W-T, CR 4-7 (18CH135)
Site History
The W-T, CR 4-7 site (18CH135) is a Middle and Late Archaic short-term camp and Early to Late Woodland shell midden located on the Potomac River near the mouth of Picowaxen Creek in Charles County, Maryland.
Archaeological Investigations
This site was first reported in 1977 by Steve Wilke and Gail Thompson during a shoreline survey. The site was revisited in 1987 by archaeologists with the Maryland Historical Trust. At that time, maximum ground visibility, soil probing, and bank erosion profiles allowed assessment of the extent of shell deposits.
Wanser (1981) studied the Ross Collection from this site, housed at the St. Clements Island/Potomac River Museum. Diagnostic projectile points range from the end of the Middle Archaic through the Late Woodland period, with the majority of points dating to the Late Archaic and Middle Woodland. Ceramics date mostly to the Popes Creek phase of the Middle Woodland, with a few sherds earlier and later. A small collection of sherds from the site is also housed at the Southern Maryland Regional Preservation Center. Israel & Wall's 1983 collection is stored at Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab, and included 2 quartz flakes, 2 quartz cobble fragments, 1 ground stone fragment, 1 leached shell-tempered body sherd, and 1 shell-tempered sherd with surfaces and edges worn smooth by water.
References
1985 Archeological Investigation of the Waverley National Register Property for determination of a Permit Action on the Potomac River, Charles County, Maryland. MHT# CH 11.
1981 A Survey of Artifact Collections from Central Southern Maryland. 2 vols. MHT Manuscript Series No. 23. MHT# CH 9.
1977 Prehistoric Archeological Resources in the Maryland Coastal Zone: A Management Overview. MHT# MD 7.
