Oak Creek A (18PR659)

Recorded by Archeological Testing and Consulting, Inc. (ATC) in 2003 during Phase I testing, the site consisted of a mixed architectural domestic scatter spread across a knoll. A total of 24 artifacts were recovered. Most artifacts were found on the surface with a few found in plowzone soils. Artifact recovery consisted of brick fragments, olive bottle glass, blue milky container glass, brown stoneware, white salt-glazed stoneware (molded-barley pattern), porcelain, unidentified earthenware, oyster shell, and unidentified lithic.

The recovery was thought to represent an artifact scatter connected with early historic waste disposal. This interpretation was supported by the low density of artifacts recovered. Most artifacts were recovered from the surface. Subsurface finds, when present, were confined to plowzone soils. Shovel test excavations generally featured two or three strata. The general stratigraphy recorded featured top stratum of about 9" consisting of a silty sand or sandy loam. This stratum was determined to be a plowzone. The second stratum, when present, consisted of silty sand or loamy sand and averaged about 5" in depth. The subsoil generally consisted of sandy clay. All shovel tests were excavated to a depth of at least 4 inches into sterile soils.

Phase II testing was conducted by ATC in November of 2004, and included excavation of 140 shovel test pits and five 3x3 foot units. Shovel tests were placed at 60, 30, and 15 foot intervals. Several hundred artifacts were recovered. No intact cultural features or sealed artifact deposits were discovered. The site is thought to have been occupied by a yeoman or tenant farmer between the second half of the 18th and the first quarter of the 19th century.

Site 18PR659 consists of a small domestic site dating from the late 18th-early 19th centuries that likely represents a tenant dwelling. While testing recovered a variety of historic domestic and architectural artifacts, largely from the plowzone, the Phase II did not identify any intact features or cultural deposits. In addition, the investigations revealed varying levels of disturbance from agricultural activities and erosion. It was determined that site 18PR659 does not meet the criteria for eligibility in the National Register of Historic Places given its lack of potential to yield important information, and loss of integrity.

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