Robinson/Bulhack (18ST728/729)
Site History
The Robinson (18ST728) and Bulhack (18ST729) sites, also known collectively as Point Lookout is an eroding Early, Middle, and Late Woodland site. The primary occupation of the sites is the early Middle Woodland period. Though recorded as two separate sites separated by about a half mile, they are best known for containing atypical early forms of Mockley ceramics. Residue taken from a sherd was radiocarbon dated to the early part of the Middle Woodland – well before the traditionally known dates of 200-900 AD of the latter part of the period.
Archaeological Investigations
The sites are named for Johnna Robinson and Lynne Bulhack who had collected ceramics, points, and flakes along a stretch of shoreline at Point Lookout State Park along the Chesapeake Bay beginning in the 1990s. Their finds were reported to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and to staff at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab.
Robinson and Bulhack collected thousands of sherds along the shore between Tanner Creek and an area just south of a causeway separating Lake Conoy from the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the ceramics recovered were shell-tempered Mockley variants. Though the causeway is manmade, the two sites were likely part of the same larger site that has since eroded out into the Chesapeake Bay. A submerged site just offshore from the Robinson and Bulhack sites was reported by Fred McCoy in 1970s as being the location of the old roadway to Point Lookout, further demonstrating the shifting and eroding shoreline just in the 20th century.
Mockley sherds recovered from the site differed from the more well-established variants such as Mockley Net-Impressed, Mockley Cord-Marked, and Mockley Plain. Vessel fragments indicate the use of three distinct weaves of fabric and fibers left as surface treatments on the exterior. This includes twined fabric, fabric with interlaced unequal elements (such as a combination of cord-marking and fabric-impressions), and accessory stitching. Deep fabric-impressions appear on several examples of bases. Carbonized residue taken from a large sherd was tested by Beta Analytic, Inc. (Beta-188328) and was dated to between 155 BC and 60 AD – much earlier than widely accepted core dates for Mockley by several hundred years.
Ceramics continue to be recovered from these sites as more wash ashore from likely submerged deposits in the Chesapeake Bay. The material is being studied and monitored by volunteers and staff from the Maryland Historical Trust. It is anticipated that further testing of residue on ceramic sherds will be done.
References
2006 An Analysis of Fabric Impressions on the Surfaces of Early Mockley Sherds from Point Lookout State Park, Maryland (18ST728 & 18ST729). In Maryland Archaeology, Vol. 42(1), pp. 1-8.