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Introduction
18WA470 is a late 18th- and early 19th-century
cemetery primarily associated with the German-American Wachtel family.
Extended family members interred in the cemetery include individuals
from the Bosey, Kershner, Stine, and Troup families.
Archaeological Investigations
The cemetery is situated on a relatively narrow
finger ridge located along the northern side of Conococheague Creek
and within the current boundaries of the Forty West Landfill. The
topography to the east, south, and west of the cemetery is steeply
sloping down toward a broad upland terrace along the creek, while
the topography on the northern side of the site is relatively level.
Expansion of the landfill necessitated site data recovery, which
was conducted by R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates in 2003.
Phase III investigations included mechanical removal
of all A horizon soils from the site, and complete excavation of
84 individuals interred at the cemetery. Re-interment occurred at
St. Paul’s Cemetery in Clear Spring, Maryland. Speciation
of coffin wood, osteological analysis of skeletal remains, and fabric
analysis of cloth were accomplished during data recovery.
Archeobotancial Studies
Twenty samples of wood fibers collected from 20
grave shafts and thought to represent coffin wood were submitted
for taxonomic identification. The samples contained small quantities
of sediment. Uncarbonized wood remains totaled 720 fragments, weighing
471.55 grams. A sub-sample of 261 fragments of wood (a maximum of
20 fragments per sample) was randomly selected for identification.
Generally, the recovered wood was highly degraded. Identified species
included (in order of abundance) pine (65%), black walnut (21 %),
walnut or hickory (5%), white oak (5%), deciduous taxa (3%), unspecified
oak (1%), black cherry (<1%), and diffuse porous taxa (<1%).
In addition, a single fragment of carbonized wood recovered from
Feature 10 in association with copious non-carbonized pine wood
fibers was identified as white oak. Justine McKnight performed the
analysis.
References
| Lowthert, William IV, Kathleen Child, Martha Williams, Christian
Davenport, Kate Gallagher and Jennifer Evans |
| 2004 |
Phase III Archeological Data Recovery Investigations
at Site 18WA470 (Wachtel/Stine Cemetery),
Washington
County, Maryland. R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc. |
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