CHAPEL BRANCH WEST: At the Center of it All

Julie Markin, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, Washington College

The Chapel Branch West Site (18CA270) sits on a terrace overlooking the confluence of the Choptank River and Chapel Branch, north of Denton in Caroline County. The site was occupied by Indigenous peoples from the Early (1250 BC - AD 50) through Late (AD 950 - 1600) Woodland periods. During the 2023 Tyler Bastian Field Session in Maryland Archeology, volunteers excavated 19 2x2 meter units and recovered artifacts that expand our understanding of interaction and placemaking on the Eastern Shore.

While the ceramic assemblage contains wares that are typical for each Woodland period, the

co-occurrence of geographically, and perhaps culturally, distant wares throughout all periods is atypical (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Location of Chapel Branch West (18CA270) on Maryland's Eastern Shore and geographic distribution of ceramic types recovered during excavations.

Early Woodland wares include Wolfe Neck, Coulbourn, Accokeek, and Dames Quarter common across the Delmarva Peninsula, as well as Vinette associated with Western Shore and New England contexts. The Middle Woodland period is represented primarily by Mockley wares. During the Late Woodland occupation, typical Delmarva Townsend and Hell Island wares are co-mingled with Minguannan pottery associated with northern Maryland-southern Pennsylvania contexts.

Adding to the curious nature of Chapel Branch West was the recovery of a type of pottery that was not readily identified in the field. Based on its quartz temper and cord-marked exterior surface treatment (Figure 2), the pottery was tentatively identified as Middle Woodland Nomini (AD 700 - 900). Cord - or fabric - impressed Nomini wares are common in Virginia's Northern Neck region. Many of the sherds found at Chapel Branch West exhibited hand-drilled holes below the lip, raising the possibility that this ware could be related to another northern Virginia ware. Prince George (500 BC - AD 300) wares are tempered with chert or quartz pebble and are primarily cord - or net - marked. Although infrequent, Prince George pottery may be decorated with evenly spaced punctations below the rim. The presence of either ware on Maryland's Eastern Shore would be somewhat unusual.

Figure 2. Unusual cord-marked quartz-tempered ware recovered from Chapel Branch West.

As the ceramic assemblage was processed in the lab, a third ceramic type, Clemson Island, arose as a strong contender. Clemson Island (AD 800 - 1400) pottery is tempered with crushed rock (quartz, chert, or gneiss) and exhibits a cord-marked or fabric marked surface treatment. A distinctive feature of Clemson Island wares is the presence of a row of punctations or small depressions on the upper rim of vessel exteriors. Punctations were made with a blunted round dowel and may occur on the interior or exterior of the vessel. Punctations generally create a raised node on the opposite side of the impression. Deviating from this norm, Clemson Island sherds from the Chapel Branch West site exhibit holes that are drilled through the vessel wall (Figure 3), presumably as a design element. Clemson Island wares are found primarily in western Maryland's Ridge and Valley province, mirroring the distribution of nearly identical contemporaneous Owasco pottery in northern Pennsylvania and New York state. In these regions, Clemson Island is considered as transitional Late Woodland, spanning the late Middle Woodland and early Late Woodland periods, which may be the appropriate designation at the Chapel Branch West site, as well.

Figure 3. Clemson Island fabric impressed pottery. As the sherd is broken across the drilled hole, it is likely the hole was the cause, as a weak spot, of the break rather than part of a process to mend the broken fragments.

The regular reuse the Chapel Branch West site may indicate that the location was becoming a "persistent place" that held particular meaning for the inhabitants. The meaning could be mundane - location and natural resources - or sublime, in terms of the activities that occurred or the groups who came together, or a combination of both. The co-occurrence of pottery styles that span the entire Woodland period and that represent distant areas suggests intimate connections between the inhabitants and communities across the Bay as well

as to the north and east. Or it may push us to rethink the way we define these regional ceramic types and encourage us to look at stylistic attributes on smaller scales. As no structures have been found to date, Chapel Branch West's persistence may reflect its nature as a borderland where people, objects, and ideas freely moved, were exchanged, and were adopted. The complex ceramic assemblage from the Chapel Branch West site opens the door to research that can contribute substantially to our understanding of the fluid social landscape and complex economic organization of the Eastern Shore prior to European arrival.