In the summer of 2024, grants from ArchaeologyX and the Archeological Society of Maryland’s new Project Fund facilitated a one-week field session where the PaleoDigger, an innovative mechanized system designed to excavate test pits up to seven meters in depth, was used to investigate the stratified deposits at The Herman Barton Village Site (18AG3) in Allegany County, Maryland. The site spans over thirty acres and is managed by The Archaeological Conservancy. Excavation via the PaleoDigger is the only technique viable for the deep sampling of the stratified deposits at Barton.
Overhead view of the PaleoDigger at the Barton Site in August 2024
The 2024 PaleoDigger session resulted in the excavation of ten test pits that reached depths over three meters below ground surface. The limited test pitting yielded exciting results including the discovery of a deeply buried 13,000 year old Clovis activity area around two meters below the current ground surface!
PaleoDigger at Barton
3-Meter Test Pit #37
Dr.Singer examines STP Stratigraphy
Scraper from STP #37
Flakes from STP #37
PaleoDigger Investigations of the Deeply Buried Clovis Occupation at the Barton Site (18AG3), Allegany County, MD
Work with the PaleoDigger at the Barton Site led to Brian Fritz producing a video, Hunt for the First Americans: Clovis at the Barton Site? that was entered in the Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival in October 2025.
The PaleoDigger 2024 project led to a successful fundraising program that allowed ASM, MHT and ArcheologyX to conduct a follow-on project at the Barton Site in 2025.
.