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The Montgomery Focus: A Late Woodland Potomac River Culture

Richard Slattery/ Douglas Woodward

The product of nearly 30 years of research, The Montgomery Focus is an analysis of a series of Late Woodland habitation sites in the middle Potomac drainage. Four villages form the core of this study, and each is reported in detail. Based on data from these four sites, Slattery and Woodward define the Montgomery Focus -- an Owasco-like cultural phenomenon marked archeologically by crushed quartz- and granite-tempered, collared Shepard ceramics, clay elbow tobacco pipes, bone artifacts, medium-sized triangular projectile points, oval village plans, flexed burials, and corn agriculture. This 184-page volume contains more than six dozen illustrations and two appendices, one of which describes more than 100 discoidals (or chunkey stones) from the Winslow site. The Montgomery Focus is a must-have addition to the library of any student of late prehistoric archeology in the Middle Atlantic region.

The Discovery and Archeological Investigation of the Benjamin Banneker Homestead (18BA282), Baltimore County, Maryland

Robert J. Hurry

BENJAMIN BANNEKER, widely regarded as America's first African American man of science, resided for most of his life on a farm in Baltimore County, Maryland. Historical records provide scant glimpses of the home where this humble farmer and self-taught astronomer lived from 1737 to 1806. Susanna Mason of Pennsylvania, who visited Banneker in 1796, described his house as a “lowly dwelling built of logs, one story in height and surrounded by an orchard.”Banneker's house reportedly burned to the ground on the day of his funeral. The passage of time and forces of nature gradually erased any visible vestiges of the house and farm.

The archeological discoveries reveal tangible evidence of Banneker's homestead and yield new insights into the life and times of this important figure. While the initial archeological testing has just begun to scratch the surface of this significant site, preserved within Baltimore County's Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum, future research efforts will expand our knowledge and appreciation of Benjamin Banneker.

A Layperson's Guide to Historical Archaeology in Maryland

Jim Gibb

Written for the volunteer, A Layperson's Guide to Historical Archaeology in Maryland is a comprehensive introduction to the “hows”and “whys”of historical archeology using examples from The Lost Towns of Anne Arundel Project. This 80-page guide covers everything from developing a research design to report writing, finding sites to excavating them, and using common mason's trowels to surveying with the latest in advanced geophysical instruments. A Layperson's Guide will prepare both experienced and new volunteers for a more meaningful and rewarding experience during their next visit to an archeological excavation.

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Feast of the Dead: Aboriginal Ossuaries in Maryland

Dennis C. Curry

OSSUARIES are communal graves containing the reburied, skeletonized remains of multiple individuals. For more than a century, archeologists have been intrigued by the Native American practice of ossuary burial in the Maryland tidewater region. During this time, investigations have run the gamut from antiquarian curiosity to modern scientific study, although details of much of this work are poorly reported or only found in obscure technical literature. For the first time, Feast of the Dead attempts to compile all of this information in one volume, and examine the data from Maryland's three dozen known ossuaries from an archeological perspective.

In Feast of the Dead (a title derived from the 17th century Huron burial ceremony), Maryland Historical Trust archeologist Dennis C. Curry details the excavated data from each of Maryland's ossuaries, and takes a look at what these unique mortuary features may mean. Clearly reflective of Native American spiritual beliefs, ossuaries also appear to evince native social, political, and status concepts which evolved during the period from roughly A.D. 1400 to the time of European contact.

A valuable research source for archeologists, Feast of the Dead is intended to shed light on Native American burial rituals for the general reader as well. It also serves to help reconstruct the lifeways and belief systems of late prehistoric Algonkian groups in Maryland.