INKSHERDS
Newsletter of the Archaeological Society of Delaware
February 2016
http://delawarearchaeology.org
WILDCAT MANOR DIG
ENDS FOR THE WINTER
Dawn Cheshaek, Field Director
Steady progress has been made at Wildcat Manor over the last few
months. By mid-October 60 Shovel Tests had been excavated. These
covered most of the front lawn south of the house. Besides the previously
identified brick deposit down by the water, seven additional features were
identified in the subsoil. The grid extended to include an additional 60 plus
shovel tests in the lawn around the house and in the woods to the north
and east of the house. The pace was between one and three teams per
day, excavating five to seven holes per team, two days per week.
At mid-November about 90 shovel tests had been excavated. There were
about that many more remaining, but attention turned to test units along
the foundation of the house. These revealed some features and some
surprises.
The part of the house that connects the two older sections cut into
another feature, which needs to be uncovered more to say much about it.
One older section has a stone foundation, which was not visible from
inside the brick-lined basement. Furthermore and against the odds, the
builder’s trench to it appears intact.
Steve Cox, John Ferrenbach and Dawn Cheshaek hugging the massive
willow oak at Wildcat Manor
2016 DUES ARE DUE
Exposed foundation at Wildcat Manor
As of mid-January, a total of 244 shovel tests had been excavated covering
the entire distance from the house to the river to the south and to the eastsoutheast. There are about a dozen soil features in the shovel tests, as well
as a stone and mortar wall that appears similar to the one in the unit by the
house. The wall is buried by three feet of topsoil and rubble fill, so a unit
will go there in the spring. In the meantime, processing and analysis of the
shovel test artifacts will begin in Frederica some time in February. A very
large willow oak, sure to be a couple of hundred years old was also found.
The coming of a new year means new opportunities
and adventures with the Archaeological Society of
Delaware. It also means that your annual DUES
ARE DUE. Please visit the web site to renew your
membership.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Laura Finley, Maureen Zieber, Robin Joseph, David
Silveira, John Serembus, Mary Francis, Terry
McClements, Raymond Jefferis, Ed Lewis, Elsa Lewis,
Terry Timko, Margaret Timko, Max Kichline
INKSHERDS February 2016
Page 2
ASD LOGO CONTEST
Voting for the new ASD logo begins February 2nd, Groundhog Day!
Visit www.delawarearchaeology.org to view the semi-finalist designs and vote for your favorite!
Bill Liebeknecht has joined
Dovetail Cultural Resource Group.
Many of you may know Bill from
his work with Hunter Research in
New Jersey. He has joined the
Dovetail staff to serve in the role of
Senior Archaeologist and Principal
Investigator for the Wilmington
office. Bill will also be working to
continue business in the northeast,
focusing on New Jersey, Delaware
and Pennsylvania. Bill holds a
Master's degree and is a Registered
Professional Archaeologist. He has
over 30 years of experience doing
archaeology in the region, and has conducted numerous excavations in
Delaware. He is excited working in Delaware and plans to be a regular at
the ASD New Castle Chapter meetings.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Archibald Crozier Award
H. Geiger Omwake Award
The ASD president has appointed an ad hoc 2016 Awards Nominating
Committee, and this committee has begun its work.
The Bylaws of the Archaeological Society of Delaware read (in part; edited
for repetition):
“The Archibald Crozier Award shall be presented, not more frequently
than annually, for distinguished achievement in, or contribution to,
archaeology. The Award may be presented to an individual, a corporation,
or to a group of persons working together as a team.
“The H. Geiger Omwake Award (pronounced omway), established in
1996, shall be presented not more frequently than annually to an
individual for outstanding contributions to the Society.
“Nominations for these Awards may be submitted in writing to the
ExCom by any member of the Society. Recipients of the Award shall be
approved by a majority of the ExCom. The award, if presented, shall be
presented at the annual meeting.”
If you would like to make a nomination, please reference above for
eligibility criteria. A nomination should read almost like a resume. List the
supporting information such as the member's contributions and
achievements in detail (for instance: number of volunteer hours, years in
office, etc.).
Send nominating letter via email to Steve Cox, Nominating Committee
Chair, at stcrossroads1@juno.com. Letters to ASD PO box 1968 Dover,
Delaware 19903 clearly marked 'Award Nomination'.
DEADLINE: MARCH 7TH (To be considered in the regularly scheduled
ExCom meeting at least sixty [60] days before the annual meeting.)
Kristin D. Scarr
is the new prehistoric
archaeologist with
D e l a w a r e ’ s
Department of
Transportation. She
received her B.S.
from Mercyhurst
College and her M.A
from the University
of Arkansas before
finding her way to
the West Virginia
State Historic
Preservation Office
in Charleston. After five years conducting Section 106 review and
compliance, Kristin took the opportunity to return to her hometown of
Pittsburgh for a brief interlude in the private sector before eventually
finding her way here to Delaware. Kristin has worked in various aspects
of archaeology including academic museums, private sector labs and
government offices. She has been involved in archaeological investigations
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and
Arkansas. Much of Kristin’s research experience in archaeology has
involved the study of lithic technology and lithic raw material sourcing.
While Kristin’s professional experience lies outside of Delaware, she has
a lot of personal experience with the state. Her family spends their
vacations biking along the scenic trails in Sussex County, Delaware every
summer and looks forward to spending more time enjoying them now that
she resides in the area. Kristin is also looking forward to becoming more
involved in the ASD.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE
March 10 - 13, 2016
Clarion Fontainebleau Hotel
10100 Coastal Highway
Ocean City, Maryland
call the hotel for room reservations and indicate you are attending
the conference
for conference registration go to
http://www.maacmidatlanticarchaeology.org/conferences.htm
INKSHERDS February 2016
Time Travelers
(February is Black History Month)
Page 3
Avery’s Rest (7S-G-57)
Status Report – January 26, 2016
Daniel R. Griffith
Archaeology at Killens Pond State Park
Sat February 13th Free at the Nature Center
1:00 – 1:45 pm – Sand Box Archaeology lead by
Jeff Moore
Experience the thrill of uncovering artifacts in a simulated archaeological
dig indoors, where it is warm! Learn proper excavating and recording
techniques and analyze the data to answer the question. "What happened
here?”
2:00 – 3:00 pm – Archaeology of Killens Pond
talk by John McCarthy
State Park archaeologist John McCarthy, RPA, will summarize the physical
evidence of Native American and later habitation in and around Killens
Pond in this illustrated talk. He will focus in particular on the Tilton Site,
a free African American farm site occupied in the 19th century.
Time Travelers Basic Archaeology Training
Sat March 26th 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Free at Auburn Height Preserve, Yorklyn, DE
Basic archaeological skills training as part of the Time Travelers volunteer
program. The class will be lead by State Parks Archaeologist John
McCarthy, RPA, focusing on providing a basic understanding of
archaeology goals and objectives and the techniques used by archaeologists
to locate, identify, and evaluate archaeological sites. This training equips
Time Travelers volunteers to assist with a wide range of archaeological
projects. Those who complete the training will receive a certificate of
accomplishment, Time Travelers patch and stickers, and if not already a
member, 2016 membership in the Archaeological Society of Delaware.
Native American Life at Killens Pond State Park – Sat May 21st
Free at the Nature Center
2:00 – 3:00 pm – Archaeology of Killens Pond
talk by John McCarthy
State Park archaeologist John McCarthy, RPA, will summarize the physical
evidence of Native American habitation at Killens Pond State Park in an
illustrated talk.
Advance registration and a modest fee, meet at the Nature Center
3:00 – 4:30 pm – Adult Survival Series: Spring Wild Edible Plants
lead by Jeff Moore
Is it safe to eat that berry? Explore forest paths and edges looking for
spring's edible plants. We will hike and collect for one hour then return to
the Nature Center to prepare plants for eating.
HAVE AN ITEM FOR INKSHERDS ?
Email it to Inksherds@comcast.net
we will consider short travel items, artifact finds, calendar items,
etc.
just about anything of interest to our members
The last day of fieldwork at the Avery’s Rest site was on November 2,
2015, completing an eight year campaign in the field at the site. The
primary focus of the 2015 field season was the excavation of a 17th century
well, the third such well excavated at the site. Results of research on this
well will be provided in a future report. No further fieldwork is planned
at Avery’s Rest, as an extensive program of shovel tests and test units
demonstrated that the site boundaries have been identified and a significant
sample of the site has been recovered. Lab work at the Heite Consulting,
Inc. lab in Frederica commenced in early December when the crew spent
two days organizing and cleaning the work space.
Processing of the artifacts and soil flotation samples from the 2015 field
season commenced on January 11, 2016. The Avery’s Rest crew has been
spending two days a week washing and marking artifacts in preparation for
more detailed analyses. As the major focus of the field season was the
careful excavation of the large and well-preserved well (Feature 176), a
number of specialized studies are warranted. At, and below, the modern
water table (beginning at approximately nine feet below the surface),
preservation of wood and other organic remains was excellent. The well
was barrel-lined with a crude, square timber box around the barrel. With
such excellent preservation, the barrel, portions of the timber box and
abundant plant remains were recovered in the bottom levels of the well.
One primary research question is the date of the well. The Society has
contracted with Michael Worthington, Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory, to
date the cutting of the timbers through dendrochronology. This will tell us
the date when the timbers were cut, which should date the well within a
narrow time frame. In addition, ASD, Inc. has contracted with Justine
McKnight, Archaeobotanical Consultant, to identify the twigs, wood
fragments, wood shavings, seeds, leaves and nuts recovered from the well.
We also took pollen and phytolith soil samples from the bottom of the well
and have contracted with Paleoethnobotanist John Jones, Archaeological
Consulting Services, Ltd., to analyze the pollen and phytoliths from the
well. The combined specialized studies will help answer the following
questions:
When was the well constructed?
What was the natural environment when the well was open?
What were some of the edible plants from the site?
The Society will also be contracting with the Maryland Archaeology
Conservation Lab to conserve the barrel from the well and parts of the box
liner. These specialized studies and the analysis of the artifacts from the
well by the Avery’s Rest lab crew will provide an unprecedented look into
17th century colonial life in southern Delaware.
INKSHERDS February 2016
Walking Wildcat: Invasions
by Steve Cox
(This article, with photos, may be found at:
https://archaeologiacantianadeusa.wordpress.com)
April. Wisteria. Purple plumage, splashy blossoms. Along the driveway,
cascading over low fallen branches. High too. Above the thick and weedy
undergrowth, enveloping, over-arching, overreaching, 20, 30, even 50 feet
up. Climbing, sun-soaking, and doing so at a time before the trees hosting
it have themselves sprung foliage. Killing the budding trees slowly, with
primeval patience, and bold beauty.
By the time I walked that way again in June, the trees had sprung as
much as they could. The wood was as green as it would be. Just a few
persistent purple clusters overhung the landscape from understory to
canopy. Maybe the trees will win, after all, was my momentary thought.
But, no, not all of them will survive to old age; much of the green in the
trees was wisteria foliage. It was readily apparent the most affected trees
were barely fighting for the sky. They were too tied down. Years and years
of un-empathetic embracing wore them down. Strangling them while they
waxed, reigned, waned, rested, season after relentless season. For how
many more summers would they truly reign?
In December, Craig discovered the mothership: the mother of all wild
wisteria, wrestling the thickest vines yet seen around an old and wizened
Osage Orange. This was near the same lane, the road that leads into the
property before it turns to the left and uphill towards the manor house
called Wildcat. That Osage Orange, and a few others nearby, are there
where foundations and wells are barely perceptible above the ground.
Where a row of small dwellings occupied by free black tenants, and before
that by millworkers had been. The ancient wisteria probably graced a
dooryard way back then. When it was tame.
Walking straight on, from the elbow of the lane, across the bottom of
the green and sloping lawn that fronts Wildcat Manor itself, under and past
the shady Maple and Magnolia trees, and braving the Wineberry stickers,
one comes to more Osage Oranges. There are massive rose bushes in the
brush, scattered daffodil colonies, and an incredibly imperialistic English
Ivy, all occupying territory between the lawn and the water’s edge.
Phragmites fringe the marsh. Skunk musk advises wariness.
Many of the Osage Orange trees that are thickly coated with the dark
green hairy-vined ivy, lean over the edge of the water – lie in the water too
– where there is more of a bank, less of a swamp. The thought is that they
were planted there by the CCC in the 1930s for erosion control. One
wonders what was worth protecting from the slow and silty river here. Was
it Forest Landing? Is the foundation that has been detected between here
and the lawn – in the midst of the red-stemmed Wineberries, as well as
beneath them – one of the warehouses of that early port?
Sometimes also called Hedge Apples, the Osage Oranges appear to
have left a small remnant second generation in this particular spot.
Something like two trees. There is green fruit lying around (even in
January), one of which lies apparently picked apart on a log by an animal,
but most of which lie about on the leafy mould untouched. These younger
trees are bowed like a fountain and have large thorns on the splayed
branches, too far apart to stop scurrying squirrels.
I look at these closely because of what I read about them. The theory
proposed by forestry researchers is that these are trees that miss the
mammoths. They evolved their massive fruit and wicked thorns during the
tens and hundreds of millennia when the megafauna of the Ice Ages grazed
on them and spread their seeds across the continent. After the great hairy
pachyderms and giant sloths, among other creatures which may have fed
on them, died out, due to hunting and climate change, the large-fruited
Page 4
Osage Oranges retreated to the south and center of the United States,
roughly the area the Osage Indians held when and where the white farmers
began to transplant them to fence in their fields. The trees apparently need
either humans to utilize them, or large mammals to ingest them whole. And
later excrete them. The fruits merely roll downhill to water, and float
downstream, never reaching higher ground without being carried there.
Most of the thorny trees seem older than the others here that have
grown up around them, even the tall Poplars. Mostly this impression comes
from all the fallen wood, much of which is cracked and hard and devoid
of bark. Only one or two of the rotting logs show signs of a chainsaw, and
therefore the good stewardship of a woodlot. Most of the deadwood is
broken and strangled. Wisteria reaches here too. It hangs at random, and
trails along the ground. Shelf fungus protrudes from the wood high and
low.
A deer path, with all the tracks and droppings and rubbings of its
makers, meanders through this half-dead forest, leading under and over
fallen logs. Eventually, it follows an embankment on the left, which is the
side where the house is, though you can’t see it. Mounds of earth, with
mostly rotted stumps line the right, remnants of a fallen line of trees, on
the river’s side. This is likely an old byway, with a hedge, similar to many
dirt roads skirting farm fields at the side of a stream, or bordering a wood.
Our shovel tests all indicate layers of soil, “recently” disturbed, on the
left, house-ward, where we know there had been cultivated fields. Deep,
homogenized soil lies to the right, not far from a bluff by the water.
At this point in my walk, the path I’ve taken brings me on an arc from
the elbow of the driveway, a full 90 degrees from the front of the old
manor, to the side of it. I can’t see the house here, except in some thinner
places of the wood, and even there, only in the mid-winter. Apparently it
wasn’t always so. That side of the house – the southeast – was the oldest
section. It overlooked the field that was there, and looked beyond the
water’s edge, out over the confluence of the St.Jones River and Tidbury
Creek, across the marshes and oxbows, and down the river, towards its
mouth. The hilltop observer probably could not see as far as the Delaware
Bay, but in the days of a deeper, less silted channel, the colonial settler or
prehistoric camper occupied a prospect a good 25 feet above the stream,
and could see company coming.
The trees in this area include more Sassafras and Cherry, fewer Hedge
Apples (the Osage Oranges). The latter, dwindled as the apparent road they
hedged rose into higher ground. Nearer the water is a massive Willow Oak,
centuries old. The forest feels healthier, more native here.
From here, I can either turn towards the house, crossing the old fields
overgrown by decades of trees and their shelf fungus, or I can turn towards
the river and follow a gravel path that the Kent County Department of
Parks and Recreation created. I turn right. The path goes on and on. This
is a peninsula. The trees are mostly young oaks. There are evergreens too.
There is water on both sides of the path, and after some walking, only ten
feet or so off either side. The banks are about that high above the river as
well. Eventually, one comes to a “Provincetown” at the end of the long,
crooked cape, and there is a strait, also about a dozen feet wide, then
another peninsula opposite. All of this encloses a lagoon. On the far side
of the lagoon – which is hosting a half dozen ducks at the moment – is the
bluff that rises up to the forested-over field on the manor’s south-east side.
The cobbles and pea gravel in the narrow channel (the water is clear),
on both sides of the man-made path, and piled on the embankments, all
indicate that this intricate land-form is very likely all man-made, and made
up of the spoils from the dredging that had been done in the river.
If that is what this is, the dredging was easily the greatest modification to
the landscape. Satellite pictures and old aerial photos of the meandering
river indicate the same. We simply need to overlay the one on the other,
INKSHERDS February 2016
and – for pre-Twentieth Century approximations – overlay those on the
older maps and drawings. We will want to check with the Army Corps of
Engineers for topographical maps that are not available online. This may
mean a trip to the Corps HQ in Maryland. Anything to understand this site
better. To get an idea, if at all possible, what it looked like when the first
Europeans arrived.
Now, retracing the trail back to the mainland, back to the overgrown
farmland, back to the house on the hill, I think about the Native
Americans, whose traces have been found and are still being found, here
where the little river from the north and the creek from the west join and
produce a resourceful wetland as well as a vantage point. The extensive
shovel test pit grid that we already have from a few years ago establishes
a handful of campsite candidates, and many – if not most – of the STPs
that have been dug in the last few months contained native points, flakes,
and shatter – evidence that stone tools have not only been used, but
manufactured all over the piece of land we’ve been exploring. I personally
picked a Paleo-Indian blade out of the screen while test digging.
Picture this: Today’s county park (to be) on the Hunn property had
been a family farm with a manor house, a barn and other out-buildings,
extensive cultivated fields, and a short row of tenant housing along the
lane, merely a hundred years ago (1916). During the previous century (from
1816) there was a farm centered in the same old house, a free black
community, stories of involvement in the Underground Railroad, and
apparently also water mills and a river landing along with commercial and
industrial infrastructure for those. Another hundred years back (1716),
even the oldest section of the manor house may not have existed, but a
rudimentary colonial landing probably did. In 1616, the people who lived
or just camped there, may or may not have met white or black people from
beyond their shores. In 1516 they most certainly had not.
In 500 years, the land changed a great deal, and most of that in the latter
half of that time (since 1766). In that 250 years, approximately ten
generations lived and died, as any genealogist can tell you, and that
represents the European- and African-Americans who lived, worked, and
played at Wildcat. Ten generations.
So, in 500 years, roughly twenty generations rose up and passed away.
At least half of those generations were the Native Americans. Another 500
years (A.D. 1016): at least 30 generations. In 2000 years, 70-80 generations.
In 10,000 years (about 8000 B.C. the area became habitable): 400-500
generations. And the native peoples probably passed this way year after
year, hunted here, camped here, made tools here. Made a fire, and worked
flint, chert, and jasper into points, leaving behind the flakes.
We’re finding flakes all over the place. It didn’t take a large population
all at once to make them, just a trickle of people over a very long time.
It is possible the Osage Oranges, the trees the Mammoths loved, lived
there in the beginning. Died out. And came back (were brought back) in
the last days.
One thing is certain about the site we call Wildcat: Change. Long years
of little change. Then much change. Another thing is uncertain: What is
and what is not an invasive species?
Chapter News
New Castle County Chapter
The New Castle County Chapter meets the third Wednesday of each
month. Meetings begin at 7pm and are held at Greenbank Mill at Price’s
Corner.
Contact Joan Parsons for additional information
joan_parsons@elwyn.org
Page 5
Kent County Chapter
The Kent County Chapter meets on the last Teusday of every month.
Meetings start at 6:30 pm and are held at the Dover Public Library.
Laboratory work on Wildcat Manor artifacts will commence in late winter
and field work is expected to resume in the spring. Contact Steve Cox for
additional information stcrossroads1@juno.com
Sussex County Chapter
The Sussex County Chapter meets the first Thursday of odd numbered
months. Meetings begin at 7:00 and are held at the Lewes Public Library.
The Sussex Chapter wishes to thank Delaware DNREC for welcoming
the group to its field office in Lewes Delaware. Bi-monthly meetings
were held in this space for over one year, providing a comfortable
setting with room to grow. The chapter now meets at Lewes Public
Library on the second floor. Capacity is 100 in the library meeting space
and a kitchenette is available for coffee and refreshment preparation.
The library also supplies a laptop and projector for our use. Thank you,
Lewes Public Library www.leweslibrary.org .
For additional information about Sussex Chapter, please visit
www.delawarearchaeology.org. If you would like to help with meeting or
activity planning, email jillynjhango@aol.com with "ASD Sussex
Chapter" in the subject line. We are excited about upcoming talks and
activities and we invite our members and the public to join us. Here's to
a new year full of archaeological adventure and discovery!
Maritime Chapter
The Maritime chapter meets with Sussex County. Activities for the
coming year will involve work on the Potomac River from April to MidMay. From mid-May into October work will be in the Chesapeake,
likely looking for Lord Dunsmore’s Fleet. Contact Dawn Cheshaek for
more information chsh8kd@verizon.net
The Archaeological Society of Delaware Mission
•
•
•
•
Educate our members and the public about archaeology
support professional archaeological investigations
report on archaeological activity in Delaware and the
surrounding region
promote interest and participation in archaeology and related
activities
MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Archaeological Society of Delaware is open to any
individual who is interested in our mission. Membership categories and
annual dues are:
$15.00 Individual Membership
$10.00 Student/Junior Membership
$20.00 Family Membership
$30.00 Contributing Membership
$30.00 Institution Membership
$50.00 Sustaining Membership
$300.00 Lifetime Membership
Visit our web page (http://www.delawarearchaeology.org) for a
membership application or to join using Paypal. Annual membership
benefits include inclusion to all Archaeological Society of Delaware
functions as well as a copy of the Bulletin and receipt of Inksherds.
INKSHERDS February 2016
Page 6
Calendar
February
8th
ASD EXCOM Meeting, King Buffet, Dover, De 7 pm
9th
The Folk Music of African Americans with Devonna B. Rowe,
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Delaware History Museum. 504 N. Market
Street, Wilmington, De.
20th
Bootlegger’s Bash. New Castle County Historical Society annual
Fundraiser.
The Arsenal.
Contact Lauren Spinelli at
lspinelli@newcastlehistory.org or 302 322 2794
21st
“ An Excellent Sea-Boat:” Darwin’s Expedition Aboard HMS
Beagle. By Lauren Morgens & Matthew Sarver. Copeland
Maritime Center, Kalmar Nyckel Foundation. Reception 4 - 5
pm. Lecture 5 - 6:30 pm. $20
23rd
Lithics 101 by Kristin Scarr
Kent Chapter Meeting, Dover Library 6:30pm
28th
Underground Railroad in Delaware 1pm - 3 pm Quaker Meeting
House, 401 N. West Street, Wilmington, De. Registration
required at deinfo@dehistory.org or 302 655 7161
March
3rd
Extraordinary Uses of Ordinary Objects: Magic, Popular
Spirituality, and Identity in Antebellum Philadelphia.
John McCarthy. Sussex County Chapter Meeting. Lewes Library
7 pm.
8th
The Search for Amelia Earhart by Tom King. Dover Library
6:30 pm. Kent County Chapter Special Presentation
9th
“Recent Lenape Archaeology” by Dr. Jay Custer. Cecil County
Historical Society, Elkton, Md. 6:30 pm.
10-13th Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference, Ocean City,
Maryland (www.maacmidatlanticarchaeology.org)
14
th
15th
ASD EXCOM Meeting, King Buffet, Dover, De 7 pm
“Underwater Archaeology - Monterrey Investigations in the Gulf
of Mexico” Dr. Susan Langley. Darlington Hall, Harford
Community College, Bel Air, Md. 6:30 pm.
19th
Public Archeology Day, Newlin Grist Mill, Glen Mills, Pa
26th
Maryland Annual Workshops in Archeology, Crownsville,
Maryland
29th
The Buffer Zone Between the Lenape and the Sekonese
Dr. Marshall Becker. Kent County Chapter Meeting,
Dover Library, 6:30 pm
16th
Public Archaeology Day, Newlin Grist Mill, Glen Mills, Pa
16th
Discover Archaeology Day. Jefferson Patterson Park, Calvert
County, Maryland. 10am - 5 pm. Register at www.jefpat.org
April is Maryland Archaeology Month
(Www.marylandarchaeology.org)
17th
Documenting Historic Structures by Madeline Dunn
Hale-Byrnes House 4 - 6 pm. $5.00
9th
Maryland Spring Symposium, Crownsville, Maryland
26th
9th
“Women and the Revolution” American Revolution Roundtable
of Northern Delaware. Hale-Byrnes House 7:30 - 9:30 pm. $5
The Prehistoric Archaeology of Killens Pond State Park
John McCarthy. Kent County Chapter Meeting, Dover Library
6:30 pm.
11th
ASD EXCOM Meeting, King Buffet, Dover, De 7 pm
30th
Historic Trades: Cooperage, Newlin Grist Mill. Glen Mills, Pa.
15 - 17th“Digging Down into Pennsylvania's Past: Pre-Clovis through
Postmodern”. Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology annual
meeting. Park Inn. West Middlesex, Pa.
www.pennsylvaniaarchaeeology.com
April
INKSHERDS February 2016
May
Delaware Archeology Month
5th
The Avery’s Rest Site in Sussex County, Delaware. Daniel
Griffith. Sussex County Chapter Meeting. Lewes Library 7 pm
14th
Black Patriots of the American Revolution. American Revolution
Round Table of Northern Delaware. Hale-Byrnes House 7:30 9:30 pm. $5
31st
Search for the Lost Corbit Tannery. John Bansch. Kent County
Chapter Meeting. Dover Library 6:30 pm.
Page 7
HUTCHINSON ARTIFACT
COLLECTION
AT BETHEL MUSUEM
(taken from Delmarvanow)
PAST PORTRAITS OF CONTRIBUTORS
TO
MARYLAND ARCHAEOLOGY
Stephen Israel of the Archaeological Society of Maryland has been
collecting information on past ASM members and contributions they
have made. Currently he has information on 96 individuals. Some of
these people have also been important to Delaware Archaeology. In
the next few issues of Inksherds the Delaware people will be presented.
Thank you Stephen for sharing your work.
(Also thanks to Alice Guerrant for additional information)
Henri Geiger Omwake (pronounced ohm’way)
1908-1968
A school official in Delaware, H. Geiger
Omwake was an active amateur archeologist
and an authority on pipes that Europeans
traded to American Indians. His study of the
subject began in the 1940s and continued
until his death. Omwake was one of the
main organizers of the Archeological Society
of Delaware, the Sussex County Society of
Archeology and History in 1948, and the
Kent Archaeological Society in 1965. He
was a member of the Delaware State Archeological Board which
ultimately morphed into the State Historic Preservation Office
(http://anthropology.si.edu/naa/guide/_o.htm).
Mr. Omwake retired in 1963 as a director of education at the
Governor Bacon Health Center. He came to Delaware to teach in
Dover in 1930, and was later principal of Hockessin Elementary, Rose
Hill-Minquadale and Greenwood Schools. Mr. Omwake was the
founder of the Archaeological Society of Delaware in 1933, and of the
Sussex Archaeological Association, now the Sussex Society for History
and Archaeology. He was a member of the Eastern States
Archaeological Federation and many state societies throughout the
country. He was instrumental in obtaining legislation establishing the
State Archaeological Board and was the recipient of the Archibald
Crozier Award for outstanding service to archaeology (“Omwake,
Archeology Expert, Dies,” Wilmington Evening Journal, January 2,
1968:21).
At the 1967 “International Conference on Historical Archaeology,”
organization of the Society for Historical Archaeology was completed
and 22 charter members were listed as “Fellows.” H. Geiger Omwake
was one of these “Fellows.”
Some of Henri Geiger Omwake’s papers, letters, notes, drawing,
clippings, and photographs dealing with pipes are on file in the
National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institute
(Cinthya Cardenas June 2001 Register of Papers).
American Indian artifacts displayed in the Bethel Museum. (Photo by Emily
Chappell)
The small town of Bethel, with a population of about 200, may go
unnoticed by some people. The Sussex town covers about half a mile
in area, according the US Census Bureau. But, while it’s small in size,
it’s big in Delaware history. That history is what those with the Bethel
Museum are trying to share with anyone and everyone they can. The
museum celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. The old brick
building, once a schoolhouse, offers a glimpse through the past of the
small town. A large part of that past is maritime, Dave Hillegas, a
trustee of the museum, said.
“We were just thrilled,” Yancey Hillegas said. Since then, he’s learned
so much. “It was intriguing to see some of these artifacts,” he said.
“It’s been fascinating to me. I learned a lot.” Preserving this history,
passing it along — these are aspects the founders of the town and
museum worked hard for, museum President Kevin Phillips said. They
want to share this knowledge. They want to make sure the next
generation keeps the history alive. “[The founders] started a legacy
we’re trying to uphold,” Phillips said.
The museum, located at 312 1st Street in Bethel, is usually open the
second and fourth Sunday of each month from 2 to 4 p.m., but for this
special exhibit, will be open every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. in January,
February and March.
Archaeological Society of Delaware Officers
The ASD ExCom (Executive Committee) is comprised of professional and avocational archaeologists. All members of the ASD ExCom
volunteer their time to the organization. The ASD ExCom meets on the second Monday of every month in Dover. All ASD members are
welcome to attend.
Craig Lukezic, President
Alice Guerrant, Secretary
John McCarthy, Treasurer
Faye Stocum, ESAF Representative
Heidi Krofft, Membership Secretary
Dan Griffith, Member-At-Large
Joan Parsons, President, Northern Chapter
Steve Cox, President, Kent County Chapter
Gary Schmidt, President, Sussex Chapter
Dawn Cheshaek, President, Maritime Chapter
David Clarke, Bulletin Editor
Ed Otter, Inksherds Editor
Jill Showell, Web Editor
craig.lukezic@state.de.us
alice.guerrant@state.de.us
John.mccarthy@state.de.us
Faye.stocum@state.de.us
Heidi.krofft@state.de.us
danielgriffith@comcast.net
joan_parsons@elwyn.org
stcrossroads1@juno.com
Sethsfolly@att.net
chsh8kd@verizon.net
David.Clarke@state.de.us
Inksherds@comcast.net
Jillynjhango@aol.com
visit our web page at www.delawarearchaeology.org
AND VISIT US ON FACEBOOK
Archaeological Society of Delaware
PO Box1968
Dover, Delaware 19903