Page 53 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

people’s visual skills in artifact recognition differ. Using increasingly refined methods, several survey projects occurred between 1979 and 1996. These covered the entire Governor’s Field and Chapel Field tracts where documents suggested the core area of the city had stood.29 Where plowing was not feasible, it was necessary to dig small shov- el test pits. These can give some indication of sites but are less effective than surface collection, especially for sites with relatively few artifacts.
The survey efforts resulted in several hun- dred sites or site components being identified, but the actual number is hard to determine because the area was covered by a mix of large and small overlapping sites. It was clear that St. Mary’s City had attracted human habitation for millen- nia. The oldest material found so far is a cluster of LeCroy points, dating about 9000 years ago. Projectile points and later pottery indicated there were numerous occupations by native peoples.
Some were in the Early and Middle Archaic but more intensive use of St. Mary’s occurred in the Late Archaic and continued throughout the Ear- ly, Middle and Late Woodland periods. The latest indigenous occupation yielded fragments of Yeo- comico pottery that were probably used by inhab- itants of the village standing at the site in 1634.
One of the biggest enduring mysteries of St. Mary’s is the location of the 1634 fort. It was the first major structure in the colony and described by Leonard Calvert as being 120 yards square with four bastions. It was anticipated that the survey work would easily pinpoint such a large site. However, while two possible locations have been defined, no conclusion is yet possible as to the place where Maryland truly began. Finding it will take a sustained campaign of geophysical survey, testing and more intensive excavation. Sites dating to the first decades of settlement are present but they are not abundant. This fits well
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figure 38
A portion of the large foundation of the home of Leonard Calvert.