Beach Site (18CH355)

The Beach Site (18CH355) consists of a Late Archaic/Early Woodland shell midden as well as an 18th century domestic artifact scatter on the south side of Swan Pont Neck in Charles County.

The history of ownership of the land containing the Beach Site begins with a 1642 land grant of 2,000 acres to James Neale. Born in England, Neale was a prominent individual in Maryland politics. He named the entire land grant, as well as his dwelling, “Wollaston Manor.” This land was subsequently divided many times among his descendants. By the mid-20th century, much of the original Wollaston Manor property, including the area of 18CH355, would be acquired by the Maryland Realty Investment Trust and subsequently sold to the US Steel Corporation in 1969.

Site 18CH355 was initially identified during a reconnaissance survey in the early 1990s. Archaeological materials were found eroding out of the beach along a roughly 61 m (200 ft) stretch of shoreline. The inland dimension of the site was not determined, as no STPs were excavated within 30.5 m pf the Potomac shoreline during the Phase I project. No features were observed. The site was classified as a prehistoric lithic and historic domestic scatter.

In 2007 Phase II testing was carried out on 18CH355. In order to relocate the site, a shovel test grid spaced at 15.24 m (50 ft) increments was superimposed and excavated. In total, 62 shovel tests were excavated within the grid and the data were used in the strategic positioning of test units. Following the shovel testing four test units of varying size were excavated. Unless specified, all excavated soils were dry-screened in the field using hardware cloth.

Features were cross-sectioned and excavated using special excavation and documentation procedures. Soil samples were collected and were waterscreened through window screen. Three features were identified; a historic brick road or similar landscape feature in the southern portion of the site (Feature 1), a tightly packed layer of gravel above the brick road that appears to have been deposited as a modern repair (Feature 2), and a prehistoric shell midden in the NW portion of the site (Feature 3).

In total, 1,614 artifacts were recovered from the site area, including 1,089 prehistoric artifacts and 551 historic or modern objects. It was concluded that Site 18CH355 had a prehistoric seasonal base camp and historic rural domestic function. Alternatively, the historic component was potentially linked to adjacent nearby Site 18CH350 (see synopsis report), thus giving it a domestic artifact scatter function.

This multi-component site was thought to have a Late Archaic/Woodland and early-through terminal 19th century temporal affiliation. Upon examining the 2007 research and fieldwork results, it was concluded that Site 18CH355 was thought to have research value because of its prehistoric and 19th century historic antiquity. However, the site’s overlying stratigraphy lacked good integrity. Artifact deposits and intact cultural features were also lacking and artifact preservation was poor. It was not considered eligible for listing on the NRHP and proposed development of the site was approved with no further requirements for archaeological work.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)