Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18AN50 Site Name: Leon Prehistoric Other Name(S) Pig Point Historic
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Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18AN50 Site Name: Leon Prehistoric Other name(s) Pig Point Historic Brief Early-Late Archaic and Early, Middle & Late Woodland base camp or village; late 17th-early Unknown Description: 20th cen. Domestic Site Location and Environmental Data: Maryland Archeological Research Unit No. 8 SCS soil & sediment code DvC,CSF Latitude 38.7990 Longitude -76.7099 Physiographic province Western Shore Coastal Terrestrial site Underwater site Elevation m Site slope 5-10% Ethnobotany profile available Maritime site Nearest Surface Water Site setting Topography Ownership Name (if any) Patuxent River -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 107 m Temporal & Ethnic Contextual Data: Contact period site ca. 1820 - 1860 Y Ethnic Associations (historic only) Paleoindian site Woodland site ca. 1630 - 1675 ca. 1860 - 1900 Y Native American Asian American Archaic site MD Adena Y ca. 1675 - 1720 Y ca. 1900 - 1930 Y African American Unknown Y Early archaic Y Early woodland Y ca. 1720 - 1780 Y Post 1930 Y Anglo-American Y Other MIddle archaic Y Mid. woodland Y ca. 1780 - 1820 Y Hispanic Late archaic Y Late woodland Y 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 tobacco inspection station Interpretive Sampling Data: Prehistoric context samples Soil samples taken Y Historic context samples Soil samples taken N Flotation samples taken Y Other samples taken Faunal Flotation samples taken N Other samples taken Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18AN50 Site Name: Leon Prehistoric Other name(s) Pig Point Historic Brief Early-Late Archaic and Early, Middle & Late Woodland base camp or village; late 17th-early Unknown Description: 20th cen. Domestic Diagnostic Artifact Data: Prehistoric Sherd Types Shepard Keyser Projectile Point Types Koens-Crispin Marcey Creek 1 Popes Creek 727 Townsend 2213 Yeocomico 1 Clovis Perkiomen Dames Qtr Coulbourn Minguannan Monongahela Hardaway-Dalton Susquehana 1 Selden Island Watson Sullivan Cove 9 Susquehannock Palmer 1 Vernon 3 Accokeek 954 Mockley 1357 Shenks Ferry Kirk (notch) Piscataway 35 Wolfe Neck Clemson Island Moyaone 26 Kirk (stem) 1 Calvert 3 Vinette Page Potomac Cr 89 Le Croy 3 Selby Bay 4 Historic Sherd Types Ironstone 1 Staffordshire Stoneware Earthenware English Brown 35 Morrow Mntn 1 Jacks Rf (notch) Jackfield 10 Tin Glazed 21 Astbury 2 Eng Dry-bodie Guilford 3 Jacks Rf (pent) Mn Mottled Whiteware 135 Borderware Brewerton 1 Madison/Potomac 13 Nottingham North Devon Porcelain 37 Buckley 3 Rhenish 10 Otter Creek 3 Levanna 13 Pearlware 267 Creamware 256 All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts Wt Salt-glazed 15 Other Artifact & Feature Types: Prehistoric Features Lithic Material Fer quartzite Sil sandstone Prehistoric Artifacts Other fired clay 12 Mound(s) Storage/trash pit Jasper Chalcedony European flint Flaked stone 27679 Human remain(s) Midden Burial(s) Chert Ironstone Basalt Ground stone 18 Modified faunal 3269 Shell midden Ossuary Rhyolite Argilite Unknown Stone bowls 5 Unmod faunal 39760 Postholes/molds Unknown Quartz Steatite Other Fire-cracked rock 31339 Oyster shell House pattern(s) Other Quartzite Sandstone slate Other lithics (all) 649 Floral material Palisade(s) Dated features present at site Ceramics (all) 17021 Uncommon Obj. 457 Hearth(s) Hearths include Features 2, 5, 9, 17, 31, 36, 111, & Rimsherds Other copper bead Lithic reduc area 112;Midden layers include Strata A, B, and C of Feat. 11; Postmolds include the base of Feat. 19 Historic Artifacts Historic Features Tobacco related 218 Privy/outhouse Depression/mound Unknown Pottery (all) 1622 Activity item(s) 76 Const feature Well/cistern Burial(s) Other Glass (all) 2920 Human remain(s) Foundation Trash pit/dump Railroad bed Architectural 3461 Faunal material Cellar hole/cellar Furniture 3 Misc. kitchen 43 Sheet midden Earthworks Hearth/chimney Arms 26 Floral material Planting feature Mill raceway Postholes/molds Clothing 15 Misc. 17216 Road/walkway Wheel pit Personal items 8 Other Paling ditch/fence All quantities exact or estimated minimal counts Radiocarbon Data: Sample 1: 690 +/- 40 years BP Reliability Sample 2: 690 +/- 60 years BP Reliability Sample 3: 640 +/- 60 years BP Reliability B-273057: charcoal from base of High B-260443: charcoal from hearth (feat. High B-260444: charcoal from Stratum A of 60 hearth (feat. 5), assoc. w/ Townsend 9), assoc. w/ shell and gravel- Feature 11, a large midden deposit sherds, triangular pts., lithics, fcr, and tempered sherds, lithics, fcr, and faunal remains faunal remains Sample 4: 760 +/- 40 years BP Reliability Sample 5: 750 +/- 50 years BP Reliability Sample 6: 2050 +/- 40 years BP Reliability B-273058: charcoal from Stratum B of High B-273059: charcoal from Stratum C of High B-273060: charcoal from postmold at High Feature 11, a large midden deposit, Feature 11, a large midden deposit, base of feat. 19, a hearth, assoc. w/ 1 assoc. w/ a Hopewell pt., "Sperling assoc. w/ copper bead, canine tooth Calvert pt., Accokeek & Popes Cr. disks", & dense bone concentrations pendant, "SPerling disks", bone, & sherds, fcr, bone, fish scales, & shell other Sample 7: 2300 +/- 40 years BP Reliability Sample 8: 190 +/- 60 years BP Reliability Sample 9: 1440 +/- 40 years BP Reliability B-273061: charcoal from base of large High B-260071: charcoal from hearth (feat. Mod B-261482: charcoal from hearth (feat. High Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18AN50 Site Name: Leon Prehistoric Other name(s) Pig Point Historic Brief Early-Late Archaic and Early, Middle & Late Woodland base camp or village; late 17th-early Unknown Description: 20th cen. Domestic hearth (feat. 31), assoc. w/ 1 2), assoc. w/ 1 Yeocomico sherd, 3 17), assoc. w/ 1 utilized flake, Piscatway, 1 triangle pt., uniface other shell-tempered sherds, 11 mica debitage and fcr debitage, fcr, Popes Creek & flakes, debitage, 1 piece of bird shot Accokeek sherds Additional radiocarbon results available Phase II and Phase III Archeological Database and Inventory Site Number: 18AN50 Site Name: Leon Prehistoric Other name(s) Pig Point Historic Brief Early-Late Archaic and Early, Middle & Late Woodland base camp or village; late 17th-early Unknown Description: 20th cen. Domestic External Samples/Data: Collection curated at Anne Arundel County Planning and Zoning, MAC, MD Additional raw data may be available online Summary Description: The Pig Point site (also known as Leon or 18AN50) is a multi-component prehistoric base camp and village in western Anne Arundel County. The site is situated on a large bluff and some low terraces and fields on the eastern bank of the Patuxent River overlooking the freshwater marsh north of Jug Bay. The site has produced in situ artifacts dating from the Early Archaic through to the Late Woodland periods of prehistory. A substantial Early and Middle Woodland deposit is present. In addition, a late 17th century to modern European/American occupation of the area has also left its mark on the site. Most of the surrounding landscape is freshwater, but tidal wetlands. The site itself is on a series of privately owned parcels, but most of the surrounding landscape is owned and managed by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks as wetland and nature preserves. Soils at the site are primarily Downer and Hammonton loamy sands and sandy loams. The site was first identified in the 1940s by Richard Stearns, an archeologist with the Natural History Society of Maryland. He characterized the site as consisting of two small shell middens (roughly 9 m in diameter) and a scatter of artifacts in the fields near the river. Stearns collected approximately 100 quartz and shell-tempered sherds (cord-marked, fabric-impressed, and undecorated), 85 stemmed points, 4 triangular points, 1 stone celt, 2 grooved axes, and a wide-grooved adze. Howard MacCord, a local collector and eventually Virginia’s State Archeologist, is also known to have worked at the site. His collection from 18AN50 was donated to the Maryland Historical Society. The collection includes 21 projectile points, 4 other bifaces, 2 ceramic sherds, and 2 pipe stem fragments. The pipe stem fragments have not been included in the tables above because it is not clear whether the “pipe stems” are prehistoric or historic (and there is a historic occupation at the site). In addition to Stearns and MacCord, other local collectors are known to have worked at the site over the years, but their activities are poorly documented or largely unknown. It is thought that most of the 20th century collecting activities were centered either in the low-lying fields or low terraces at the northern end of the site, which were either plowed fields or gardens for much of the 20th century.