Page 98 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

figure 3
The complete pipe assemblage from the Broadneck cellar.
96
discovery, however, was a discrete pile of ceramic sherds that had been placed directly on the clean, dirt floor. When reassembled these proved to be a complete plate of Portuguese delftware (see fig- ure 2). Interestingly, the lion rampant motif on the plate corresponds to the arms of Edward Lloyd, the first commander of the Providence settlement. Lloyd eventually moved to Talbot County where the lion now appears on the county crest. But given that the rampant lion was often used as a decora- tive motif on Portuguese tin-glazed earthenware, the association may simply be a coincidence. An- other researcher fell into this same trap. When plates virtually identical to the one found at the Broadneck Site were recovered from a 17th Cen- tury Portuguese shipwreck off of Brazil, they were associated with the arms of Admiral de Silva.5
The terra cotta pipe fragments from the site have a weak heel and a very distinctive rim deco- ration. They appear to have originated in Southside Virginia, the same area where the Puritans settlers had come from. In later pipe studies the characteris- tic style became known as the Broadneck type since they were first scientifically reported from that site.6
Burle’s Town Land
In 1990 an avocational archaeologist named Harold West reported the presence of colonial artifacts he had collected from a field across the street from his home on Hidden Point. These proved to be dated to the 17th century, and were centered on a silted-in cove that once led to Mill Creek. Historical records indicated that this was the location of a plantation owned by Robert Burle. Robert Burle was the original land survey- or for Providence. In fact, it is his lost records of land surveys (burned in a court house fire) which inhibit reconstruction of the historical record until about 1662, the year when Lord Baltimore regained control of records in the area.
The house site on Burle’s Town Land was occupied between at least 1662 and 1676 when it was apparently abandoned. However, archaeo- logical evidence in the form of a marked window lead indicates an earlier date. It is impressed with the letters “–SON of BRIS-“ which is part of the mark for “John Mason of Bristol.” Since the only known date associated with a John Mason came is