Maryland Historical Trust Archeological Synthesis Project - An Example

Functionality

Use of the database begins with a query or database search. Users can enter a site number or a search string in order to narrow the list of site reports that are of interest to them. The example provided below shows the step by step process involved in making a query to locate prehistoric sites in Allegany County, Maryland that have a Late Woodland component, as well as intact hearths.

Screenshot of search screen for Archeological Synthesis databaseSTEP 1: Search

The user enters search parameters in order to select matching records. In this case they type “18AG” into the “Site Number” field in order to restrict results to Allegany County. Next they restrict results to prehistoric sites, by checking the box next to “Prehistoric”. And finally, they type the string “hearth” into the “Keywords” field to locate all sites where an intact hearth was recognized.

STEP 2: Search Results

Search Results:

Mexico Farms (Phase II & Phase III)

18AG167: (Middle-Late Archaic, Middle-Late Woodland)

18AG168: (Early Archaic, Late Archaic, Middle-Late Woodland)

The results of the search would produce multiple project records, but for the sake of simplicity, let's assume that only one report generates a “hit.” In this case, the matching report is from the “Mexico Farms” project.

The results returned include the project cover sheet for Mexico Farms as well as individual synopsis reports for each site examined where a hearth was encountered. The researcher can now click each link to see precisely what was encountered at each site and whether it is of any interest or not. The linksabove are active and if you click them, they will take you to the actual PDF cover sheet and synopsis reports generated by the database.

You'll notice that the cover sheet indicates that a third site (18AG166) was also examined in that vicinity. This site does not have a hearth present and, thus, does not generate a “hit” when the search results are returned. The 18AG166 synopsis report can be viewed by clicking HERE

STEP 3: Interpretation

The MHT Archeological Synthesis Project database is essentially a finding aid and a way for researchers to quickly compare and contrast sites within the State of Maryland. This work is NOT a replacement for viewing the original site reports, but a way to get a quick impression of report findings and identify questions for further research and inquiry. However, the potential questions that could be examined by researchers using this abbreviated data are quite numerous. To illustrate the utility of the database we have provided just two simple examples based on some of the initial work in Allegany County performed as part of the project.

Example 1 - Projectile point distributions in Allegany County, MD.


Powerpoint Version (5.38MB)


Windows Mediaplayer Version (2.09MB)

The first example takes data from Allegany County and uses it to generate maps of diagnostic projectile point distributions. While archeologists often have a general idea of where artifact types are distributed, this database can replace such subjective estimates with quantitative and spatial data. This is illustrated if you simply follow the links provided to the left.

Example 2 - Late Woodland ethnobotanical assemblages in Allegany County, MD.


Adobe PDF Version (30.1KB)

The second example uses data from the synopsis reports and linked files to compare ethnobotanical assemblages from the four Late Woodland villages where flotation samples yielded such information. While nothing earth shattering is discovered, there are some interesting trends that will be intriguing to explore as we continue to add similar sites from other counties to the database. Click the link to the left to explore the ethnobotanical example.

 

This page updated: May 7, 2009