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MK #9/10 (18PR346)

Site History

MK #9/10 (18PR346) is multicomponent site consisting of a Late Archaic, Early Woodland, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland and possibly Contact village or hamlet located in Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary in Prince Georges County, Maryland.

Archaeological Investigations

This site was first identified in 1987 during a Phase I survey by Mary Barse of the Maryland Geological Survey. The investigations consisted of a systematic surface collection of plowed fields along the middle portion of the Patuxent River. Site 18PR346 was defined by the horizontal distribution of a small quantity of quartz, quartzite, and rhyolite debitage, fire-cracked rock, two Potomac Creek body sherds, and a single Mockley body sherd collected from an area measuring roughly 30 meters north/south by 30 meters east/west. This site is classified as a transient camp dating to the Middle and Late phases of the Woodland period. The site is considered potentially significant for the information it may hold concerning settlement and subsistence during the Woodland time period.

In 2015, a Phase I archaeological survey was conducted on a portion of the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary. The site was investigated based on a 1703 deed description, the metes and bounds of which described a boundary marker as being within an "Indian Fort." The plotting of this deed pointed to the vicinity of the project area. Other documentary clues indicated that the fort referred to may have been the settlement of Mattapanient, which was known to be occupied during the first half of the 17th century. Efforts were focused on the previously recorded site 18PR346, which had been identified as being occupied during the Late Woodland period. While a few artifacts could possibly be dated to the contact period, they were in small quantities.

Distributions of artifacts throughout the site expanded its original boundaries to include 18PR347. The 18PR346 (MK#9) and 18PR347 (MK#10) sites are now to be combined into one site as 18PR346 (MK#9/10).

References

Barse, Mary Folsom

1988   A Preliminary Archeological Reconnaissance of the Middle Portion of the Patuxent River, Charles, Calvert, Prince Georges, and Anne Arundel Counties. MGS File Report No. 219 (Maryland Geological Survey) MHT # CH 25.

Strickland, Scott M., and Julia A. King

2016   The Town of Mattapanient: An Archaeological Survey of a Portion of the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. (St. Mary's College of Maryland) MHT # PR 646.

(Edited from archeological site survey form, Maryland Historical Trust)