a little more about the subject. Since then with all the rain and groundwater on the featured site here, I see that the archaeologists have indeed had to handle a “submerged” site! Though the water in the pit looks pretty murky, that’s actually similar to most of the underwater sites I’ve been able to work on so far – including the very first archaeological dive I ever did.

I got started in underwater archaeology when I was living in the Washington DC area. I had been diving for several years and enjoyed the handful of “touristy” shipwreck dives I’d done in tropical waters, just observing large steel wrecks usually sunk intentionally as artificial reefs. When I heard about the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society’s (MAHS) introductory class for maritime archaeology, I knew I had to find out more.

Little did I know how my life would change by taking that class! The MAHS program was a series of classes on search and mapping techniques, ship construction, ethical approaches to shipwreck archaeology, and historical research. After participating in some pool training sessions, we spent a weekend in a Maryland river inlet investigating the remains of a nineteenth century schooner. It was my first experience with “black-water” diving – so silty that it is nearly impossible to see anything underwater. And there were jellyfish to dodge!

But even with all that, something amazing happened. We felt around the wreck site and found various recognizable parts of the ship – the keel, some hull planking, some structural supports (“knees”) and even a stempost. With the data we collected the professional archaeologist who led the class, was able to create a site map that revealed the basic shape of the wreck. We were probably the first people to touch that site in over a century. By recording what was left of the ship and making that knowledge publicly available, we gave this lost vessel a voice again. It is truly an incredible feeling to help bring history back to life. I was captivated. Jellyfish, black water, and all!

I began volunteering with the Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA), which is run by Kurt Knoerl, the same archaeologist who led our field school, and learned more about the field. Since I had spent many years in Japan and have a love for that area, I began to wonder how I could integrate all my passions. I was able to do so in East Carolina University’s master’s program in maritime archaeology, which among other things allowed me to investigate Japanese shipbuilding. As Genevieve mentioned, that journey is recorded on the MUA as well. I’m hoping to finish that thesis this summer.

If any divers reading this are interested in learning more about underwater archaeology, the annual MAHS class is relatively local to the DC area and is a good introduction to the field (I think the jellyfish were an unusual occurrence on a field school!). For interested nondivers and divers alike, the MUA holds a wealth of information on sites ranging from the Delmarva area to Florida, the Great Lakes, France, Australia, Asia, and beyond. Good luck as well to the archaeologists on the Banneker-Douglass related sites – hopefully your terrestrial sites will remain terrestrial in the future!

Michelle is currently working on her PhD at the University of Southern California. Her degree will help her better combine her love of all things historical, Japanese, archaeological, and underwater.

Thanks Michelle!

Well, well

I wanted to highlight one more exciting find that came out of the Fleet-Cornhill excavation. Here's the photo:
This is an 18th century brick well that was was found in front of 40 Cornhill Street about two weeks ago. In particular the shape of this well puzzled us. You can see at the top of the picture that the well is perfectly round and then at the bottom the walls straighten out forming a teardrop shape. We originally thought that the walls may have pinched in from the weight of the soil on the other side of the wall but the more we dug the more we were convinced that this was intentional. If you have any ideas as to the shape of this well please feel free to comment!

The small hole you see in the bottom-center of the picture is from an auger we used to try to test how deep the well is. The auger actually slipped down into the hole suggesting that there is an air pocket beneath the layer you see here. Judging from other wells in Annapolis that we know of, this well is most likely about 15 to 20 feet deep.

The well was almost certainly in use into the 20th century. Within this well we found a lot of 20th century artifacts including the glass bottle shown here:

This is a Snider's Chili Catsup bottle which dates to the mid-20th century. The presence of these 20th century artifacts suggests that the well was filled in throughout the 20th century.

At the time of these photos we were about 3 and a half feet down to the first course of bricks of the well and then another 2 and a half feet down into the well. Considering how deep we were and the likelyhood that there was an airpocket in the well we decided that it would be too dangerous to dig further without proper shoring of the walls of the excavation and also some kind of a harness in case it were to collapse. We also know that the undergrounding of overhead electrical wires is not likely to go deeper than we have already excavated so we decided that it would be best to leave the well intact in the ground. Essentially we chose to preserve the site by leaving it alone.

18 Fleet Street

On Wednesday we tried again to mitigate all the water pouring into the unit in front of 18 Fleet Street. We attached a large nylon "sock" to the end of the water pump hoping that it would filter out all of the sediment and leave clean water that could be disposed of in the storm drain. Unfortunately there was so much sediment that it clogged the "sock" almost immediately so we had to abandon that idea. Next we tried using a large settling tank. The idea was to pump the water into the tank and let the water sit so that all the sediment would settle to the bottom leaving clean water. We found that the unit was filling up with water so fast that we didn't have time to pump the water out and then let it settle.

Yesterday we decided that given these water mitigation issues and the time restraints we're working under that we aren't going to be able to excavate this unit further. We're all a little disappointed that we won't find out if the log road extends up Fleet Street but the project managers will recommend that the City excavate further in this area. Depending on how deep they plan to bury the utility lines on Fleet Street it is possible that the log road we found won't be disturbed considering it was 4 and 1/2 feet below the current sidewalk level.

We filled in the 18 Fleet Street unit yesterday and will replace the sidewalk early next week. Guess I can say goodbye to the Wellies for a while!

More water!

We had a frustrating week trying to excavate in front of 18 Fleet Street. On Wednesday we removed the brick sidewalk we uncovered the previous week. Directly below this we found what was most likely another fill layer that contained a variety of small artifacts. We excavated only a few inches through this layer and then we were completely overwhelmed by water. We seem to have hit a spring about 2 feet below the current sidewalk level. Water was pouring into the unit as quickly as we could pump the water out. The surface of the excavation was completely saturated with a few inches of water on top making it impossible to excavate by stratigraphic level. We decided to dig a hole about a foot and a half deep in the corner of the unit to create a place for the water to drain. We still had to pump out the unit continually but it did help to dry out the top layer of the excavation a bit.

We were pumping out around 15 to 20 gallons of water per hour from the unit. With all of this water comes a lot of sediment which cannot be dumped into a storm drain. In addition, Annapolis has very little permeable surface meaning that most of the ground in Annapolis is covered in materials like concrete or brick which do no absorb water. Unfortunately, there was no way for us to dispose of all the water coming out of the unit and we were unable to continue excavating. Our project supervisors are working with the Department of Public Works to come up with an acceptable way to dispose of the water. This project was suppose to end yesterday but it looks like we will be extending the project a couple days. Hopefully we will be able to open this unit again on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Check back for updates!

History Repeats Itself

We had an exciting find on Saturday... here it is...

After digging down through about a foot and a half of bedding sand and fill we came upon an earlier sidewalk level that resembles many of the current Annapolis sidewalks. You can see the distinct Herringbone pattern just like the sidewalk we removed a week ago. It's amazing that it is so well preserved!

This sidewalk though, dates to around the first quarter of the 19th century. We know that the granite curbstones seen at the very bottom of the picture were put in in the 1830s so we think this sidewalk is associated with the original placement of the curbs. In the other unit further down on Fleet street we also found a sidewalk layer that dated to the early 1800s. That sidewalk was not as well preserved, but the two are almost certainly contemporaneous. In the first unit we also found evidence that these curbstones were moved in and bumped up to the current sidewalk level.

We also know that the townhouse that we are digging in front of, 18 Fleet Street, was built in 1902 and so the sidewalk was not associated with this house. There was most likely another house which predated this one. It's pretty neat to think that we've stood on a sidewalk that hasn't been used in around 150 years!

Rain, rain go away!

I feel like I’ve been doing underwater archaeology the last few days. There’s been more than eight inches of rain in the last week in Annapolis which has really affected the progress of the Fleet-Cornhill excavations. Because we are digging only a couple of hundred feet from the city dock the water table is already really high. In the unit where we found the wood planks we hit water around three feet down. We are only about one foot down and we’re already completely flooded. Here’s a picture of what the unit looks like each morning:

We use a hand pump and buckets to take out around 20 gallons of water at the start of each day. Then we have to continually pump water out of the unit throughout the day so we can see the soil as we dig. Working with saturated earth makes excavating really difficult because it's harder to identify changes in soil color and texture. Needless to say by the end of the day everyone is covered in mud!

When it's raining like this we can't excavate so we weren't able to make it out to the field every day this week. On our rain days we stayed in the lab to process artifacts and to look over our field notes. We also spent a day at the Maryland State Archives to do some historical research on the area where we're excavating. It's definitely not the romanticized version of archaeology you see in the movies!

Water, water everywhere

Given the large volume of rain Annapolis has received over the past week, I thought I would do a post on a museum featuring a type of archaeology I had never heard of until 3 years ago - underwater archaeology. After this week, I am sure that the AIA archaeologists working at Fleet and Cornhill Streets are beginning to feel as though they are underwater archaeologists.

I know that there are people who go out searching for ship wrecks, but I never made the connection between these searches and archaeology until one of my friends decided to pursue underwater archaeology professionally. Underwater archaeology as defined by the Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA) is "a way to study the past by examining a collection of artifacts that are found at the bottom of rivers, lakes, oceans, or other bodies of water. Although many of these sites are shipwrecks, they can also be airplanes, piers, or even sunken settlements."

The MUA is entirely online and looks at projects going on all over the world. This museum is devoted to bringing the field of underwater archaeology to the general public by allowing experts to present online exhibits and project journals discussing their research and findings. My underwater archaeology friend, Michelle Damian, is the Exhibits Editor there and has a fascinating set posts on work she performed involving Japanese Woodblock prints while working on her masters thesis in Japan.

If you are wondering how you can enter this field, I can share Michelle's story. Michelle's interest in Underwater Archaeology came after she earned her scuba diving certification. She combined her interests in diving, Japan, museums and historical things and determined she wanted to enter the field of Underwater Archaeology. She has since earned a masters degree in the field and is working on her doctorate.

I encourage you to explore the Museum of Underwater Archaeology's website. There are some fascinating projects to learn about.

Stay dry!

Fleet Street excavation

We have two weeks left on the archaeology project that’s taking place on Fleet and Cornhill Streets in Historic Annapolis. So far our most exciting find has been a series of logs which were discovered about 4 and a half feet below the current sidewalk level at the bottom of Fleet Street near the City Dock. These logs date to the late 17^th or early 18^th century and could be evidence of an earlier road surface or possibly part of a ramp or dock that helped people to navigate what would have been a marshy area. We have started digging in a new area that is about 30 feet from the unit where the logs were discovered. We are hoping to get some idea of how far the logs extend so we can better understand what this surface would have been used for. Because this is such an exciting find I plan to post frequent updates on the progress of the excavation.
Here is a photo of the bottom of Fleet Street taken from the area of the new excavation. We have filled in, and replaced the sidewalk in the area where the logs were found. That unit was located between the telephone pole in the foreground and the potted shrub on the left of the photo. Looking down Fleet Street the building straight ahead is the Market House and just beyond that is City Dock.
Here is a photo of the new unit we just opened. As archaeologists we excavate by level. So every time the soil changes we call that a new layer. The idea is that each of these layers represents a distinct event or point in time. The period of time associated with each of these layers can vary greatly from a single event such as a layer of ash left from a fire to a longer “event” such as a thick layer of silty soil left from years of runoff being deposited in the same place. As you can see in the photo we took out an area of the brick sidewalk and went through a layer of hard gravely material. Now we have a level of sand that is probably a bedding layer that was put down to level out the ground before the sidewalk was put in. Hopefully the rain will let up so we can keep digging tomorrow.

Everyone is invited to come watch the excavations and to ask questions. We will be there for the next two weeks Tuesday through Saturday. Be sure to check back here for frequent updates.

Seeking Liberty on NPR!

Seeking Liberty's Guest Curator Mark Leone was interviewed on May 4, 2008, by NPR's Andrea Seabrook for All Things Considered. In the interview, Dr. Leone talked about the religious practices of slaves and the fact that as much as slave masters tried to stop them, slaves held fast to their religious practices. The interview also touches on evidence of African Americans on Fleet and Cornhill Streets in Annapolis based on findings at the ongoing dig in that area.

Click here to be directed to NPR's website where you can listen to the interview.

Upcoming Seeking Liberty Event

Alexandra Jones, Director of Archaeology in the Community, will visit the Banneker-Douglass Museum on May 22, 2008 to present African American Religious Practices in Maryland from the 1600's to 1800's: An Archaeological Perspective.

Come learn about the connections between African and African American religious practices and the objects uncovered during archaeological digs at sites including the Brice House and the Charles Carroll House.

Event Details:
May 22, 2008, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Banneker-Douglass Museum
84 Franklin St.
Annapolis, MD 21401
Free, Registration encouraged.
To register email BDMPrograms@mdp.state.md.us or call 410.216.6186

Archaeology Live!

Archaeology in Annapolis is having a busy week with their current project at Fleet Street and Cornhill Street just off of State Circle. AIA is conducting archaeological digs of the area prior to utility undergrounding work. The project participants began the project without any expectations of what they were going to find and were they surprised when they uncovered a log road from the late 17th or early 18th centuries.

Seeking Liberty's very own Jessica Mundt is working on this project and will be providing updates and information on the project's findings in the coming days, but for now please read the following articles from the Baltimore Sun and the Capital.

Baltimore Sun (4/24/2008)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-md.ar.logs24apr24,0,6204331.story

Capital (4/24/2008)
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/04_24-43/TOP

Archaeology in Annapolis is expected to continue digging on Fleet and Cornhill Streets for another four weeks. If you have a chance, please stop by and watch archaeology in action. You never know what you might see!

Congratulations on a fantastic find AIA!

The Death's Head

The Death's Head Stamp is the primary image of the Seeking Liberty exhibition but up until this point, we have not actually discussed what it is and why it was included. This small piece of printer's type, on loan from the Historic Annapolis Foundation, was discovered at the Green Print Shop in the mid 1980's. This stamp played a major role in Maryland Gazette's protest against the Stamp Act of 1765.

Jonas and Anne Catherine Green moved to Annapolis, MD from Philadelphia in 1738 to become the official Maryland State Printer. In this role, Green was responsible for printing several different types of documents including contracts, bills, and legal documents. By 1745, the Green Print Shop began to produce the Maryland Gazette, a weekly newspaper which provided news of the day from Maryland and beyond.

On March 22, 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act requiring the American colonists to pay taxes on printed papers including newspapers, documents, contracts, and playing cards. The money raised by the Stamp Act was intended to help finance the defense of the colonists along the frontier areas near the Appalachian Mountains. The passage of this act enraged colonists because it was passed by the British Parliament without input from the colonies.

News of the Stamp Act reached Annapolitans via the Maryland Gazette on April 18, 1765. Jonas Green published several articles, flyers, and other printed matter protesting the new act. When he published the announcement that Annapolitan merchant Zachariah Hood was appointed as stamp distributor for Maryland, several Annapolis residents began to take action including the burning of an effigy of Hood in late August 1765.

The colonists fought the Stamp Act in a variety of ways up to and including refusing to pay the tax. The Green Print Shop protested the Stamp Act by publishing the Death's Head stamp on the front page of the October 10, 1765 edition of the Maryland Gazette. When this edition of the newspaper was published, Mr. Green declared in the masthead that the Gazette was "expiring." This issue, number 1066, was the final numbered edition of the Maryland Gazette printed before the Stamp Act went into effect on November 1, 1765.

While the Death's Head issue was the final numbered edition published prior to November 1, it was not the final edition published. Green published three subsequent unnumbered issues of the newspaper, with the final issue appearing on October 31, 1765.

On December 10, 1765 an edition of the Maryland Gazette appeared stating "Apparition of the late Maryland Gazette, which is not dead, but only sleepeth." Seven weeks later, on January 30, 1766, an edition of the newspaper appeared under the headline "Maryland Gazette, Reviving." The January 30 edition marked reinstatement of numbered editions of the paper, with this edition appearing as number 1067. On February 20, 1766 a third publication appeared declaring "Maryland Gazette, Revived." The Maryland Gazette reinstated weekly publication on March 6, 1766.

The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act on March 18, 1765.

To learn more about Maryland's involvement in protesting the Stamp Act, follow the link below to the Maryland Online Encyclopedia and read an article by Jean Russo from the Maryland State Archives.

http://www.mdoe.org/stampact.html

Charm's meaning

Recently there’s been some interest in the meaning of the hand charms found at the Governor Calvert House and the Maynard-Burgess House. Charms similar to the one pictured here were also found in the former living areas of African American laborers at Thomas Jefferson’s plantation, Poplar Forest in Virginia, and Andrew Jackson’s plantation, the Hermitage in Tennessee.

These charms were most likely sewn on to clothing as decoration or functioned as jewelry charms for a necklace or bracelet. There have been different interpretations for the meaning of these charms. Some feel that the charms are symbolic of the wounds of Christ and therefore have meaning within Christianity. Others believe that the charms have meaning within an Islamic context and are representative of the Hand of Fatima which symbolizes benevolence and good fortune. It is also possible these charms could be symbolic of the Mediteranean figa symbol which is represented as a fist with the thumb between the index and middle fingers. Figas are a symbol of fertility and were used for protection from the dangers of the “evil eye.”

Considering these charms were found in an African American context we may be more likely to interpret them as relating to the Hand of Fatima symbolism within Islam but it’s difficult determine how exactly these charms were used and understood. It is possible African Americans understood these charms to have meaning that drew from all three of the given interpretations.

The above information was taken from Chris Fennell’s book Crossroads and Cosmologies: Diasporas and Ethnogenesis in the New World, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2007. To read more about the possible meaning of the hand charms see an excerpt from this book in the African Diaspora Newsletter http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news1207/news1207-2.html.

Race and Consumerism

I thought that the entry Small bottle, large lesson that Genevieve posted a few weeks ago was really interesting. I especially liked how she tied in a reference to the Cosby Show. While this is a fictional account it reminded me that issues reflected in the archaeological past are still relevant today. In particular I was reminded of a newspaper article I read last year. The article is entitled First Grocery Store In Almost Ten Years Opens In Ward 8, and tells about how this predominantly African American section of Washington D.C. has gone without a full-service grocery store since 1998.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.nbc4.com/news/14798498/detail.html

Having easy access to a grocery store is something most of us take for granted. In a poor area like Ward 8, not having access to a grocery store severely limits the options for places where residents can purchase food. Perhaps residents would not be able to make the trip to another grocery store because they do not have access to a car, because they cannot afford public transportation or because of the difficultly of transporting groceries on a bus or the Metro. Residents are therefore forced to shop elsewhere for food, most likely at local places such as corner stores or fast food restaurants. These alternatives certainly would not provide the same healthful options as a grocery store and likely are more expensive per meal. This unequal access to goods has both financial and health repercussions for this poor, minority group. Through this article we see how issues of class and race in relation to consumerism are still relevant today.

For more information on the demographics of Washington D.C. see the following: http://www.neighborhoodinfodc.org/wards/wards.html.

April is Maryland Archeology Month!

Maryland Archeology month is hosted by The Archeological Society of Maryland. This year's poster features "Stories of Liberty: Archeology in Annapolis." Visit The Archeological Society of Maryland website (http://www.marylandarcheology.org/) for more information on ways you can celebrate Maryland's archaeological past.

The website also provides links to a number of programs that offer the opportunity for people of all skill levels to get involved in Maryland archaeology. There is also a calendar of events scheduled throughout the month of April and a number of interesting pieces on specific artifacts found in Maryland.

Enjoy the site and we hope to see you at some of the events!

Small bottle, large lesson

This small blue bottle tells quite a story about how African Americans in Annapolis fought racism in the market place.

The bottle was uncovered at the Maynard-Burgess House. This house was constructed in 1848 by John Maynard, a free black man living in Annapolis. Maynard and his descendents lived in the house until 1921 when it was purchased by Willis Burgess, a former boarder in the residence. This house was occupied until the 1980's.

When archaeology digs were conducted at the Maynard-Burgess House, several bottles from national brands were uncovered including this small Bromo Seltzer bottle. Many African American households purchased nationally produced goods in the market as a means of fighting price variances. When purchasing locally produced goods at the local market, African American customers would often encounter fluxuating prices based on their skin color as opposed to white customers who would frequently receive lower prices on goods as well as better quality items. Goods produced nationally were subject to fixed prices which were frequently marked on the packaging, prohibiting merchants from increasing the price for individual customers.

In addition to finding high numbers of bottles from national brands at the Maynard-Burgess House, archaeologists uncovered a large proportion of animal bones, providing a glimpse into the diet of the occupants of the house. These bones came from domesticated animals including cows, sheep, and pigs which were commercially butchered as well as a considerable number of fish bones. The presence of large numbers of fish bones has led archaeologists to believe that the residents of the Maynard-Burgess House were most likely fishing privately to supplement their diet and circumvent the marketplace.

These actions provide food for thought when considering the marketplace today. It brings to mind an old episode of The Cosby Show where three of the show's characters went into a neighborhood supermarket that had poor quality goods and high prices as compared to the goods and prices at another branch of the same supermarket chain in a more affluent neighborhood. As a means of protest, these characters partnered with area residents to picket the store as well as organize a penny protest where people paid for their groceries in coins and small denominations, slowing the store's checkers and causing other customers to leave the store. The protests were able to affect change on the show.

While this was a tv episode, it certainly reflects real life issues today. Have you noticed fluxuating availability and quality of produce and meat depending on where you shop? What issues have you encountered when shopping related to variations in price and quality? What have you done when confronted with this situation?

Input on the Tortoise Shell

After viewing the exhibit Joseph M. Murphy of Georgetown University wrote Mark Leone with his comments regarding the tortoise shell artifact on display. With his permission I've included an excerpt from his email below.

"One item grabbed my attention in particular, the carved tortoise shell from Brice House. The plaque explaining it seemed to invite speculation about its meaning, so I thought I would pass on to you an idea of mine for whatever its worth. In the Afro-Cuban Lucumi traditions that I've studied the tortoise "ayapa" is sacred to the orisha Oshun, but also to Shango, the orisha of lightning. The placement of the shell at the base of the lightning rod at Brice House at least suggests the practice of offerings to Shango at lightning-attracting trees such as the araba in Yorubaland and the ceiba and royal palm in Cuba (and Miami). Anything "touched by lightning" in this way would carry Shango's power or "ashe"... I, of course, have no idea if any of the practices by the African Americans in Brice House are specifically Yoruba and we've learned with great profit to seek the African origins of African American practices from the baKongo. Still it's an interesting connection."

Thank you for your interest!