EAST—After a successful field season last year, researchers returned to the Conservancy’s Barton Preserve to continue excavations with the PaleoDigger, a technology invented by archaeologist Brian Fritz. Maryland State Terrestrial Archaeologist Zachary Singer, Towson University archaeologist Robert Wall, and Fritz focused on locating deeply buried deposits from early hunter-gatherer occupations.
The Barton site—acquired by the Conservancy in 2000—has long yielded evidence from early pre-Contact through Late Contact periods. Much of what we know comes from Wall, who led several Towson University field schools on the property.
Investigating Archaic-period and earlier deposits once required extensive hand excavation beneath deep floodplain sediments. The PaleoDigger, which functions like a large bucket auger, now allows strategic sampling to pinpoint “hotspots”—areas of early activity marked by artifacts and/or features—so future hand excavations can be targeted. Its use at Barton has been successful and may encourage other researchers to apply the method on deeply buried sites.
Results from this season are still being processed, but finds include an early-stage biface fragment and numerous stone-tool flakes recovered at 240–250 centimeters below surface. Operating the PaleoDigger smoothly and screening all soils was possible thanks to volunteers from The Archaeological Society of Maryland—particularly the Western Maryland Chapter—and the Conservancy is grateful to its site stewards, who continue to help maintain and protect this important site.
Pictured: The PaleoDigger was returned to the Barton site in Western Maryland to continue searching for archaeological deposits. Photo by Kelley Berliner/The Archaeological Conservancy.
