Serenity’s Surprise (18CH821)

Serenity’s Surprise (18CH821) is a multicomponent site consisting of a mid-17th to early 18th-century domestic site (possible trading post) and an Early & Middle Woodland base camp or hamlet, located in Benedict along a tributary of the Patuxent River in Charles County, Maryland.

Archival research suggested that the site was occupied by small-scale planter and possible merchant Richard Jenkins at least as early as 1707, when he is mentioned in the land patent of Richard Smith. Jenkins lived on the property with three orphans and Rebecca Duphex, a female friend. Jenkins died by 1712 and the absence of artifacts dating late than c. 1710 suggests that his household was the last to occupy this property. The presence at the site of artifacts dating from the mid-17th century suggests that there was an earlier occupation as well.

Fieldwork conducted between 2012 and 2013 consisted of the excavation of 23 shovel test pits at 30-foot intervals, a systematic coverage of the project area with the use of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry, metal detecting, and the hand excavation of 63 5x5-foot excavation test units to open up a large block area. This excavation resulted in the excavation of an approximately 45x30 ft. excavation block and three linear trenches measuring 10 to 20 feet in length.

As a result of the excavations, over 19,000 historic and over 600 prehistoric artifacts were recovered, mostly from the plowzone. A total of 50 features were recorded, including 18 postholes and one small cellar associated with Structure 1, a 16 x 30 ft. post in the ground structure. Also present was an associated boundary ditch; the structure and the ditch likely represent the nucleus of a domestic and possibly commercial compound dating between circa 1650 and 1710. A large posthole located 35 ft. north of Structure 1 may represent a second, undefined building. Prehistoric features included a series of postmolds, six of which appeared to have belonged to the same structure.

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