M-17 (22) Area 4 Site (18ST272)

The M-17 (22) Area 4 site (18ST72) is a Late Archaic/Early Woodland period prehistoric short-term camp location, as well as a late 17th- and 18th-century midden likely associated with a nearby house site. It is located on a small tributary flowing into Breton Bay in St. Mary’s County. The site is in a sewage plant spray area, and has been disturbed by this and by plowing.

Archival research and information from local informants indicated that the site was situated in Newtown Hundred, which was established in the first half of the 17th century. But the location does not appear in land records until 1792, when a 19-acre tract named “Roundabout” was patented to Philip Ford. The tract was known as Belview, part of Society Hill, as early as the start of the 20th century. Although records are scare, a local informant indicated that her father and grandfather had worked the land since the latter half of the 19th century. Their late 19th-century dwelling, located northeast of the site, burnt down and was replaced by an extant structure. There was a wooden shack on the tract between the 1940s and 1960s. A tobacco barn may have been located in the eastern portion of the study area, and a cattle barn located in the southeastern portion. Both were apparently razed sometime in the 1950s. Extant barns were built in the 20th century.

Phase I archeological reconnaissance was conducted at the site in the spring of 1980 ahead of proposed construction activities at the St. Clement Shores Wastewater Treatment Facility. The project area consisted of a large agricultural field surrounded by small wooded patches. It was divided into separate fields -- Area A through Area J -- that were established using natural or cultural boundaries. These were surface collected in transects 20 feet apart, although shovel test pits were excavated in areas of low ground visibility. All historic period artifacts were retained with the exception of brick, which was sampled. Generally, only a sample of prehistoric artifacts was retained, primarily to identify the variety of object types and the raw materials used.

18ST272 was identified in the southernmost section of the study area. It consisted of a lithic scatter and a light amount of brick and other historic period artifacts. Phase II investigations were conducted there in the fall of 1980. They consisted of a more intensive surface collection and the excavation of two test units. This revealed that the historic and prehistoric material was scattered across the site, with the latter slightly more concentrated in the southwest quarter. No features were observed, and artifacts were not terribly abundant. But additional Phase II investigations were conducted at the site in the spring of 1981 in order to better delineate it, as the site appeared to continue beyond the Phase I area. This work consisted exclusively of systematic surface collection of all artifacts from the plowed field, in 10 foot units. It work produced most of the diagnostic prehistoric artifacts from the site, dating to the Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods. The historic period artifacts indicated that deposition began in the late 17th century and continued throughout the 18th century.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)