Francis Marbury (Villages of Savannah, Apple Hill) (18PR833)

18PR833 is a small, early to mid- 18th-century plantation site located in southern Prince Georges County. The results of archival research, field investigations, and artifact analysis indicate that 18PR833 represents the inner yard of Francis Marbury’s Apple Hill property, dating from ca. 1715 to 1750.

The Apple Hill inner yard provides information on an important segment of plantation life during the early 18th century in Maryland. Research on Maryland plantations has often emphasized those that are large, were occupied for long periods, or yielded vast quantities of artifacts. Archaeology at smaller sites such as 18PR833 provides information on important aspects of the history of plantation development in colonial Maryland.

18PR833 was found in the western half of an agricultural field in the western portion of the Villages of Savannah property, during a 2006 Phase I survey of the proposed development by Greenhorne & O’Mara, Inc. Phase II evaluation of 18PR833 involved archival research, the hand excavation of 3- 1x1 meter test units, machine excavation of ca. 166 m2 of site area, and hand excavation of 7 cultural features identified during the machine excavation phase. The excavations recovered 175 artifacts that date to the early to mid- 18th century. The seven cultural features included large circular pits and smaller circular to oblong pits or postmolds.

Phase II archival research documented that 18PR833 was owned by the Marbury family and their heirs from the early 1700s through the 1920s. Research suggests that the Marbury family likely resided at the nearby Wyoming plantation through the early 19th century.

In 2007, Greenhorne & O’Mara conducted Phase III data recovery at 18PR833. Investigations included a controlled surface collection, machine excavation of 11 trenches or blocks, and hand excavation of 27 cultural features. The features include the remains of a residential structure, a kitchen and cellar, two possible earthfast structures, several trash pits, and several privies and/or root cellars. The controlled surface collection and excavations yielded an assemblage of 976 historic, and 4 prehistoric artifacts. Sixteen soil samples were submitted for flotation processing and macro-botanical analysis, representing a wide variety of feature types relating to both domestic and agricultural activities.

(Edited from Maryland Archeobotany and the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)