“My name is Nicole Six, I have a BA in Archaeology and Ancient History from Durham University in the UK.
“I have a special interest in zooarchaeology so I’ve been identifying and cataloguing faunal remains from the Bob Ogle Collection. The remains date from the 17th century, and are mostly from livestock. I make note of the species, what type of bone, what part of the bone, the approximate age, and any notable features. For example, ‘left proximal femur of a non-adult cow, with butcher marks.’ After I finish this project I’m aiming to start a new project focusing on collections management within the museum.”
Thanks, Nicole, for sharing your expertise in all things animal bone!
Abby (C) with fellow interns Kaitlin (L) and Julia (R)
Your support can help us provide internships to the next generation of archaeology and historic preservation professionals! If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible internship donation to the Lost Towns Project today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a big difference in preserving local history. Thank you!
“Hi! I am Abby Shackelford. I am a senior at Catonsville High School, and I plan to major in archaeological studies or anthropology in college. Most recently, I have been working at Arden, a mid-19th century plantation. We have been digging shovel test pits around abandoned former slave quarters, which were later converted into a tenement. I hope to learn more about collections storage and artifact conservation this summer.”
Thanks, Abby, for spending your summer with us! We appreciate your hard work in the lab and field.
Abby (C) with fellow interns Kaitlin (L) and Julia (R)
Your support can help us provide internships to the next generation of archaeology and historic preservation professionals! If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible internship donation to the Lost Towns Project today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a big difference in preserving local history. Thank you!
Contributed by Lost Towns Project summer intern Tyler Wilson
This summer, I worked on a project to research, excavate, and document 19th-century Black households in Anne Arundel County, Maryland to create a more inclusive history. These households were inhabited by both enslaved and free African Americans before and after emancipation. As an intern on this project, I was tasked with updating the Anne Arundel County cemetery database and completing inventory forms while assisting in both the lab and fieldwork for the project. The data that was gained from this project is significant because it gives historic value and acknowledgment to a community that was often ignored or forgotten about. The central site for the summer took place at the Arden Tenant House (18AN609) where a lot of artifacts and data were collected.
18AN609: The Arden Tenant House
Arden Tenant House, located on old Harwood Road in Harwood, Maryland, was a property owned by Dr. James Murray. The main house on the property is a rare Louisiana-style plantation house, and this is where Dr. Murray would have lived. After emancipation, black tenant farmers lived in the tenant house a short distance away. At the tenant house, most artifacts were found through shovel test pits dug by the interns, and through surface finds. The surface finds and shovel test pits were organized and flagged on a digital grid system. Due to the property being occupied for decades, there were countless pieces of ceramics, glass bottles, and other artifacts found everywhere, mostly on the surface. Along with this, two professional archeologists excavated the floor within the house where countless more artifacts such as stockings, ceramics, and even animal bone were found. If we had more time, the site would have garnered much more data.
Tyler excavating at the Arden Tenant House
The two weeks spent at Arden were memorable to me because it was the first time I was able to do fieldwork in the United States. The only time I had ever worked in the field was at my field school which took place in Hertfordshire, England. So, being able to do archeology in the state I’m from while also finding countless artifacts was very memorable. Arden was also such an amazing site due to the sheer number of artifacts that could be found on the property.
Tyler Wilson is one of our two funded interns this year! Your support can help us provide internships to the next generation of archaeology and historic preservation professionals. If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible internship donation to the Lost Towns Project today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a big difference in preserving local history. Thank you!
“Slavery, resistance, and freedom: Recording Anne Arundel County’s past.”
This position has been filled.
The Lost Towns Project (LTP), in collaboration with Anne Arundel County’s Cultural Resources Section, is conducting a county-wide audit to compile a comprehensive list of historic resources that can shed new light on the history and archaeology of slavery, resistance, and freedom. The historical landscape of Anne Arundel County, Maryland is Black space–one predicated on the institution of slavery and in many cases constructed by enslaved Africans and African Americans. However, the recordation, preservation, study, and interpretation of Black places has long been neglected. Across the County, there are a wealth of Black archaeological and architectural sites which can offer a counter-narrative to predominantly white-focused histories of the area. This project aims to create a more inclusive history by researching, documenting, and sharing the diversity of Black households in nineteenth-century Anne Arundel County, including sites inhabited by both enslaved and free African-Americans, before and after emancipation.
The Lost Towns Project is seeking the services of a consultant to execute this project, with the assistance and support of County personnel. The consultant will be responsible for;
Developing a catalog of known 19th-century African American domestic archaeological and architectural sites in the County;
Preparing a technical report in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Standards and Guidelines for Archeological Investigations in Maryland which will include reporting on field investigations and will include a County-wide thematic study and context statement on sites of slavery, resistance and freedom;
Completing or substantively updating 15 MIHP ‘AA-###’ and/or ‘18AN##’ Site Survey Forms, including updates to older forms to include reference to each site’s African American presence; and
Submitting quarterly status reports to the LTP Board, in a form and substance acceptable for the MHT through the State grants portal system.
NOTE: This grant project began in January of 2022, and a consultant was selected to undertake the project. Substantive progress has been made to date, including the creation of a database of sites of interest, and the field investigations (at the Phase I/II level) at two archaeological sites (“Whitehall Plantation” and the “Arden Tenant House”). Due to unanticipated staffing changes, the LTP consultant will be transitioning into a new role with the County, so we are seeking a consultant to complete the grant funded project. While the original completion date was proposed for May 2023, this personnel shift may allow for the extension of that due date. The previous consultant will remain integrally involved in the grant project in a new capacity of Principal Investigator.
Requirements and Qualifications:
The selected consultant must meet or exceed the Secretary of Interior Professional Qualifications for History, Archaeology or Architectural History. The successful candidate must have considerable experience and a substantive background in historical archaeology, a sound understanding of African diaspora studies and a solid familiarity with Anne Arundel County history.
While both in person and virtual collaboration with the County staff and research team is required, scheduling is highly flexible, and the research-based nature of the project allows for considerable flexibility to work from alternative locations. The consultant must be able to travel to the County Offices in Annapolis and to the County Archaeology Lab in Edgewater to review reports, site files, and collections associated with the sites of interest. The team anticipates bi-weekly coordination meetings to review progress.
The consultant shall have familiarity with the MHT MEDUSA system, and be able to access the Internet reliably for both virtual meetings, and to access and contribute to the shared Google drives for project data. The project is using Google platforms for all shared work and communications.
Funding:
Funding for the contract shall not exceed $35,100. Our goal is to have a consultant in place by the first week of September, with a plan to complete the grant work by May 31, 2023. This would equate to a 9-month contract, and we anticipate that the consultant will work on this project on average for 32 hours each week. Payment is based on meeting certain milestones and deliverables over the duration of the project.
“My name is Tyler Wilson and I am presently enrolled as an undergraduate student at Salisbury University. This year will be my senior year which I am excited about.
“Other than my current project at Lost Towns, which is to aid in bringing a more inclusive history to Maryland by researching tenant houses, I am currently working on research on how the prison system replaced slavery within a post-civil war America.
“This summer I hope to get a glimpse of what life must have been like for enslaved people and their descendants by examining and analyzing the artifacts that were left behind on the tenant properties we will be working at. A lot is known about how the slave masters operated and lived within their households but not much has been researched on how tenants and slaves lived in their households.”
Thanks, Tyler, for your work this summer on this important topic!
Tyler is one of our two funded interns this year! Your support can help us provide internships to the next generation of archaeology and historic preservation professionals. If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible internship donation to the Lost Towns Project today. Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a big difference in preserving local history. Thank you!
