Page 136 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL NEWMAN COURTESY OF THE MARYLAND-NATION- AL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION.
figure 15
Carved tobacco pipe.
figure 16
Bent 1623 silver six pence coin recovered from Terrace Site C.
practice that has a long history in European and African cultural expression.45 Assigning these ar- tifacts to a particular cultural expression is difficult in the mixed contexts of interaction that occurred within Charles Town. Bending coins and rubbing the head of a monarch on a coin for good health, were popular practices in English contexts. The coin recovered from Terrace C was not only bent, but the monarch’s image had been completely rubbed off the obverse side of the coin. The coins and other altered objects recovered from Terrace A are more intriguing.
It would be easy to conclude that pierced coins recovered from Terrace A represent a con- tinuation of English folk practices in the Amer- icas, and this may be true. Yet, this conclusion appears improbable when combined with other artifacts from the site. First, the pierced copper piece and slate fragment do not appear to readi- ly correspond to English folk practice, nor would they seem likely as objects of adornment for the European population at Charles Town. One pos- sibility is that these objects were used by enslaved African-Americans at the site. This is not a stretch considering the fact that Stoddert and other grandees in the vicinity owned dozens of slaves and the population of enslaved people increased dramatically in Prince George’s County during the first two decades of the eighteenth century. It is also likely that slaves were living at the quarter at Terrace A during this time. Some of the cloth- ing items recovered also support this conclusion.
A number that stands out in the data is the sheer volume and percentage of clothing related artifacts recovered from Terrace A (see table 2). This percentage is inflated by the large number of glass beads recovered from features at the site. If these items are removed, clothing would make up about five percent of the assemblage. Roughly a thousand beads, thirteen cowrie shells, the pierced copper piece, and one of the pierced coins were all found in the same large borrow pit. It is not unusual to recover beads, cowrie shells, or pierced coins in a variety of colonial contexts, but to find so many of these objects on one site is rare. Given the number and types of artifacts recov- ered from Terrace A, the simplest explanation is that enslaved African-Americans are at least partially responsible for the presence of so many beads, cowrie shells, and pierced objects, and that these artifacts were used as a means of expressing cultural identity among the enslaved population at Charles Town.
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could be purchased during the period and both James Moore and James Stoddert possessed the resources to have plenty of fresh pipes on hand. Perhaps these pipes were used by one or several of the enslaved African-Americans who James Stoddert held. This is an intriguing possibility and would make some sense given the site circum- stances. It is also possible that these earlier pipes were found and used by enslaved African-Amer- icans who lived in a nearby slave quarter during the early nineteenth century. Future excavations at the site and nearby 19th-century quarter may yield information to clarify why this practice occurred at Beall’s Gift.
A second example of personal expression is found in the intentional bending and piercing of coins and other objects at three of the Charles Town sites. A silver six pence that had been folded in half and straightened was recovered from Ter- race Site C. Three pierced silver coins, one pierced oval copper piece, and a pierced and rounded piece of slate were all recovered at Terrace Site A. Final- ly, one lead sheet fragment that had been folded into a pentagonal shape and pierced through the center, and another round piece of lead that was hammered flat and pierced at the top, were found at Terrace B. Intentionally altering silver coins is a