Ms. Beasley we are at the best farm. It is named after the tenants who occupied the farm. During the civil war. What we know today as the best farm forms the 274 acres of what was really a 740 plantation. The plantation was known as [indiscernible] it was established by a family of french planters who came to maryland in 1793 from the colony known today as haiti. The family was the Vincent Deere family. They came to maryland for unrest that begin in 1791 and also with the french revolution. It was acquired in 1993. Its a fairly recent acquisition. Beginning in 19981999 is when we started doing a substantial amount of Historical Research here at the farm. We were aware there had been at one time a substantial enslaved population. We knew a little bit about the family and their origins and their relocation here to maryland but what we didnt know was very much more than that about the family. We had very Little Information about the enslaved population and certainly one of the Key Research Questions with regard to the Archaeological Research is where were the 90 enslaved People Living. I had a graduate student working with him. Part of her Thesis Research focused on the family occupation, trying to understand their origins and the relocation to maryland. She managed to uncover a pretty obscure account written by a polish expatriot in the end of the 18th century. He was a diarist. He happened to travel on the georgetown road which we know as maryland 55. It was to the west. Closer than where it is today. He was traveling from georgetown to frederick in june, 1978 and happened to drive by this plantation and gave an account of it. He talks about a stone house with upper stories painted white. Its a build that still stands on the farm. He referred to a row of wooden houses which we took as a reference to slave quarters. One of the things uncovered and referenced in the polish travelers account was there were several court cases brought against the family alleging mistreatment of the slaves. That that was very surprising to us. I dont know of many instants in which that actually happened where charges were brought against people for mistreating their slaves in maryland and elsewhere. There was laws on the books that governed the treatment of slaves, but they werent enforced. One of the things we found between 1796 and 1806, there were at least instances in which the family or members of their household were accused of mistreating the slaves in different ways. Because of the way he describes the row of wooden houses with the upper stories painted white, it sounded like it was out in front of the primary building cluster, which is a pattern that is not typically seen in this area. Its much more common in the deep south or caribbean. It happened to be out in an agricultureal field that is 40 plus acres under active cultivation and not been investigated archaeologically. That was in 2003. We were coming to the end of the multiyear study and coming to the end of our funding for archaeology here so what we did was a systematic metal detector survey of the field. We ended up uncovering a large, dense, kind of linear deposit of late 18th, early 19th century of artifacts. Hardware, buttons, coins and actually the deposit of artifacts was so dense that even though we were metal detecting, we were finding glassware. And ceramics and all kinds of domestic materials. Based on the artifacts we were uncovering and the date range of them, i was fairly certain at that time we had identified the sight of the slave quarters associated. We didnt have any funding for additional Archaeological Research that funding came in on fiscal year 2010. What we are looking at is what we call structure b or the second of the six structures that are laid out in a row. The way these buildings manifest themselves is what you see here is a foundation for an external stone chimney, very similar to the stone chimney you see on the secondary house there. Its kind of a cshaped mortar Stone Foundation for the chimney. You can see here, too, smaller stone piers which form to the corners of the building. There would have been pierce on the corners and immediateary as well. Thats what they would have laid the logs on to form the wooden structure. They probably were one story, story and a half buildings. They measured about 20 x 34 feet in dimensions with the external stone chimney on the south elevation. So, very simple, very expedient structure that is could have been constructed quickly and with simple, easily affordable materials. They are all about the same dimensions. They are equal distance from one another. Each one of the foundations are here. Literally, within a couple of inches of the farm. So, its a very ordered landscape. The buildings were laid out in a presize fashion, not haphazard at all. They form the row of houses mentioned in the travelers account. We did a shuttle test survey. Its a hole the width of a blade over a sight. In our case, we excavated a hole about every 20 feet over the entire twothirds of an acre that make up this area. You know, in a test pit, all of that soil is screened. What you are looking for are artifact concentrations, soil changes, concentrations of stone, brick or mortar. Anything that suggests that cultural event. Another thing we did is we were fortunate enough to do remote sensing. We were able to have access to a surface penetrating radar device, which is able to see or identify archaeological features. It identifies foundations or similartype features. During the course of the surface penetrating survey, we identified two hearth features. Where you see the blue flags is where the hearth features were. It appears to be the southern most structure. In this instance, it was the first that was exposed. Once we knew we werent dealing with a continuous string, we wondered how they constructed them. We uncovered the pierce. Thats the point where you start to be able to, to some degree understand and interpret how the buildings were constructed. Then its a question of investing the time and energy to chase it and try to uncover the whole thing. All of the funding for this project came from a program thats called the Cultural Resource preservation program. We were fortunate, the secretary of interior created a Funding Source called the youth intake program. Its a competitive Funding Source aimed at getting young people interested and connected with the National Parks and providing them with on the job training and a career in the parks service. I was able to apply for and awarded the yip funding that allowed me to hire the student interns involved in the project. This is jordan reez cho and this is alex brueggeman. Im of haitian decent which is why i wanted to do this project. Its a unique place. You dont really think of a french immigrant family coming here bringing haitian slaves with them. So, i was incredibly moved by the story and it turned out to be really great. I got involved in the project through american university. I heard about the project and applied and met with joy and was able to come here. I found it to be a very fantastic program, especially to learn more about the trade of archaeology and the methodologies involved. I learned a lot about many, many things. Especially shovel test pits. It was a crash course in archaeology. You learn priceless information, you learn the trade, how its done and you learn how to really look at the world and history in a different light. Personally, i found a lot of brick and mortar. There was a lot of interesting artifacts found on sight. I was mainly the person digging in the units. Like jordan said, a lot of it was bricks and mortar. We found the coins and a horse bit over there. A lot of animal bones which kind of led us to realize what they were eating. We found a lot of glassware and a lot of one bead. One tiny bead. Its a tiny, tiny bead, but its beautiful. Prof. Irwin ms. Beasley this was the basement of the circa 1830 one of the Historic Structures at the park. This is where we do a lot of our on sight laboratory work. The acid free boxes are the artifacts from this years field season. All boxed up and washed and rebagged and ready to be cataloged and analyzed. We have pulled out kind of a handful of artifacts that are somewhat representative of the kinds of objects we have been uncovering at the sight. Everything from things like different kinds of coins. This everything from things like different kinds of coins. This is a u. S. Large cent. These are actually spanish. They are silver spanish coins. A lot of different kinds of buttons. This is a finely made shell button and probably the most common kind of button we find are these one piece but buttons. They are popular in the 18th and early 19th century. Also more twopiece buttons. This has silver visible on it. Other kinds of personal items. This is a clay marble so its probably a toy. Also, a lot of architectural debris. This is a complete handmade brick. Hand wrought nails mostly. We find a lot of nails, architectural hardware, mortar, brick fragments, architectural debris. Glasswork and ceramics. This is a nice olive wine bottleneck. This is the lip. A wide variety of ceramics. Everything from the more utilitarian locally produced redwares or stonewares to more refined english made porcelains and handpainted pearlwares produced in england and elsewhere. Also tobacco pipe fragments in large quanties. Peter manes, bones. This is a tooth, probably from a food remains. Bones. This is a tooth, probably from a cow. A lot of food remains. Oyster shells. Even freshwater mussel shells. For those kind of things. His is all the provenance information. This is obviously critical for us to be able to know where these objects came from, their context. So, everything is kept separate either by excavation unit, strata, all those details. Thats the internal recordkeeping. Thats part of our analysis and understanding of the data. Thats a big part of archaeology. People think of it as focusing on the fieldwork. Im going on digging. That is only a small piece of it. The really important work happens in the analysis of the data and the interpretation. Theres a lot of information. Obviously everything from information about construction details or the architecture of the sight. A lot of the objects are highly dateable. The coins are the most obvious ones. Also things like buttons and glasswares and ceramics. All of these things were popular at specific moments in history. Technological changes that happen over time provide occupational dates for a sight. Thats very important information. Access to consumer goods. We are interested in the kinds of thing that is these people had and use for their daily life. One question might be these english tablewares. Where do they come from . Were they handmedowns for their own use . Did they have ways to make a little bit of money on their own and be able to acquire and purchase these kind of consumer goods on their own . These are all the questions and things we are interested in. All of that helps us get at what the daytoday lives of these people were like. All of the artifacts will be cataloged. If the system of recording attributes, dates, manufacture, material types. All of that information. It is all entered into a database. Then well start analyzing the data and look at patterns within that data, trying to Say Something about what these artifacts mean within the larger context of the history. Thats all the information well be working on over the course of the wintertime. There are a lot of established and known reference materials that historical archaeologists use for dating items not just ceramics but glasswares and other objects. Just like now, Technology Changes over time. Oftentimes, Technology Changes down to a certain date. Like a modern day example is not too long ago, sony stopped making the walkman. You know, i think they first started making walkmans in 1979. First you had the big clunky then the ones you can put the cd in. Its technology that changed over time. You can identify and research how that technology changed over time. They stopped making the walkman in 2010 so you have a 1979 to 2010 period of use. That doesnt mean nobody is using them anymore but you are going to have a period of time the popularity of the walkman peaked. It is a similar thing with other kinds of objects. All of the artifacts from the National Park service go to a central facility called the Museum Resource center. Its just down the road in maryland. Two days a week we are doing cataloging and work there which is closer to washington which allows more students to be involved in the process on a volunteer basis. Thats where all the artifacts go into permanent territorial storage. We would like to eventually be able to develop permanent exhibits that will focus on this aspect of the parks history. We would select the artifacts to be incorporated into those exhibit displays as well. We can access them usually sometimes for black History Month well do a temporary exhibit at the visitors senator here at the park. So, this year, well probably develop a temporary exhibit that will feature the artifacts well have at the visitors center. How did you get involved in this work . Ms. Beasley i wanted to be an archaeologist for as long as i can remember, since i was a little kid. My family has a second home out in new mexico and i spent a lot of time over the summer at different points in my life out there. We used to go out and pick up artifacts. Theres archaeological sights everywhere out there. That got me interested. I was fortunate that my parents were supportive of my habit. I went to archaeology camp as a kid. It always stayed with me. A lot of people will say when they find out im an archaeologist, they say i wanted to be one when i was a kid. I never outgrew that. When i went to college, i chose to major in anthropology and pursue a career in archaeology. I have been fortunate i have been able to do that. Here in the park service, even though my training is in archaeology, im also responsible for all the Historic Preservation work that goes on in the park as well. All the Historic Buildings are part of what i focus on as well. What are some of the myths about archaeology that are out there . Ms. Beasley people always ask me if i have been to egypt. Probably the question i get the most, people mix up archaeology and paleontology. They ask if i dig up dinosaurs. Thats a completely different field of study. People ask what is the most interesting thing you have ever found. Its difficult to distill it down to one object. At the end of the day, its not about the objects themselves, its about the story and interpretation of those objects. For me, it doesnt just come down to what is the most interesting thing i have found. I have had the opportunity to work on a number of interesting projects and certainly this story and the slave village site is the most important and interesting project that i have had the opportunity to be involved with in my career. If a young person out there wants to be an archaeologist, what advice would you give them . Ms. Beasley i would advise them to stick with it. Hang in there. You can get a job doing this. Its not the easiest thing. I would advise them to make sure they get to a good cause. They are going to want to pursue they go to an a good college. They are going to want to pursue an advanced degree, not just undergraduate degree. And you know, just hang in there and give it a shot. The National Park service is a great agency. There are a lot of opportunity to do this work and other Historic Preservation work. I always encourage folks to consider the National Park service. If somebody is out there working and find a fragment or coin, described the scene. Is it sifting or digging at the actual location or how do they find these things . Ms. Beasley a little bit of both. All of the dirt that comes out of the ground goes through a screen. We screen everything we dig up. Sometimes, you know, as you are excavating and using trowel or whatever, you will uncover objects. You know, its something that is very exciting for people. We work with a lot of volunteers. Obviously, over the summer we have history camps or have students come help us with the screening. Theres really that excitement and moment of discovery. A lot of the interns, i think that thrill of discovery is what keeps you going in the course of another 110 degree day out there. You know, a lot of people tell me the part of what connect them with archaeology is knowing they are the first person to touch this object in the past 200 years or whatever the case may be. You know, i think its part of that tangible connection to the past that people get excited about. We are hoping, at this point, we dont have funding for any additional fieldwork. It is unfortunate because i feel we have just sort of scratched the surface out here. Theres a lot more information potential with the site. Its unique for this area, the midatlantic region. You dont typically see slavery being practiced on the scales it was practiced here. 90 slaves is roughly 10 times the number of enslaved individuals you would expect to be living here. It is unusual for this area. Well, you know, like i said, there are about 20 x 34 feet. Thats just under 700 square feet of living space. If there were only six structures, one can assume there are as many as 12 or 15 People Living in each of these houses. It probably sounds like a lot. I would guess or assume that these may have been extended family units living together. Multiple generations of families. Like i say, these are utilitarian, simple, expediently constructed buildings. They probably were constructed about the same time as the secondary house. It was probably the familys First Business to get the buildings constructed and get these people housed so they could start working the land and be productive and generate income for the family. There are not a lot of instances out there where you have a complete collection of multiple dwelling houses preserved in an archaeological context. Theres a great deal of research here in understanding more about the context and slavery in general. There are not that many Nation