Death at St. Mary's Fort: Archaeology of an Early Burial

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Bastions, Buttons, and Burials: Recent Research at Historic St. Mary’s City", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Archaeological findings at the 1634 St. Mary’s Fort provide evidence for one of the earliest colonial burials in Maryland. Discovered during testing in 1992, this burial remained unexcavated until 2023 when it was investigated in collaboration with Smithsonian forensic scientists. Consultation was carried out with a potential descendant community group. Located just outside the palisade, excavation revealed a young male in an unexpected body position and grave orientation with no associated material culture. Through a comparative study of this grave and other 17th-century burials excavated at St. Mary’s City, we aim to place this interment into a broader context. Likely an indentured servant who died in an accident, this burial allows for better conceptualization of the realities faced by early immigrants and the role of religion in mortuary practices. Other graves are nearby and their potential investigation would significantly expand our knowledge of people during the earliest phase of settlement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bastions, Buttons, and Burials: Recent Research at Historic St. Mary’s City   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow