Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18WA456 Site Name: Antietam National Battlefield Prehistoric Other Name(S) Historic
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Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18WA456 Site Name: Antietam National Battlefield Prehistoric Other name(s) Historic Brief Mid-19th century Civil War battlefield, military encampment, cemetery Unknown Description: Site Location and Environmental Data: Maryland Archeological Research Unit No. 19 SCS soil & sediment code Latitude 39.4593 Longitude -77.7465 Physiographic province Great Valley Terrestrial site Underwater site Elevation m Site slope Ethnobotany profile available Maritime site Nearest Surface Water Site setting Topography Ownership Name (if any) Antietam Creek -Site Setting restricted Floodplain High terrace Private Saltwater Freshwater -Lat/Long accurate to within 1 sq. mile, user may Hilltop/bluff Rockshelter/ Federal Ocean Stream/river need to make slight adjustments in mapping to cave Interior flat State of MD account for sites near state/county lines or streams Estuary/tidal river Swamp Hillslope Upland flat Regional/ Unknown county/city Tidewater/marsh Lake or pond Ridgetop Other Unknown Spring Terrace Low terrace Minimum distance to water is 0 m Temporal & Ethnic Contextual Data: Contact period site ca. 1820 - 1860 Ethnic Associations (historic only) Paleoindian site Woodland site ca. 1630 - 1675 ca. 1860 - 1900 Y Native American Asian American Archaic site MD Adena ca. 1675 - 1720 ca. 1900 - 1930 African American Unknown Y Early archaic Early woodland ca. 1720 - 1780 Post 1930 Anglo-American Other MIddle archaic Mid. woodland ca. 1780 - 1820 Hispanic Late archaic Late woodland Unknown historic context Unknown prehistoric context Unknown context Y=Confirmed, P=Possible Site Function Contextual Data: Historic Furnace/forge Military Post-in-ground Urban/Rural? Rural Other Battlefield Frame-built Domestic Prehistoric Transportation Fortification Masonry Homestead Multi-component Misc. ceremonial Canal-related Encampment Other structure Farmstead Village Rock art Road/railroad Townsite Slave related Hamlet Shell midden Mansion Wharf/landing Religious Non-domestic agri Plantation Base camp STU/lithic scatter Maritime-related Church/mtg house Recreational Rockshelter/cave Quarry/extraction Row/townhome Bridge Ch support bldg Cellar Midden/dump Earthen mound Fish weir Ford Burial area Cairn Production area Privy Artifact scatter Educational Cemetery Burial area Unknown Industrial Spring or well Commercial Sepulchre Other context Mining-related Trading post Isolated burial Unknown Quarry-related Store Other context Mill Bldg or foundation Tavern/inn Black/metalsmith Possible Structure Interpretive Sampling Data: Prehistoric context samples Soil samples taken Historic context samples Soil samples taken N Flotation samples taken Other samples taken Flotation samples taken N Other samples taken Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18WA456 Site Name: Antietam National Battlefield Prehistoric Other name(s) Historic Brief Mid-19th century Civil War battlefield, military encampment, cemetery Unknown Description: Diagnostic Artifact Data: Prehistoric Sherd Types Shepard Keyser Projectile Point Types Koens-Crispin Marcey Creek Popes Creek Townsend Yeocomico Clovis Perkiomen Dames Qtr Coulbourn Minguannan Monongahela Hardaway-Dalton Susquehana Selden Island Watson Sullivan Cove Susquehannock Palmer Vernon Accokeek Mockley Shenks Ferry Kirk (notch) Piscataway Wolfe Neck Clemson Island Moyaone Kirk (stem) Calvert Vinette Page Potomac Cr Le Croy Selby Bay Historic Sherd Types Ironstone Staffordshire Stoneware Earthenware English Brown Morrow Mntn Jacks Rf (notch) Jackfield Tin Glazed Astbury Eng Dry-bodie Guilford Jacks Rf (pent) Mn Mottled Whiteware 9 Borderware Brewerton Madison/Potomac Nottingham North Devon Porcelain Buckley Rhenish Otter Creek Levanna Pearlware Creamware All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts Wt Salt-glazed Other Artifact & Feature Types: Prehistoric Features Lithic Material Fer quartzite Sil sandstone Prehistoric Artifacts Other fired clay Mound(s) Storage/trash pit Jasper Chalcedony European flint Flaked stone 6 Human remain(s) Midden Burial(s) Chert Ironstone Basalt Ground stone Modified faunal Shell midden Ossuary Rhyolite Argilite Unknown Stone bowls Unmod faunal Postholes/molds Unknown Quartz Steatite Other Fire-cracked rock Oyster shell House pattern(s) Other Quartzite Sandstone Other lithics (all) Floral material Palisade(s) Dated features present at site Ceramics (all) Uncommon Obj. Hearth(s) Rimsherds Other Lithic reduc area Historic Artifacts Historic Features Tobacco related Privy/outhouse Depression/mound Unknown Pottery (all) 16 Activity item(s) 246 Const feature Well/cistern Burial(s) Other Glass (all) 34 Human remain(s) Foundation Trash pit/dump Railroad bed Architectural 52 Faunal material Cellar hole/cellar Furniture 1 Misc. kitchen 8 Sheet midden Earthworks Hearth/chimney Arms 1995 Floral material Planting feature Mill raceway Postholes/molds Clothing 64 Misc. 114 Road/walkway Wheel pit Personal items 12 Other Paling ditch/fence All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts Radiocarbon Data: Sample 1: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 2: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 3: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 4: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 5: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 6: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 7: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 8: +/- years BP Reliability Sample 9: +/- years BP Reliability Additional radiocarbon results available Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18WA456 Site Name: Antietam National Battlefield Prehistoric Other name(s) Historic Brief Mid-19th century Civil War battlefield, military encampment, cemetery Unknown Description: External Samples/Data: Collection curated at NPS (MARS) Additional raw data may be available online Summary Description: Antietam National Battlefield (18WA456) is located northeast of Sharpsburg in Washington County, Maryland. The Battlefield lies within the Antietam Creek drainage of Hagerstown Valley, extending 4.2 km north of downtown Sharpsburg and 2.4 km south of the town. The Battlefield spans the Hagerstown and Boonsboro turnpikes, and extends westward to the Potomac River at Taylor’s Landing. The US Congress established the Antietam National Battlefield in 1890 to commemorate one of the pivotal battles of the American Civil War. It is composed of several historic properties which were the scene of fighting on September 17th, 1862. The battle between George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia resulted in a tactical draw and over 23,000 killed or wounded Confederate and Union soldiers; the bloodiest day in American history. The fighting took place primarily to the north and east of Sharpsburg and effectively ended General Robert E. Lee’s first Maryland campaign. As part of the General Management Plan (GMP) for the Battlefield park, areas of the site were to undergo improvements, alterations, and restorations; including restoring original groves of woods and orchards, placement of utilities underground, and other activities that could impact important archeological resources. The locations of these improvements and restorations included the West, North, and East Woods, Piper Orchard, Mumma Farm(18WA450), Locher/Poffenberger Farm (18WA461), and Miller Tenant House/Cabin (18WA466). An intensive archeological survey and testing program was instituted as a component of the National Parks Service’s System-wide Archeological Inventory Program (SAIP) to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The SAIP survey program was conducted in phases, beginning in the fall of 1994 and ending in the fall of 1998. A few years later, in 2006 and 2007, Phase II testing was carried out in a portion of the Antietam National Battlefield where the proposed expansion of an existing parking lot in front of the park Visitors' Center would impact the battlefield archeological deposits. Infrastructure improvements were also planned which would improve roadways, replace and rehabilitate culverts, and grade areas adjacent to the roads to improve drainage. The portions of the Antietam Battlefield that have been assigned their own individual site numbers, are discussed in their own synopsis reports. This particular report deals only with those portions of the battlefield that are simply part of 18WA456 and not part of a historic house and yard; West Woods, North Woods, East Woods, the Mumma & Piper Orchards, the Visitors’ Center area and surrounding roads (i.e. those areas without their own site number designations). In these areas, standard methods of archeological investigation such as shovel test pits were employed, however, this approach was often found to be of little use in the definition and evaluation of archeological remains of the Antietam conflict. However, systematic metal detector surveys across the battlefield yielded extensive material remains, and provided an opportunity to evaluate the manner in which archeological evidence may enhance the documentary record of the battle, and even provide a new understanding of different aspects of the conflict. The initial portion of the SAIP survey was conducted in a 75-acre parcel of the West Woods which served as a test case for the efficacy of various sampling strategies and recovery techniques used in future phases of research. The West Woods researchers experimented with varying amounts of metal detector coverage as well as the “shape” of the areas collected. Long, thin transects were metal-detected