Indian Creek V (18PR94)

The Indian Creek V site (18PR94) was an Archaic-period short term camp located along Indian Creek near Beltsville in Prince George’s County. It was used during annual migrations to procure plant resources from the surrounding floodplains and wetlands. This well-preserved site produced one of the largest excavated Archaic-period assemblages in Maryland.

18PR94 was first identified by Dennis Webb, a local collector, in 1972. His collection included a bannerstone fragment and various Archaic points. The first significant professional investigation of the site was a Phase I survey conducted in 1986-1987 for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The work included surface collection, shovel test pits, four backhoe trenches, and 18 test units, which revealed a nearly continuous lithic scatter across the project area.

Phase II testing focused on a portion of the site which had well-preserved deposits. Twenty test units were excavated, revealing four features and numerous artifacts, a majority of which came from undisturbed contexts below plowzone.

Phase III work was conducted in 1989 and entailed the excavation of 124 test units in the area of the Phase II investigations. A total of 35 features were discovered during the combined Phase I-III testing of the site, including 31 fire-cracked rock concentrations, two lithic knapping areas, a charcoal concentration, and a cache of unfinished quartzite bifaces. Nearly 60,000 artifacts were recovered during these investigations, including 568 bifaces, a variety of groundstone tools, two steatite vessel fragments, and large quantities of debitage and fire-cracked rock. Although Late Archaic period points were most common, Early and Middle Archaic types were abundant as well. The high acidity of the soils caused faunal remains to disappear, but blood residue analysis on stone tools revealed that deer, elk, and various small game animals were being hunted at 18PR94. The site also produced a good assemblage of plant remains, as well as a pollen core taken from a nearby peat deposit, which allowed a detailed environmental reconstruction.

In 1992, a Phase I survey was conducted on another portion of the site, located on the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Complex. This investigation included a systematic surface collection, 260 shovel test pits, and one test unit. Nearly 300 artifacts, mostly lithic debitage, were recovered. Phase II testing later that year consisted of systematic surface collection, followed by the mechanical stripping of plowzone and the excavation of eight test units. A total of 404 artifacts were found, including 39 tools. No cultural features or stratified deposits were uncovered.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)