2014 ASM Field Session - Biggs Ford

The Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc (ASM) along with Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) returned to Biggs Ford in Frederick County Maryland for the 2014 Field Session held May 23- June 2.  The Field Session was held in conjunction with a Towson University Field School.

Four CCASM members (Belinda, Carol, Annetta, and Jim) made the trip to Frederick County for any where from one to three days.  Except for raining all one day, the weather was perfect. There were lots of opportunity to work both in the field and in the lab.
 
The Biggs Ford site (18FR14) is a large, well-preserved, multi-component Native American village site on private property in Frederick County, Maryland.  It is one of only a handful of large Native American villages on the Monocacy River, and is the only known site in the Potomac River drainage that has major occupations by both the Montgomery Complex (1000-1450 AD) and Keyser (1300-1500 AD) peoples.

Lab Tent and Montgomery Complex Area

Montgomery Complex Area and Lower Keyser Area

Two Keyser Areas

Can you see the orange disks marking possible post molds?

In the southern area we were looking for features and post molds associated with the earlier Montgomery Complex peoples.  In the lower northern area we were looking for features and post molds that would indicate a dwelling occupied by the Keyser Complex peoples.   In the upper northern area the Towson Field School was looking for a palisade.  The bottom photo shows post molds (identified by orange disks) found in this upper area that could be from a palisade and dwellings.

We will have to wait for the report from Joe Dent to find out what this all might mean.  Dr. Joe Dent, Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at American University was the principal investigator.  American University will complete the processing and cataloging of the artifacts found.  Dr. Bob Wall from Towson University was in charge of the Towson Field School

CCASM is a chapter of ASM.