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Archaeology
In 1634, St. Mary's City was established near the serene junction of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. For 61 years, this first city in Maryland served as the colony's capital. When, in 1695, the seat of government was moved to Annapolis, the town was virtually abandoned and left to crumble into the soil. For 300 years, the fragile remains of the town lay concealed beneath fields of tobacco, corn and wheat. Agriculture protected the archaeological treasure and preserved an unparalleled resource for the study of Early America. The National Park Service has recognized St. Mary's City as "probably the most intact 17th-century English town surviving in our nation…represented entirely by archaeological resources." St. Mary's City offers a rare opportunity for researchers to coax information about the Maryland colony and people's lives from a priceless archaeological record.
The archaeology program at Historic St. Mary's City has been ongoing since 1971, when the museum hired its first staff archaeologist. Researchers have recorded over three hundred archaeological sites in the 30% of the National Landmark investigated thus far.
Artifacts found here represent multiple periods of time-various eras of prehistory, seventeenth century, eighteenth century, and up to the present. Approximately 45% of the items in the collection are of seventeenth-century date, 30% are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and 20% are from the prehistoric period. American Indian artifacts include stone tools, ceramics, and tobacco pipes. Among the premier colonial artifacts found at St. Mary's City are many vessels of elegant Façon de Venise glassware and a set of Kataya (Turkish) ceramics, one of only two known examples in the United States. These evidence the international trade routes that reached Maryland. The discovery of a 1645 fort and moat that surrounded the first Governor's home is the only physical evidence of the English Civil Wars found in the American colonies. Archaeological and historical research provide the essential knowledge for re-created buildings, landscapes and interpretive programs that are vital to the educational mission of the museum.
In 1990, three rare seventeenth-century lead coffins were found inside the ruins of a ca.1667 brick chapel. HSMC assembled an interdisciplinary team to recover the unique information the coffins held. These efforts, coupled with ongoing laboratory analysis and excavation of other graves in the chapel cemetery, have enabled the museum to make a major contribution to the existing knowledge about life and death in the colonial Chesapeake. The Chapel is being reconstructed on its original foundations and adjacent exhibits will help tell the significant story of early Maryland, the birthplace of religious freedom in America.
Excavations in 1992 discovered a site containing a quantity of lead type. Written documents and archaeological excavations indicate that this was a place where William Nuthead operated a print house in the 1680s. His was the first press established in England's southern colonies. Many colonies forbid printing. In fact, Nuthead was forced out of Virginia in 1684. That he was able to practice his trade in St. Mary's City is indicative of the open-mindedness of Lord Baltimore's government. The Print House re-construction is underway and will be furnished as a living history exhibit. It will open in 2007.
Archaeological excavation of St. John's Freehold, one of the state's most important historical sites, was recently concluded in preparation for the construction of a major new exhibit. At this site, Maryland's citizen government was instituted, Mathias de Sousa became the first person of African descent to participate in an American legislature, the place of religion in a secular society was examined and debated, and Margaret Brent became the first woman to request a vote in British North America. St. John's stood for over 80 years and has yielded an amazing wealth of information about Maryland's beginnings and the development of a new colonial society.
At HSMC's archaeological excavations, visitors are invited to watch as clues to Maryland's past are uncovered. In summer 2005 and 2006, excavations took place on the location of Garrett Van Sweringen's 17th-century inn. Van Sweringen, a Dutch-born settler, was a remarkable entrepreneur, and a leader in the development of St. Mary's City. A new exhibit at his site will open in mid-2007.
On the last weekend of July, visitors are invited to work side by side with archaeologists searching for Maryland's past. Activities on Tidewater Archaeology Weekend also include special tours and an insider's look at the museum's collections in the archaeology lab.
Each summer Historic St. Mary's City and St. Mary's College of Maryland host a rigorous ten week Field School in Historical Archaeology. Offered for over 35 years, the program has attracted students from all over the United States and other countries, with many graduates now holding prominent positions in the field.
Much of the archaeological record of St. Mary's City remains to be explored. By preserving this record and only partially excavating these irreplaceable sites, St. Mary's will provide generations yet unborn with the opportunity of exploring their past and gaining new perspectives about the beginnings of America.