INKSHERDS Newsletter of the Archaeological Society of Delaware May 2016 www.delawarearchaeology.org May is Archaeology Month May is Archaeology Month in Delaware . A number of New Castle Chapter Meeting events have been planned across the state. During archaeology month the Greenbank Mill 7 pm Archaeological Society of Delaware holds its annual meeting. This year we Jason Shellenhammer of RK&K. Topic to be announced. will be having a pot-luck luncheon at Killens Pond State Park. Speakers are featured and there is an opportunity for a walking tour of edible wild plants. Archaeological Society of Delaware Annual Meeting Killens Pond State Park Nature Center Archaeology Month Events 5025 Killens Pond Road, Felton May 1: Iron Hill Museum’s Archaeology & History Festival 9:30 am Coffee and Mingling May 5 : Sussex Chapter Meeting 10:00 am Business Meeting & Awards Presentation May 7: Early Colonial Delaware Valley: An 11:00 am “Sea Level Rise & Archaeology” Archaeological and Historical Symposium Dr. Darrin Lowery, Smithsonian Institute May 11 : arCH 12:00 pm Pot-Luck Lunch ASD Picnic (Archaeology, Cultural & Heritage Field Days) 1:00 pm “The Archaeology of Killens Pond” May 13 : arCH John McCarthy, DE State Parks Archaeologist 2:00 pm "Revolutionary Battlefield Archaeology" - Wade Catts, arCH May 18 : Commonwealth Heritage Group May 18 : New Castle Chapter Meeting 3:00 pm “Wild Edibles” walk & talk (optional) May 21 : Annual Meeting Jeff Moore, State Parks May 28 : 6th Annual Maritime Festival, Lewes. Advance registration and $10/person fee May 31 : Kent County Chapter Meeting Lunch is Pot-Luck so please bring something for others to enjoy. The newest ASD Bulletin will be available. Iron Hill Museum Archaeology & History Festival. Be advised the park requires a $4.00 per car entry fee ($8.00 out of state). Iron Hill Museum, Newark. Noon ‘till 4pm Car pooling is suggested as it is a per car fee. This years theme is “tools of the trade” with demonstrations on making prehistoric stone tools and blacksmithing, among other crafts and trades. Maritime Festival Admission is $5.00 for persons over 4. Boyscouts in uniform get in for free. The Sussex and Maritime Chapters of ASD will have a table at the annual Maritime Festival in Lewes. Promotional materials are available and a Sussex Chapter Meeting demonstration of the ROV. The festival features maritime themed games Lewes Library, Lewes 7pm displays and activities. Anyone wishing to assist should contact Gary Dan Griffith will be presenting on the 2015 field results from the Avery’s Schmidt at [email protected]. Rest project. Kent County Chapter Meeting Early Colonial Delaware Valley Symposium Dover Public Library 6 pm New Castle Court House Musuem, New Castle 9am - 4pm John Bansch will speak on the Search for the Lost Corbit Tannery of Odessa. (see Page 2) arCh (Archaeology, Cultural & Heritage Field Days) WELCOME NEW MEMBERS The Green, Dover (8am - 2:30 each day) The Ceramics Revolution in Prehistory. Approximately 900 4th graders will learn about pottery. Volunteers are Pamela Boehr needed to assist working with the children. You need not commit to the Colin McGowan entire day - but we do ask for at least a couple hours on the day (or days!) Joyce Steinmetz that you can make it. Lunch will be provided for those who attend. John McCarthy of State Parks will lead the instruction. If you would like more information or would like to sign-up to help, contact John McCarthy at [email protected] or 302-739-9188 INKSHERDS May 2016 Page 2 The Early Colonial Delaware Valley Time Travelers An Archaeological and Historical Symposium Native American Life at Killens Pond May 7, 2016 State Park – Sat May 21 st 2:00 – 3:00 pm New Castle Court House Museum – Archaeology of Killens Pond New Castle, DE talk by John McCarthy 8:45 Craig Lukezic – DHCA State Park archaeologist John McCarthy, Introduction /Current Status of Research on Fort Casimir RPA, will summarize the physical evidence 9:00 Bill Liebekencht - Dovetail Cultural Resource Group of Native American habitation at Killens Wolf Pits in Colonial Delaware Pond State Park in an illustrated talk. 9:45 Bruce A. Bendler - University of Delaware The Battle of the Boundary – A Local Skirmish: the Levels and 3:00 – 4:30 pm – Adult Survival Series: Spring Wild Edible Plants the Penn-Calvert Dispute lead by Jeff Moore 10:30 John P. McCarthy - Delaware State Parks Is it safe to eat that berry? Explore forest paths and edges looking for Environment, Health, and the Depositional Processes of Privies spring's edible plants. We will hike and collect for one hour then return to in Colonial Philadelphia the Nature Center to prepare plants for eating. Advance registration and 11:15 to 1:00 Lunch a $10 fee, meet at the Nature Center. Call (302) 284 4299 to sign up. 1:00 Brian Crane – Versar Late 17th-Century Demographic and Settlement Patterns The next Time Traveler Basic Archaeology Training will Among Swedish Families in the Delaware Valley. be held Saturday June 18th in Dover at Rose Cottage (southwest corner 1:45 Daniel R. Griffith - Archaeological Society of Delaware of Reed and South State Streets). The training consists of about 2 and a Review of the 2015 Field Session at Avery’s Rest, Sussex County, half hours of lecture (there is a break!) and hands-on excavation of shovel Delaware tests. 2:30 Marshall Joseph Becker - Professor of Anthropology Emeritus West Chester University We will also perform a basic Phase I archaeology survey around this The Ethnogenesis of the "Munsee" in the Upper Delaware mid-19th century structure at the conclusion of the formal instruction. Valley: Some Members of Tribes from the East (Esopus, Waping Join us at 2:00 pm for the lectures or at 5:00 pm to assist with the testing and Wiechquaeskeck, etc.) Enter a Buffer Zone and Become an - we are sure to find something interesting! Tell your friends that this is Amalgamated Group the last chance to get a free ASD membership upon completing the 3:15 Artifact and Material Culture Discussions training (only for those not already ASD members!). All who complete the David Orr: Loft Ladder. training, however, will get the embroidered Time Traveler patch. Daniel R. Griffith: Various finds from Avery's Rest Brian Crane: Conch Shell from Mons Jones House Contact John McCarthy at Delaware State Parks for more information or John McCarthy: Things I Found in My Desk to register! [email protected] 4:00 Adjournment Rose Cottage c. 1938 INKSHERDS May 2016 Page 3 Lewes Quarantine Station WildCat Manor On March 12 an ASD/Time Travelers team conducted a general surface Excavations have resumed at Wildcat Manor. Over the winter a reconnaissance and metal detector survey of the late 19th -century quarantine substantial portion of the laboratory work was completed. A foundation station at Cape Henlopen State Park. has been found beneath the existing house with late 18 th century material in the fill on top of it. Nearer to the river, a warehouse has been found. Watch the web page for upcoming dates or contact Dawn at [email protected] Dave Silveira working near the Surgeon’s House Using high-precision GPS and GIS technology to analyze the 1926 aerial photography, we were able to mark the corners of over a dozen buildings across the sprawling 40-acre facility. Selected "hits" were ground-truthed in the field, but no excavated materials were removed from the site. We also Warehouse Foundation at Wildcat Manor identified what we believe to have been the cemetery, located 1000 feet inland of the former shoreline. The major result of the project was the Logo Contest recognition that the buildings were probably dismantled and salvaged rather than burned in place or bull-dozed in the 1930s. The debris signatures were light with no extensive deposits of nails and other metallic hardware as Over the last two months the ASD held a contest for a new logo design. usually seen when a building burns. There were six entries which were posted on the ASD webpage. Online voting produced approximately 50 votes with one design being the Additional investigations are planned in the future including ground-truthing overwhelming favorite. The logo committee then worked with the winner the cemetery to confirm its location, and having had a successful experience to produce the final designs. The winner was Carlos Maldonado who is deploying metal detector technology, its use is being considered at other a graphic designer currently working for the Delaware Division of State Parks sites. Historical and Cultural Affairs and also a professional freelancer. Variants of the design have been developed that provide flexibility in usage. Thanks to everyone who submitted and to those who voted. GPS mapping of the Surgeon’s House foundation Auburn Heights We had nine new Time Travelers join our ranks at the April 10th training event at Auburn Heights in Yorklyn, far northern Kent County - almost in Pennsylvania! INKSHERDS May 2016 Page 4 Avery’s Rest Chapter News During excavation of Avery's Rest well (Feature 176) last year. It seemed New Castle County Chapter the well was "closed" by filling it with brick right on top of the barrel in The New Castle County Chapter meets the third Wednesday of each the bottom of the well. There was also a cow skull (no mandible) thrown month. Meetings begin at 7pm and are held at Greenbank Mill at Price’s in for good measure. The images show us first encountering the brick Corner. deposit at 7 to 8 feet below the modern surface and a section showing the May 18: Jason Shellenhammer of RK&K will speak (topic to be brick concentration and cow skull.