Life on the Patuxent: An Analysis of Brick Material Culture at Cremona Estate

Summary

In the spring of 2012, students from St. Mary’s College of Maryland began directed surveying Cremona Estate, located on the Patuxent River in Southern Maryland. The property was originally purchased as a plantation in 1653 by John Ashcom; a protestant living in the Catholic controlled colony. Research was undertaken to enhance understanding of Cremona’s historical role. Students initiated preliminary investigations of locus three, colloquially termed ‘Brickfield’ for the relatively high abundance of brick collected. In the summer of 2013 excavation of Brickfield was carried out. The analysis of the artifact, and in particular brick distribution, constructs a spatial and temporal landscape which illustrates occupation and site use of a plantation that sits at both the physical and religious frontier of colonial Maryland. Study of material remains at sites such as Cremona can provide insight into questions of identity and the roles people adopted with colonization of the New World.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Poster Session   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): POS-99,16