Historic St. Mary's City 2020 Field School in Historical Archaeology

St. Mary's City, Maryland

Dates: May 26 – July 31

Organization: Historic St. Mary’s City

University Affiliation: St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Credits: 8 (Anthropology or History) at SMCM or exchange equivalent

Costs: $1,600 tuition, plus $75 fee (housing and meal plans available at additional cost)

Application Deadline: April 6, 2020

Website: http://www.hsmcdigshistory.org/research/field-school/

Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC), in association with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, announces its 2020 Field School in Historical Archaeology. The 2020 field season will be focused on sites in the Mill Field. Located northeast of the Town Center at the heart of the colonial capital, the Mill Field takes its name from its proximity to the 17th-century mill that was critical to the town’s survival. As St. Mary’s City developed in the latter half of the 17th century, the Mill Field become home to a number of the city’s residents. The road to the mill was one of the key elements of the city’s unique Baroque plan. This portion of the city has only been nominally studied and is sure to yield significant information about the development of St. Mary’s City.

Excavations during the 2020 season will be focused on a late 17th-century timber-framed house that was identified during previous excavations. Fieldwork in the house’s vicinity has uncovered numerous period artifacts, including ceramics, glass, nails, metal objects, oyster shell, animal bone, and more. Geophysical survey has revealed the locations of many landscape features likely associated with the property, including outbuildings, fencelines, post holes, etc. The 2020 field season offers the unique opportunity to participate in exploratory excavations in an understudied area of this important 17th-century site.

About the Program

HSMC is a state-supported, outdoor museum located at the site of Maryland’s first capital (1634–1694). The HSMC field school is the longest-running historical archaeology field school in the United States. Participants engage in an intensive, ten-week program that teaches the foundational principles of historical archaeology through hands-on excavation, laboratory work, and artifact analysis. Students learn artifact identification by working with one of the best archaeological collections of colonial and post-colonial material in the country. Throughout the program, students attend lectures from leading Chesapeake scholars and take field trips to area archaeological sites. Students also receive the rare opportunity to learn about 17th-century sailing firsthand aboard the Maryland Dove, a replica of a square-rigged tobacco ship.

The Historical Archaeology Field School is an ideal experience for undergraduate or graduate students concentrating in Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Museum Studies, or American Studies, or for any student with an interest in learning about the past through archaeology.

For more information, including application process, visit our Field School homepage!