Page 72 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

TABLE 2 — Distribution of selected domestic materials from selected sites (arranged chronologically). Note - some sites are fully excavated, others are represented by limited testing. Gun-related artifacts include lead shot, casting waste, gunflints, gun spalls, flint flakes, gun parts.
Old Chapel Field
St. Clement’s Manor
Stevens Plantation
Richard Smith, Sr.
Patuxent Point
Fair Fountain
Notley Hall
Mattapany
Fendall
Moore’s Lodge
New Waterford
King’s Reach
Years Occupied
1636- 1660
1640- 1672
1651- 1685
1658- 1690
1658-1695
1663- 1695
1663- 1695
1665- 1740
1670- 1710
1675- 1727
1676- 1695
1690- 1711
Selected domestic artifacts per square foot
1.88
2.16
7.17
N/A
2.18
0.42
0.8
1.96
9.24
4.08
2.18
1.76
Tablewares as proportion
of total ceramics
46.8
14.2
17.9
22.5
19.5
27.8
64.6
28.2
41.9
82.3
66.7
58.0
Utilitarian Wares as proportion of total ceramics
53.2
85.8
82.2
77.5
80.4
72.3
35.4
71.8
58.1
17.8
33.4
43.1
Morgan Jones ceramics as proportion of total ceramics
0
25.3
0.4
0
9.8
0
0
1.3
3.6
0
2.5
0
Red pipes as proportion of total tobacco pipes
65.7
29.3
8.0
0
19.6
28.0
0.9
1.4
3.0
4.7
6.8
0.5
Gun-related artifacts
113
63
366
0
287
18
0
266
18
3
5
601
Gun-related artifacts per square foot
0.14
0.20
0.90
N/A
0.16
0.05
0
0.10
0.24
0.03
0.04
0.10
figure 10
Plan of the William and Magdalen Stevens plantation (18CV279).
valley to be identified and excavated. The Stevens, who were of means, appear to have had no in- terest in building a framed English farmhouse like their predecessors. Indeed, the pattern of post holes and molds at the Stevens’ plantation is challenging to interpret, in part because their distribution forms no immediately recognizable building plan or tradition. The best interpretation may be of two earthfast buildings, one measuring 18 by 20 ft with a shed addition and the second measuring 16 by 16 ft. Both structures had earth- en floors, timber chimneys, and a few glazed win- dows (see table 1). Brick, although present, formed only a tiny part of the total artifact assemblage and probably derives from a masonry hearth. The traces of architecture found at the Stevens planta- tion reveal both a period of experimentation and a shifting of priorities as settlers sought cheaper ways to build in the Chesapeake. Planters chose to invest their capital elsewhere, including in servants and, increasingly, slaves.34
Still, as primitive as their dwelling may have been, the Stevens furnished its interior with artifacts from all over Europe. A rare ceramic bowl from the province of Saintonge in France, a wine goblet fragment, upholstered furniture, a
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IMAGE BY SCOTT STRICKLAND BASED ON DISCUSSIONS WITH CARY CARSON, ED CHAPPELL, WILLIE GRAHAM, AND CARL LOUNSBURY.