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The 2017 Richard E. Stearns Memorial Lecture

The Richard E. Stearns Memorial Lecture is named in honor of Richard E Stearns (1902-1969), curator of the Department of Archeology at the Natural History Society of Maryland for more than 30 years. Mr. Stearns located numerous archeological sites in the Chesapeake area, and carefully documented his surface and excavated finds. He published numerous archeological articles and several monographs, and donated his collection to the Smithsonian Institution. A commercial artist by profession, he was nonetheless a pioneer in Maryland archeology, instrumental in recording much of Maryland prehistory.

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The Powhatan Landscape
Martin Gallivan, PhD

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A new perspective on Chesapeake history by examining the archaeology of Native settlements along the James and York rivers from A.D. 200 to 1622. The goal is to shift the frame of reference from English accounts toward a longer narrative of Virginia Algonquians’ construction of places, communities, and connections in between. Drawing from his recently-published book, The Powhatan Landscape, Martin Gallivan discussed the spread of forager-fishers through history of the colonial-era Powhatan chiefdom. The archaeological record indicates that scholars’ attentiveness to the English arrival in the Chesapeake has concealed a deeper, indigenous past in Tsenacomacoh, the Algonquian term for Tidewater Virginia.

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Archaeology in Support of Activism: The Hill Community Project
Tracy Jenkin

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To maintain our relevance in the 21st century, archaeologists can lend our support to ongoing emancipatory projects. An example of this kind of work comes from The Hill Community Project in Easton, Maryland where, archaeologists from the University of Maryland have been working for the past five years. The Hill is a 200-year-old integrated neighborhood and home to a large African-American community that was free 75 years before Emancipation. Economic disinvestment threatens the future of this community and Carlene Phoenix and Priscilla Morris of Historic Easton lead an effort to fighting back with a remembrance of their past. At their invitation, a team of scholars organized by Dale Green of Morgan State University is using our understanding of the past in this place as a platform to advocate for the community's needs in the present and to help get them a seat at the table in decisions over the future of their neighborhood.

The ASM Student Spotlight

Using Archaeology to Find and Interpret the Role of Children in the Colonial Chesapeake
Catherine Dye

Children are an under-studied group of people historically, especially in archaeology. Where children have been studied, it is typically in relation to mortality rates. This paper describes findings from a year-long study of the construction of African and European childhood in the Virginia and Maryland colonies through an archaeological lens. Analyses of probate inventories, child burials, and child-related archaeological artifacts shed important light on the experience of childhood in the colonial Chesapeake. In addition to providing an archaeological examination of childhood mortality, the study of child bodies in burials can reflect attitudes towards these children. Material culture in combination with burial conditions of children indicate the emotional value these children had, complicating the notion that children were valued primarily for their economic contributions.

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The Iris McGillivray Memorial Lecture

Iris McGillivray was a founding member of the Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc., ably serving the Society for over thirty years as Secretary, President, Newsletter Editor, Field Session Registrar, and Membership Secretary. She is perhaps best known, loved, and respected for her organization of the annual Spring Symposium, first held in 1965, arranging all aspects of the day-long program. In 1991 Iris was presented with the Society's William B. Marye Award to honor her services to archeology in Maryland.

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Archeology’s Role in African American Critical Geography
Cheryl LaRoche

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The Archaeological Conservancy at Work in the East: Recent Acquisitions and Projects
Andy Stout

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