2017 Annual Meeting of the Archeological Society of Maryland


Saturday, October 21st, 2017

Room 100, Duncan Hall,
Howard Community College, Columbia, MD



In the Face of the Flood: Endangered Sites in Anne Arundel County.

Stacy Poulus, Lost Towns

Coastal erosion is impacting Anne Arundel County with a rate of sea- level rise nearly twice the global average. Hundreds of historic properties and archeological sites are at high risk of inundation. Anne Arundel County is trying to identify, evaluate and document imminently threatened sites that are in the high-risk flood zones in Pasadena, Jessup/Laurel/Maryland City and Shady Side. This project demonstrates the value of a united team effort in developing a collaboration across disciplines and the importance of both assessing and inventorying coastal sites to mitigate the potential loss of these sites.


Report on the 2017 ASM Field Session.

Kirsti Uunila, Calvert County Archeologist

The 2017 ASM Annual Field Session was held at 18CV22, a multi-component site on the shore of Battle Creek in Calvert County. The goal of the session was to search for what might remain of the 17th Century town of Calverton, which served as the first seat of county government.


SHA Is More than Highways, Especially if a Shipwreck Is Uncovered.

Aaron Levinthal, State Highways Administration

During the repair of the US 50 Bridge over the Nanticoke River in 2015, the SHA discovered an 18th Century shipwreck. This presentation illustrates some of the findings of an investigation which provided the opportunity to study one of the oldest Maryland-built shipwrecks yet discovered.


2017 Frederick L. Stiner Memorial Lecture

Looking into a Fort George Washington had Constructed.

W. Stephen McBride, McBride Preservation Services

Ashby’s Fort was constructed in 1755 along Patterson’s Creek in present day Mineral County, WV, following orders from Virginia Regiment commander, Col. George Washington, to defend the road between Forts Cumberland and Loudoun and to protect settlers. Archeological investigations in 2007 and 2017 located the remains of four stockade curtain walls and two of the fort’s four bastions. Artifacts and faunal material give insights into the equipment and consumption patterns of the soldiers and militia inhabiting this fort.


How a Small Non-Profit Got Involved in Archeology.

Lynne Bulhack, Mid-Potomac Archeological Society

Working with a small non-profit organization with a big commitment to the environmental and cultural resources of upper Montgomery, lower Frederick counties. Their most recent effort involved archeology of all things. With the help of many individuals and organizations the group created a Native American Heritage Trail Guide dedicated to the Piscataway Conoy Indian tribe in a landscape along the Potomac.


2017 Marilyn Thompson Memorial Lecture

Preserving a Jim Crow Era School in Anne Arundel County.

Sarah Grady, University of Maryland

Built in 1930 in southern Anne Arundel County, the Mill Swamp/Ralph J. Bunche Rosenwald-type school transitioned from a Jim Crow-era school to a community center after integration and a fight from the community to preserve the building and use it as a community center. The University of Maryland and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center partner with the center in preserving the school building, searching for the preceding Freedmen’s Bureau school and other archeological manifestations.


Looking for the Wreck of the Scorpion.

Underwater archeologists search the misty waters near Jug Bay for the remains of Joshua Barney’s War of 1812 flotilla. A WMPT videotape.