The Buck Site (18KE292)

The Buck Site (18KE292) consisted of a large trash pit dated circa 1660-1700. The site is located on the northeast branch of Langford’s Bay in Kent County, Maryland.

In 1663 the area was part of a 600 acre tract called Tully’s Fancy which was granted to Captain John Tully for transporting 12 people to Maryland. It is unclear whether Tully ever lived on the tract, but documents that refer to him generally note that he was a resident of London, so if he did found a plantation it probably was not his primary residence and was most likely run by tenants or slaves. Tully sold the property to merchant Henry Hosier of Calvert County in 1671. Hosier had been living on a neighboring parcel with Timothy Goodridge by 1668 and he became a Kent County Commissioner in 1676. The Buck site may represent a trash pit from an occupation by Hosier and his family, servants, and slaves. Although Hosier was a merchant, he seems to have been only of modest means. His probate inventory lists his goods as worth about 168£ sterling when he died in 1686.

The owner of the Buck Site brought the area to the attention of L.T. “Duke” Alexander of the Archaeological Society of Delaware in 1971 because of Mr. Alexander’s interest in clay tobacco pipes. Between 1971 and 1978, Alexander systematically surface collected and excavated what turned out to be a 16’ by 20’ trash pit. In all, 80 2 x 2 foot excavation units were excavated. Each unit had plow zone with a hard packed oyster shell deposit underneath. This shell layer contained domestic debris, as did the remaining soil of the trash pit sealed underneath the shell layer. One post hole and mold was found in the trash pit, indicating the use of earthfast construction at the site, but no other areas of the site were tested in order to determine the layout of the plantation or the relationship between the trash pit and possible structures.

Alexander made very detailed notes, performed historical research, and consulted many specialists on colonial artifacts for the project. His artifact analysis cautiously dates the site c. 1660-1700, but it may well have been abandoned earlier; possibly when Hosier died in 1686.

(Edited from summary written by Sara Rivers Cofield)