TEAGUES POINT, Md. — State archaeologists completed the 54th year of the Tyler Bastian field session. Each year they bring an army of volunteers to a site to learn and give the public a chance to help preserve Maryland's past.
Photojournalist Kristi Harper went out to this year's field session to see the surprising objects they found.
What kid, young or old doesn’t love digging in the dirt. Brecton sure does. “I think it's really fun and I'd like to jump into a giant hill of dirt right now."
Home schoolers Waytt, Brecton, Tayzli, and Dash from Prince George’s and Charles county are digging this new learning.
Hear from some homegrown archaeological diggers
"'Cause you never know what you're going to find." says their friend. Finding out how people survived here before fast food and youtube.
Wyatt has found animal bones at home. But nothing like this, "I never did this and I like digging up artifacts." Tayzli’s interest is in the community that lived here. “So we can learn more about this place."
These kids are cleaning a ton of oyster shells. Part of the colonial trash at the site. Trash heaps are an archaeologist’s treasure trove. And the stuff here at Teagues Point is telling a story of the Swifts and the Smiths and their lives in the seventeenth century. It turns out an amateur archaeologist spent years finding artifacts in this field. He mapped where he found each piece. A map to discovery for Dr. Matthew McKnight.
"As soon as we saw it we took an interest. We knew it wasn't a previously recorded site," Dr. McKnight said.
With the amateur map as a launching point, the State Chief Archaeologist along with State Terrestrial Archaeologist Zach Singer found evidence of in-filled cellars and storage pits.
A trip to the state archives revealed a land patten from Lord Baltimore giving the names of two inhabitants.
"So, we think what we have is the location of Michael Swift's house as well as a later occupation of the Smith family once they had control of the land," said Dr. McKnight.
In this field session, the team has found evidence the people here lived a pretty rich life.
Dutch pottery, pipes made around the Chesapeake and a glass bottle seal showing an “I”, “C”and “S”. Potential proof of who lived here.
But Dr. McKnight is careful on that point.
"Unfortunately, our occupants are the Swifts and the Smiths, so it doesn't clear up the timeline for us," Dr. McKnight said.
Such is the way with archaeology. So they keep digging.
"One of the strangest artifacts that we found and it's most interesting is a marine mammal tooth," said Dr. McKnight.
They think it could have come from a porpoise, something colonial people occasionally ate, adding to the mystery.
"We may find more and that will give us a better answer. Right now it's just this one little tooth," Dr. McKnight said.
They are hoping the folks at the Calvert Marine Museum can help them identify it for sure.
The team meticulously documents everything to preserve context. What they found and where. Dr. McKnight says it's true citizen science.
"Everybody's coming together and they're contributing their labor, their thoughts, their energy towards figuring out what was happening here on this landscape, which will tell a little piece of what gets put together as Maryland's history," said Dr. McKnight.
There are many opportunities to volunteer to help maintain and preserve Maryland's history.
If you'd like to participate, click here.
