Belfield (18AN871)
Site History
The Belfield (also called Homewood's Lot) site (18AN871) is a plantation site dating from the late 17th to the early 20th centuries. The site is located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland near Whitehall Creek. The property was once home to the Homewood, Maccubin, and Sudler families.
Archaeological Investigations
Phase I archaeological investigations of the site by Applied Archaeology and History Associates, Inc. took place in 1999. This work identified several distinct subareas of the plantation. Area A contains foundations of the Belfield main house, which was destroyed by fire in 1939. Across the surface of the site was a heavy scattering of domestic artifacts whose manufacture dates ranged from the early 18th- to the late 19th centuries. Area B contained another domestic trash scatter of 18th to 19th century artifacts. A possible structure location (Area C) was littered with broken brick fragments. Area D was a standing wooden corn crib and Area E was the graveyard associated with the 18th- to 19th-century occupations of the property. Area F was a graveyard associated with the 20th-century occupation. Area G was a brick smokehouse with shed roofed brick addition, with the ruins still standing.
Between November 1999 and October of 2002 Anne Arundel County's Lost Towns Project returned to the site, now identified as Homewood's Lot (18AN871), one of eight known sites associated with the Puritan town called Providence, the first European settlement in the county. This series of archaeological salvage excavations resulted in the discovery of several structures, including two dating from the 1650s and 1660s. Two were built in the early 18th century, with the latter showing evidence of abandonment and demolition about 1770. The 18th-century component includes an impressive Georgian brick mansion as well as a highly unusual, and early, kitchen/wash house and associated well and drain system.
References
2005 The Building Sequence at Homewood’s Lot, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.” Expected in Maryland Archaeology Spring 2005. Journal of the Archaeological Society of Maryland, Crownsville, MD.
2003 "17th Century Lead Cloth Seals from Anne Arundel County, Maryland." Maryland Archeology 39(1,2):17-26.
2004 "Native American Stone Celts from Colonial Contexts in the 17th Century Settlement of Providence, Maryland." Maryland Archeology, Volume 40(2):1-7, September 2004.
1999 A Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Proposed Belfield Farm Subdivision, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. (Applied Archaeology and History Associates) MHT # AN 421.
