Indian Queen Tavern Project Plans

Blog posted by Michael Roller, graduate student from the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland:

Mike Roller, reporting from Scotland where I am currently working on an archaeology project for a couple weeks before returning home to Riverdale, Maryland. As many of you know, our fieldwork at the George Washington House revealed intact archaeological deposits present relating to two and a half centuries of occupation. We decided to return for one more week of work during the last week of June to examine further a few aspects of the property we weren’t able to examine to our complete satisfaction. We are grateful that the Anacostia Watershed Society has been kind enough to welcome us back as hosts.

Three particular areas interest us. These include the stone wall mentioned in an above blogpost by Zach, which relates to the late 19th and early twentieth centuries’, and could shed light on what occurred in the eastern portion of the property closest to US Route One. (see picture below) We also wanted to examine a portion of Trench 2 that featured a few postholes relating to the early to mid- 19th century. Adjacent unit excavation revealed the presence of several postholes that appeared to relate to one or more 19th century structures in the area. One of our hypotheses includes a horse stable listed on a historic deed. The third item on our agenda is to extend our view of Feature 4, an 18th century foundation identified in the western side of Trench 2. The last few days of excavation resulted in large amounts of 18th century ceramics, bones and glass fragments removed from within and adjacent to the foundation. We were lucky enough to catch the southeast corner of the feature but do not have a sense of its dimensions. We are hoping that one last unit may reveal the length, as well as more clues about the function and temporal affiliation of this early feature. (see picture below)

We’ll be blogging sporadically in the next couple weeks about the labwork being conducted at the State Highways lab in Baltimore, before blogging everyday about our fieldwork when it begins again on the 23rd of June. Stay tuned!