ASHCOMB
18CV357

Introduction

The Ashcomb site (18CV357) describes the archaeological remains of a late seventeenth to early eighteenth century domestic site associated with the Ashcomb family’s occupation of Point Patience near the confluence of the Patuxent River with the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County.  The site is currently part of the Patuxent Naval Air Station.

Archaeological Investigations

The Louis Berger Group, Inc. carried out site evaluation studies (Phase II archaeological investigations) of three sites at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Naval Recreation Center Solomons in Calvert County, Maryland on behalf of the Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC).  The overall purpose of the investigations was to determine if the sites meet the criteria for eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Archaeology at Site 18CV357 explored late seventeenth to early eighteenth-century domestic deposits associated with the Ashcom family occupation. The Phase II investigation resulted in the identification of several cultural features including a cellar hole, a large kitchen midden and small trash pit. All three features date to the late-seventeenth to early eighteenth-century and were associated with the occupation of Point Patience by families of Nathaniel Ashcom and Alexander Parran. Some areas of the site were disturbed but for the most part the historic deposits were found to be preserved underneath a layer of twentieth-century fill. Site 18CV357 is recommended eligible for the NRHP under Criterion D. The presence of well-preserved archeological deposits, and te association of this site with broad historical events such as the colonization of Maryland and the development of the plantation economy, highlights the information potential of Site 18CV357.

Archeobotanical Studies

Three flotation samples secured from Feature 1 (a kitchen sheet midden) and Feature 7 (a cellar) were processed and analyzed.  A total volume of 14 liters were processed using a Flote-tech system and producing 2.145 grams of carbonized plant macro-remains (an average of 0.153 grams of plant material per liter of feature fill). 

The recovered assemblage contained moderate quantities of wood charcoal (pine species predominated within Feature 1, white oak was the most common wood type identified within Feature 7).  Feature 1 also produced maize (corn) and a small grass seed.

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