"Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation along the Anacostia River" Part III, Commerce

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is Part III:

The Market Master’s house is a ca. 1760 stone structure built by Christopher Lowndes, a prominent merchant and slave trader in the region. He operated several businesses including a ropewalk and an import business in the structures he built in the town of Bladensburg. Among the artifacts recovered at the Market Master’s house was a fragment of black transfer-printed creamware printed with an inscription. Research resulted in finding an image of a matching teapot, helping us to complete the inscription. It reads: “When this you see, Remember me, And bear me in your mind; Let all the world, Say what they will, Speak of me as you find”. On the rear of the teapot is a poignant image of a couple parting, the man gesturing towards a three-masted sailing ship. Transfer-printing on creamware, often with a nautical theme to commemorate a sea voyage to the colonies, was mass-produced for export to the American colonies by Wedgewood in the third quarter of the 18th century (Nelson 1980:93).

The poignant message and image reminds us of the ties of commerce that connected Bladensburg to a global network of trade that reached across the ocean to England where tobacco was sold and goods, as well as people, were collected for export. This network also extended to Africa where human labor was collected for the long sea journey that resulted in death for many, and misery for the rest. Bladensburg would have been a major destination for global trade, with its deep harbor and location convenient to the dispersed tobacco growing population of early Maryland. Traces of these ties, and the society they engendered are revealed by the archaeology, and serve us as a way of engaging the public about this history. The nautical scene made us think of the many people that made their way to Bladensburg and to other American colonies, some with fortunes, some with dreams, and many against their will.

“Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, Part II, Ecology

This paper was co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky and presented at the 2010 Conference for the Society for Historical Archaeology. It is based upon their work in Bladensburg. Here is part II:

Chartered in 1742 as a port town, Bladensburg is located on the Anacostia River south of the confluence of the Northeast and Northwest branches. This location was chosen for its suitability as a port for the export of tobacco from plantations spread across Maryland in the 18th and 19th centuries. But, archaeology revealed that the ecology of the Anacostia River near Bladensburg attracted inhabitants much earlier. One of the findings that stirred excitement was a Bare Island quartzite biface dating to the Late Archaic period.

Throughout our excavations we encountered evidence of Native American occupation dating from the Late Archaic to the Woodland Periods. Previously, no recorded Native American sites had been documented. One of our visitors, a representative of the nearby Piscataway tribe and a former resident of Bladensburg, was enthused that the archaeology corroborated the findings of oral narrative. Piscataway oral history describes the shores of the Anacostia River as heavily populated; taking advantage of the rich resources of the wetlands on the edges of the riverbanks and migratory fish in the deep estuarine waters. During the Woodland Period forests were burnt to maintain grassy meadows for corn farming, attracting game and the construction of palisaded villages. By the time of European arrival, complex regional politics had developed and the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed were used as “avenues of commerce and communication”. European settlers would eventually dominate, and completely replace the Native American occupants of the region, settling often in the same spots that offered congenial environmental advantages. These remains were hidden below centuries of silt from the flooding waters of the Anacostia.

The early inhabitants of Bladensburg began, in small degrees, an ecological alteration of the river that, during subsequent European occupation would completely change its ecology. Silt from intensive tobacco farming rendered the river unnavigable by the mid 19th century. Flooding, already a problem in the 18th century was exacerbated by the altered water channel and the routing of runoff from impermeable surfaces into the river. The natural curvatures of the river, which produced the resource-rich floodplain environments used by its prehistoric inhabitants, were straightened and surrounded by dikes by the Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1952.

The comments we get from the public when we present this evidence from our excavations are often something along the lines of “You found that here, right in town!?” The river’s environment has been so radically changed by its long succession of inhabitants that earlier history, before the concrete, strip malls, and toxic silt, has been essentially unimaginable. But for many residents and Native Americans in the region, finding that Bladensburg history reaches as far back as 5,000 years or older is both a surprise and an affirmation that the river that wound through town was once a rich natural resource that brought people to settle here.

“Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, Part I, Public Outreach

This paper, co-authored by Mike Roller and Julie Schablitsky, was presented at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference in January of this year. Here is Part I of the paper:

The Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Center for Heritage Resource Studies (CHRS) at the University of Maryland designed the Bladensburg Archaeology Project as a collaborative partnership to investigate the historic resources of the town of Bladensburg, Maryland in anticipation of the upcoming War of 1812 Bicentennial. Bladensburg, a seemingly ordinary suburban community located approximately two miles to the northeast of the Washington, D.C. border, has a rich history that stretches back to the Colonial period. Since that time, Bladensburg has rapidly changed as a result of broad regional and national changes in ecology, economy, political geography, and demography. Today, the historic landscape is invisible behind the dense fabric of transportation corridors, commercial development and industrial spaces. Through archaeology and community outreach, this modern veil has parted to reveal a complex history that spans from the prehistoric period to the mid 20th century.

The project incorporated a civic engagement component that directly involved the community in discovering its past. In engaging the public through addressing their questions about our work and our finds, sharing in their enthusiastic reactions and joining in their civic functions, we were better able to share the experience of our work, and its findings in a way that was meaningful and relevant to the community. Additionally, in demystifying the process of doing archaeology we helped the public understand how it works, why it is important, and how it can be useful to them in their community today.

Since the initiation of the project in the spring of 2009 archaeologists and historians investigated three archaeological sites, conducted documentary and deed research, and compiled architectural inventories in the town. The outreach component of the project began a few weeks before excavations commenced. An initial public history workshop presented the plans and goals of the project to the community. The workshop included a talk by local historians followed by a community discussion in which attendants were encouraged to provide feedback and communicate their interests in the project.

The Maryland State Highway Administration began excavations at the Magruder house, a ca. 1746 stone house built for William Hilleary, in May of 2009. Public site tours, a press conference, and news releases accompanied this work. Throughout the process, staff maintained a project blog with daily updates collected from each member of the field crew. Through the blog, researchers answered questions from the community and from a wider public audience. In June of 2009 CHRS joined the State Highway archaeologists to investigate the grounds of the Market Master's house. Like the Magruder house, open site tours, electronic documentation and public presentations accompanied the archaeology work. Upon completion of the excavation, a second workshop allowed members of the community to provide feedback, view artifacts, and discuss local history. In order to engage and initiate dialogue from the community, project staff also attended numerous community events, celebrations, and meetings where they presented artifacts and released preliminary interpretations from the work. Although insufficient time had passed to reveal results from the excavations, these opportunities to publicly demonstrate the process of archaeology was key to project goals.

If These Sherds Could Talk

Nichole: I learned about a new ceramic type today that I have never seen before. I was curious about two small rim fragments from the Market Master House collection that looked pretty unusual. They were thinly potted redware sherds with yellow and dark brown/black transfer printed decoration on both sides. (See bottom left photo.) With only having very small pieces, I was having a hard time imagining what the rest of the pot could possibly have looked like. The odd color combination and wild pattern made me think it must have been a gift that was only displayed when the person who gave it came to visit.

At a colleague’s suggestion, I looked for the mystery sherds in a wonderful reference book; Hume’s If These Pots Could Talk. Sure enough, there it was; a picture of a beautiful Portobello ware milk pitcher. Our once complete milk pitcher was imported from Scotland in the late eighteenth century. Since Bladensburg was a port town, its residents could easily access foreign goods. Portobello ware has also been found at Riversdale.

Conference Paper Presentation on the Bladensburg Archaeology Project

Early in January of this year two members of the Bladensburg Archaeology Project presented a preliminary conference paper on their work with the public. The paper, entitled “Ecology, Commerce, Conflict and Transportation Along the Anacostia River”, was presented at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference held this year in Amelia Island, Florida. (conference and society website: http://www.sha.org/about/conferences/2010.cfm) It was co-authored by Michael Roller and Julie Schablitsky. The conference session it was featured in was entitled “Big History at Small Places”. It focused on projects like Bladensburg that contain long and diverse archaeological histories in confined geographical areas. Papers were delivered from projects as far away as Iceland, Mongolia, Alaska, California and Massachusetts. We’ll post the paper on the blog in increments.

We are also planning our upcoming field season starting this May. We will kick it off with a workshop to be held in mid-April. The topic is yet to be decided. We look forward to seeing you there! Keep your eye on the blog in the meantime.

Upcoming Events: AWS lecture and Bladensburg Archaeology Talk

There are two events in the next two weeks in Bladensburg that might be of interest.

First of all the Anacostia Watershed Society, who hosted the projects history workshops will continue its lecture series next week with a talk from Howard Ernst, Associate Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy. He will talk about the political side of environmental efforts to clean up the bay.
Here is some info:
Who: Howard Ernst, author of Fight for the Bay and Associate Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy.
When: 7:00PM to 8:30PM
Where: George Washington House, 4302 Baltimore Ave., Bladensburg, MD [map]
RSVP: RSVPs are required. Please contact AWS at info@anacostiaws.org or call 301-699-6204.
For more information about Professor Ernst, visit his Web site at www.howardernst.com.

On Thursday, November 19th at 3:00 the Bladensburg Archaeology Project will present a short talk about the project at the Bladensburg Library. Here is a link to library activities:
http://www.prge.lib.md.us/Current/NovDec09/History.html

See you there!

If you have any questions you can email bladenarch@gmail.com

Artifacts in Focus: A Little Bostwick History as Seen Through a Bullet

Bullets are a common find on archaeological sites, especially in rural or formerly rural areas such as Bladensburg. Their recovery suggests something of how radically the landscape of Bladensburg has changed, from a sparsely occupied hamlet to the urban bustle it is today. Civil War-era bullets are also common. Several were found at the Magruder and Market Master’s house suggesting the likelihood that troops may have camped on the grounds.

While excavating on the grounds of Bostwick this summer we found a bullet unlike others we had seen before. (for more on the Bostwick excavation: http://bladenarch.blogspot.com/2009/06/introducing-bostwick-house.html#links). It was a large-caliber rifle bullet, copper-jacketed and grooved. Its appearance suggested to us that it dated to the late nineteenth century at the earliest. It just so happened that a member of the Bladensburg Police Force, specifically the firearms training officer, came to visit us out in the field that day. We decided to show him the bullet to get his professional opinion as to its origins. His assessment was that it was between .46 and .48 caliber, and belonged to a big game hunting rifle. He estimated its age to the early part of the twentieth century. It turns out that James Kyner, who purchased the house in 1904, was an avid big game hunter. For anyone who has been into Bostwick, the sight of the many large trophy heads on the currently empty walls is not easily forgotten.

The Historic American Buildings Survey report describes Mr. James Kyner as an adventurous man who made his fortune building railroads in the west. He was also a Civil War veteran, losing his leg in the conflict. Bostwick has come to absorb and reflect the aesthetics of its long succession of owners, and Mr. and Mrs. Kyner are no exception in this regard. Besides the trophy heads, the interior walls are decorated with cabinets and wallpapers that were fashionable at the time. A large colonial revival porch was added to the front of the house by the Kyners’. Numerous brick outbuildings were also, at this time, demolished. In 1937 Kyner wrote a biography of his long and fascinating life called “End of Track”. In it he recounts his experiences growing up in the Midwest of the late 19th century, the adventures and difficulties of railroad work and his latter life as a politician. Bladensburg is mentioned very briefly at the end, where he fondly describes the peace of his retirement home:

“…going east with my wife and very young daughter, I bought an old colonial home just outside the District of Columbia, within six miles of the White House. The old house appealed to me in part, perhaps, because the date high up one of its tall chimneys is 1746, which antedates my own arrival in this world by just one hundred years.
Here, with seven acres of garden and orchard and lawn to interest me, I have stood aside for the past thirty years and let the world go by. Busying myself with bees and dogs, with chickens and with a horse or two, modernizing and reconstructing this old, old house of mine, I have played no part that could be felt so very far beyond the pillars at my gate. I have seen, as from a seat in a theater, the drama of the world. Here and there it touches me, of course, but mostly it does not.” (Kyner 1937: 276).

Through his narrative we can understand one of the many ways the landscape of Bladensburg has been conceptualized by its occupants. Here is an amazing photograph of James Kyner I received from Susan Pearl showing Mr. Kyner standing in front of the large hearth at Bostwick: