Mt. Aetna site (18WA487)

The Mt. Aetna site (18WA487) was an Early Archaic to Late Woodland period rhyolite processing camp, located in the Hagerstown Valley, just west of South Mountain, near the confluence of Mt. Aetna Creek and Beaver Creek. It was largely destroyed by modern road construction.

In 2000-2001, the Maryland State Highway Administration conducted a Phase I/II archaeological study of the area that would be impacted by the construction. This work included 130 shovel tests pits, 14 test units measuring 1x1m, and four backhoe trenches. Both prehistoric and historic occupations were identified at the site. The historic component dated primarily to the 19th and early 20th centuries, and was associated with the domestic activities of the various landowners. It included a ca. 1872 house foundation. Because of damage to the site when the house was razed around 1990, what remained of the historic component was not deemed significant.

Investigation of the prehistoric component revealed high artifact counts in sub-plowzone contexts, but no discrete features. The artifacts dated primarily to the Late Archaic through Early Woodland periods, and their quantity, along with the presence of undisturbed stratigraphy in many portions of the site, was sufficient to require additional investigations, with particular focus on the distribution and exchange of rhyolite in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Phase III excavations took place in 2001, and began with the excavation of 63 shovel test pits, followed by 86 test units. Prehistoric features encountered during Phase III work included concentrations of lithic debitage, small pits or hearths, and posts potentially associated with short-term habitation. No post patterns suggestive of structures, large storage pits, or large hearths were identified at 18WA487, indicating it did not support a sizable population for extended periods.

Charcoal from a small hearth produced an uncalibrated radiocarbon date of 1150±90 years before present, placing it at the end of the Middle Woodland period. Animal protein residue analysis on lithic artifacts gave positive results for deer, rabbit, and felines. Ethnobotanical analysis found that hickory, black walnut, cherry, and pokeweed were being consumed. And study of the rhyolite found that the site’s inhabitants favored locally-available stone from South Mountain in Maryland and Pennsylvania, but some came from as far away as North Carolina.

Prehistoric activities at 18WA487 focused primarily on the reduction of local lithic raw materials, especially rhyolite. The site was probably a short-term camp used repeatedly throughout the Archaic and Woodland periods. Activity seems to have peaked during the Late Archaic, Transitional, and Early Woodland periods, when exploitation of local rhyolite was heaviest.

(Edited from the Maryland Historical Trust Synthesis Project)