Of Palisades and Postmolds

Summary

The fieldwork conducted in Tyler Bastian’s 1969-1970 salvage trench at Biggs Ford revealed a unique window into two Late Woodland villages, a Montgomery Complex and a Keyser Complex. The post mold patterns observed in the initial analysis of the trench may indicate the footprints of both complexes. Linear post mold arcs and a ring of pits may be consistent with other known Montgomery Complex sites, namely the Winslow site in Montgomery County. Additionally, post mold patterns in the extreme eastern and western portions of Bastian’s trench indicate possible palisade arcs, analyzed with CAD to reveal a consistency in spacing and diameter with at least three other Keyser Complex sites in Maryland. Since 2013, much more extensive fieldwork has been conducted, revealing the presence of more post molds at the site. This paper will utilize the site data collected from field sessions between 2013 and 2015 to further analyze the post molds and potentially determine the existence of patterns that can indicate the layout of both the Montgomery Complex Village and the Keyser Complex Village at Biggs Ford.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21635