Page 154 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

figure 12
Accokeek Creek Site plan view.
important place in Piscataway society. Not only did it represent their social and political capital, but the archaeological evidence points to addi- tional ritual importance as well. Like Secowo- comoco, the Accokeek Creek Site has consid- erable time-depth, which is a testament to the fact that this location was an important place to native peoples. The earliest evidence of occupa- tion at the site dates to the Late Archaic period. Ceramic materials from the Accokeek Creek Site run the gamut from Early Woodland wares such as Marcey Creek, Accokeek, and Popes Creek wares and through to Late Woodland with Townsend, Moyaone, and Potomac Creek wares. Of the identified wares from the site, Late Woodland ceramic types make up 63.2% of the total. The comparison of ceramic assem- blages from the Accokeek Creek Site to Seco- wocomoco provides an interesting contrast. At Secowocomoco, shell-tempered Townsend-type ceramics were the overwhelming predominant ware within the recovered Late Woodland as- semblage. At the Accokeek Creek Site, 96.1% of the identifiable Late Woodland ceramics were sand/crushed quartz-tempered Potomac Creek wares. Townsend wares are a minority ware at the Accokeek Creek Site, while Potomac Creek wares are a minority ware at Secowocomoco.
As previously stated, the development of sand- or grit-tempered wares such as Potomac Creek is often associated with the migration of people from the Piedmont. At the very least, the contrast in assemblages from the Accokeek Creek Site and Secowocomoco illustrates that changes in ceramic manufacture were not being universally adopted. The extent of this migration may not have left as much of an impact on the people of the Lower Potomac as compared to areas upriver such as the Accokeek Creek Site, at least in terms of ceramic preference and/or production. Further cultural material differenc- es manifest themselves in the Patuxent River drainage, which appears to have maintained considerable independence from the Piscataway in the historical record as well.
Patuxent River Sites
The only other known native palisaded settle- ment in the southern Maryland region is the Cumberland site (18CV171), located in present- day Calvert County, Maryland. This site has been identified as the possible location of the
TABLE 4 — Results of XRF testing of copper artifacts and samples.
Object
Copper %
Zinc %
Lead %
Iron %
Nickel %
Tin %
19th-century Sample 1
62.69
29.05
0.68
0.31
0.04
0.00
19th-century Sample 2
69.56
20.19
4.77
2.57
0.06
0.21
Zekiah Fort – Ring Enamel
77.03
2.84
8.24
8.21
0.018
2.82
Zekiah Fort – Ring
89.34
1.57
2.99
2.10
0.04
1.43
Zekiah Fort – Triangle 1
88.81
5.79
2.77
0.35
0.03
0.00
Zekiah Fort – Triangle 2
77.05
6.91
0.39
0.21
0.04
0.05
Choptico Copper Bead
92.99
0.06
3.30
0.00
0.90
0.00
Secowocomoco Copper
84.59
0.05
0.00
0.14
0.02
0.00
Werowocomoco Copper Type 1
96.35
0.19
0.21
0.06
0.04
0.45
Werowocomoco Copper Type 2
73.66
23.19
0.15
0.06
0.02
0.23
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