Final Archaeological Investigations at the Maynard-Burgess House (18AP64): An 1850-1980 African-American Household in Annapolis, Maryland

The Maynard-Burgess House was excavated by Archaeology in Annapolis from Fall, 1990 to Summer, 1992. The still-standing house is located at 163 Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis' Historic District and is today being restored by Port of Annapolis, Incorporated. Archaeological testing and excavation of the site was developed alongside architectural analyses and archival research as the initial phase of the home's restoration. The Maynard-Burgess House was continuously occupied by two African-American families, the Maynards and the Burgesses, from the 1850s until the late 1980s. The main block of the house was built between 1850 and 1858 by the household of John T. Maynard, a free African American born in 1810,and his wife Maria Spencer Maynard. Maynard descendants lived in the home until it was foreclosed in 1908 and subsequently sold to the family of Willis and Mary Burgess in 1915. Willis had been a boarder in the home in 1880, and his sister Martha Ready had married John and Maria's son John Henry. Burgess descendants lived at the home until its sale in 1990

Desperdicio

Critical Theory was first used in historical archaeology in the 1980s as a way of commenting upon the ideological character of modern global capitalism. At the time, neither the work of Walter Benjamin nor Slavoj Žižek were integrated into archaeology. Their work can be combined to form a complementary understanding of rapid consumption and disposal in modern culture, forming a new basis for excavation in historical archaeology. Benjamin concentrates on wide-scale discard, connecting it to ever faster cycles of consumption and production. Žižek analyzes the world of objects, both three-dimensional and psychological objectifications, to understand the inability of modern humans to see the difference between their creations and evanescent meanings. This paper takes these definitions and applies them to slave quarters in Maryland, and spent shell casings from a labour massacre in Pennsylvania, making frequently dismissed remains into images showing how modern societies constantly make and dispose of meanings.  Arqueología histórica, Teoría Crítica, siglo XIX, Wye House, Frederick Douglass, Masacre de Lattimer, Walter Benjamin, Slavoj Žižek, minería de carbon, trabajoLa Teoría Critica se usó por primera vez en arqueología histórica en los 80 del siglo pasado, como una forma de opinar sobre el carácter ideológico del capitalismo moderno. En aquel momento, los trabajos de Walter Benjamin y Slavoj Žižek no se integraron en arqueología. Su trabajo se puede combinar para una comprensión complementaria de los modelos de consumo y desecho en la cultura moderna, formando nuevas bases para la interpretación del registro en arqueología moderna. Benjamin se centra en el desecho a gran escala, conectándolo con ciclos más rápidos de consumo y producción. Por su parte, Žižek analiza el mundo de los objetos tanto materiales como sus objetivaciones psicológicas para entender la inhabilidad del ser humano moderno para ver la diferencia entre sus creaciones y sus significados evanescentes. Este artículo aplica esas definiciones a las cuadras de esclavos de Maryland, así como a las cáscaras sobrantes de una masacre obrera en Pensilvania, convirtiendo en imágenes los restos desechados para mostrar como las sociedades modernas desechan constantemente también los significados

Archaeological Investigation at Slayton House, 18AP74, Annapolis, Maryland

Archaeological investigation at the Slayton House site in Annapolis revealed evidence of occupation of the lot since the early 18th century. The intact late 18th century ground surfaces on which John Ridout built the row houses, and subsequent changes in the landscape and use of the yard as work space in the 19th century were discovered. There was ample visible evidence of the early 20th century landscape and use of the yard as a pleasure garden when excavation was started. Deposits inside the house were quite disturbed, but there was evidence of the work done by the African Americans who lived there. A number of artifacts were found which may indicate the slaves and free African Americans were practicing African-related folk beliefs. No further investigations are recommended for the site. However, if severe or deep ground-disturbing activities were to take place on the property, they should be monitored by a qualified archaeologist

"It is Quietly Chaotic. It Confuses Time"*: Final Report of Excavations at the Bordley-Randall Site in Annapolis, Maryland, 1993-1995 (18AP50)

*This extract is from Gay P. Crowther's description of the Randall Court pathway (Cowther 1985).Part of the State Circle Site: http://hdl.handle.net/1903/11004During the summers of 1993, 1994, and 1995, the Archaeology in Annapolis project conducted excavations at the Bordley-Randall site (1 8AP50) in Annapolis, Maryland. The site now consists of the central portion of the block formed by North Street, College Avenue, Prince George Street, Maryland Avenue, and State Circle. The excavations were undertaken as part of the University of Maryland, College Park's Field School in Urban Archaeology and were organized to be support for dissertation research being done by Christopher Matthews of Columbia University. This report provides a background, summary, and interpretation of these archaeological investigations of the Bordley-Randall site. The site was tested in five areas: the Front Yard, the Back Yard, the West Wing Yard, the East Wing Yard, and the interior of the East Wing. The excavations revealed significant deposits from several different periods of occupation. These deposits show the progression of the site from the early Settlement Period in Annapolis through the Modem Period (as defined in Weissman 1986). In many areas of the site the excavations discovered deposits dating to the early 1700s when the site was first occupied and built on by Thomas Bordley. These deposits also helped to date the house and the East Wing to before 1748. Later alterations to the site, dating to the third quarter of the 18th century, were associated with the construction of and use of a terrace around the East Wing. The landscape of the front and rear yards were discovered to have been altered in the mid-19th century by the laying in of an extensive kitchen garden in the rear yard and the building of a park-like garden in the front. These alterations were predominantly defined by fill soils and the definition of garden paths. Later alterations made the city block fully modern as the street front lots were sold off and built over with businesses on Maryland Avenue and residences on the other streets beginning in the 1870s. In the interior, around 1895, an oval-shaped path was built in the front yard to which many of the new residences faced forming an enclosed, semi-private, semi-public space, now known as Randall Court. This space has remained essentially in tact since the early years of the 20th century. The appendices to this report include a transcription of several key historic documents related to the site, the report to the Maryland Humanities Council for funding in support of a public program at the site in 1995, the level and feature reports, and the staff qualifications. The attached diskette has a zipped file of the Bordley-Randall site artifact database

1992 Archaeological Excavations at the Retallick-Brewer House site in Annapolis, Maryland, 18AP37

This report provides a detailed summary of the archaeological excavations that were conducted over a period of 2 weeks at the Retallick-Brewer House site located in Annapolis, Maryland. The project was initiated by the Griffis Foundation in order to gain some insight into the changes that have occurred at this property over its 200 year occupation. The project was completed by staff and volunteers of Archaeology In Annapolis, a joint venture of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Historic Annapolis Foundation. The design of this report follows the "Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Maryland" (McNamara 1981). This report contains descriptive summaries of individual levels along with an interpretation for each excavated unit in order to allow archaeologists and interested others access to the information contained within

The Burden of Agriculture

The comparative nature of anthropology is as old as the oldest definition of the discipline. That the generalizations resulting from comparisons have been in and out of vogue among anthropologists since the foundation of the subject reflects the intellectual vagaries of the field. Usually the generalizers have been too glib or too general and hence have said little of convincing worth. But it is equally true that the particularists have often been too particular and too minute and have ended by talking to audiences consisting chiefly of themselves. Right now we seem to be at mid-swing in the course of the generalizing-particularizing pendulum. There is a large competent body of ethnographers, archaeologists, and even ethnographic archaeologists. There is also a growing group who occasionally make generalizations. These are no longer received with glacial chill, but are greeted with, at least, indifference and even with some warmth. This paper is a contribution to generalizations and it is one which could not be possible without the sound factual contribution made so consistently and well in two major cultural areas