Internship with Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum

Over the past month I have completed reading through the many journals housed in the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum library, and have submitted my updates for the website “Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland.”  The most interesting of these updates are the new findings regarding manufacturing techniques used on Mockley Ware, produced during the Middle Woodland period (A.D. 50 – AD. 950).  Traditionally manufacturing processes which created an outward appearance were believed to be the result of net-impressions or cord-markings produced when these materials were wrapped around a stick or paddle.  These sticks or paddles would then be slapped along the outer surfaces to help stabilize the clay and workout any bumps or imperfections in the vessel.  New evidence indicates a third method was utilized during the production process, one barely visible to the naked eye.

In 2006 Lynn Bullhack, an amateur archaeologist and her friend Johnna Robinson, published an article in the Journal of Maryland Archaeology that has changed the description and chronology for Mockley Ware in Maryland.  This past Friday (4/24/15) I attended a talk Lynn Bullhack gave for the Western Maryland Chapter of the (ASM) Archaeological Society of Maryland in LaVale.  I was interested to learning about their process and findings.  Providing a brief history of Point Lookout, a Peninsula in the Chesapeake Bay, Bullhack noted that this area of beach has suffered numerous reconfiguration due to past storm erosion and rising tides, submerging approximately one-quarter mile of land to a depth of 10 feet.  Bullhack discussed how as an avid beach walker; she noticed fragments of what appeared to be asphalt washing up.  Upon closer inspection she realized these were fragments of early Mockley ceramics and that some exhibited decorative details different from those traditionally assigned to this Ware.  Because of her connections with the Archaeological Society of Maryland and the Maryland Historic Trust, Bullhack was allowed to continue collecting surface finds for further analysis.   They collected 3,309 shell tempered sherds (Middle Woodland – Mockley ware) and 76 sand tempered (Early Woodland – Popes Creek ware).  To investigate what they saw as fabric impression on some sherds, Bullhack used sculpey clay to form a relief image of those sherds.  Photographs of the reliefs were then enlarged through digital imaging.  This process enabled her to detect three distinct fabric patterns: interlacing with unequal elements, a twined fabric, and one exhibiting accessory stitches within the fabric itself.  Lynn also utilized the technique of experimental archaeology creating her own pots, digging clay from veins in the same area of Point Lookout, weaving her own fabric, and firing the ware in a traditional out-door fire pit to test the outcome.  Several of the sherds they found also retained carbonized remains, which were sent to a lab (Beta-188328) for carbon dating.  Results came back placing these remains somewhere between 2030+- 40BP, with a calibrated result of 155BC – AD65 much earlier for Mockley ware than traditionally believed.  These findings suggest that one of the earliest Native American sites in Maryland is now eroding away off shore and producing these great finds.  The two main areas of beach where this material washes up have now become official archaeological sites (18ST728 & 18ST729) opening up new questions for archaeologists and redefining traditional thought regarding the manufacturing processes of early pottery makers.

This week I’m excited to begin pulling diagnostic samples from the various collections that will be made available in the MAC lab for researchers to study. 

Glossary
Accessory Stitches, or Supplemental Element(s): One or sets of elements added to a fabric as it is being constructed.  Embellishments such as embroidery can be added to repair, join, or as decoration.

Interlacing: A technique in fabric making where by one element passes over then under another perpendicular element.

Twining: One of the oldest fabric structures, it entails twisting to enclose one or more elements within the others. A wide variety of materials can be used and there are numerous variations on the process.

For the full article see:
Robinson, Johnna and Lynn Bulhack, An Analysis of Fabric Impressions on the Surfaces of Early Mockley Sherds from Point Lookout State Park, Maryland (18ST728 & 18ST729). Maryland Archaeology 42(1):1-8, 2006.