Wade P. Catts

Soil chemistry and historic archaeological site activity areas: A test case from Northern Delaware

Varied distributions of soil chemicals were compared to known activity areas at the Wilson-Slack site, a 19th century historic farmstead/blacksmith complex in northern Delaware. Calcium and magnesium were not clearly correlated with specific activity areas. Potassium and phosphorus were not correlated with animal penning areas but were correlated with a machine shop/blacksmithing area. Low pH values were correlated with organic-rich midden deposits.

A Report of the Archaeological Investigations at the House of Thomas Cuff, a Free Black Laborer, 108 Cannon Street, Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland

Archaeological inquiry at the home of an antebellum free black laborer in Chestertown, Maryland, has provided an opportunity to examine the material culture of 19th century African Americans on the Eastern Shore, a subject and a region that has received comparatively little historical archaeological attention. While the conditions of the excavation were not optimal, the large artifact assemblage recovered, coupled with architectural and historical evidences, can be used to formulate some general conclusions about antebellum blacks on the Eastern Shore. The results of the investigations at the site suggest that Thomas Cuff, a former slave and slave owner himself, and one of the more prominent members of the black community in Chestertown, was possessed of material culture that was representative of the laboring free blacks on the 19th century Delmarva Peninsula.