The Billingsley Site is a multicomponent site used as a base camp during the Early, Middle, & Late Archaic periods, and at least a base camp if not a
village during the Early, Middle, & Late Woodland periods. Archival research reveals the Billingsley property to be the last known location of the Patuxent Indians. The site had been subjected
to controlled surface collection in 1996, recovering large numbers of artifacts, particularly dating to the Woodland periods, and clustered into discrete localities surrounding concentrations
of fire-cracked rock. This data suggested that intact features might remain.
In the Fall/Winter of 2018 and early Spring of 2019, Magnetic susceptibility of surface soils was measured at a 5 meter interval throughout a large survey
area, identifying a roughly 1.3 acre of magnetically enhanced soils. This area likely represents numerous hearths and other features created by past human activity at what was likely the core of a
prehistoric/Contact period village or base camp. The magnetic susceptibility work was followed-up with fluxgate gradiometer survey which identified numerous, large pit-shaped anomalies throughout
the site. Both the gradiometer anomalies and magnetic susceptibility anomalies were ground-truthed during the 2019 Field Session. Extensive evidence of prehistoric occupation was identified, with
the primary occupation appearing to date to the Late Archaic/Early Woodland transitional period. Potential roasting pits, refuse pits and hearths were identified. Though some Late Woodland projectile
points and pottery sherds were identified, no definitive Contact-era artifacts (such as trade beads or brass points) were identified in 2019.
