Abstract:
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center proposes construction of an education building and associated amenities at its facility in Edgewater, Anne Arundel County, Maryland (Maryland Archeological Research Unit 7). Henry Wright conducted limited excavations in the area of proposed construction, testing a Woodland shell midden and reporting the results in the 1960s. Phase II site evaluation of the Smithsonian Pier Site (18AN284/285), conducted in January of 1995, revealed evidence of intact oyster shell midden over some 1800m2, surrounded by plowed midden. Twenty 2m by 1m units and two 1m by 1m units were excavated into intact portions of the shell midden as part of a Phase III data recovery, revealing Middle Woodland (Selby Bay phase) and Late Woodland (Little Round Bay phase) oyster shell deposits of varying thickness (<0.20m) on top of the preoccupation A–horizon. Late Woodland material, represented largely by Rappahannock cord marked and incised pottery, occurs primarily in the plowed portions of the midden, with Middle Woodland Mockley cord marked and net–impressed pottery occurring in the intact portions of the midden. Flotation analysis yielded little well–preserved organic matter, but pollen samples from the A– and B–horizons produced arboreal and non–arboreal pollen. These include some poorly preserved maize and legume pollen grains, as well as other species consistent with forests and forest clearings. Faunal analysis revealed limited exploitation of terrestrial species (principally deer and turtle) with little use of aquatic birds, pelagic fish, or molluscs other than oyster. Oyster shell analysis indicates a mesohaline environment, a hard, sandy substrate, and harvesting practices that did not adversely affect the oysters' reproductive cycle. Parasitic worms infected many of the oysters, but outright predation by boring sponges and drumfish appears to have had a negligible effect on the population, posing little competition for human predators. Research results support current models of Middle and Late Woodland special task sites supporting larger, inland settlements; but not necessarily models of increasing resource diversity. This research, performed in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended), was conducted under an antiquities permit granted by the Smithsonian Institution under the provisions of the Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, and in partial compliance with a memorandum of agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the Maryland Historical Trust (19 June 1995). This investigation recovered those data for which the site is deemed eligible, under Criterion D, for inclusion into the National Register of Historic Places.
