Phase I Archaeological Investigations Aboard Webster Field Annex NAS PAX St. Mary’s County, Maryland, Vol. I and II

This report presents the results of an extensive Phase I archaeological investigation conducted aboard Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Webster Field Annex (NAS WFA), located at St. Inigoes in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The survey was conducted in partial fulfillment of Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The survey was performed by the staff of the Southern Maryland Regional Center at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, in cooperation with the Cultural and Natural Resources Branch of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS PAX). Funding for the project was provided by a grant from the Department of Defense's Legacy Resources Management Program.

NAS WFA is located in the Estuarine Potomac Drainage, Maryland Archeological Research Unit 10. Fieldwork was conducted from May to December 1996 and encompassed approximately 700 acres. The objective of the Phase I archaeological survey was to locate and define previously unidentified archaeological sites in order to guide future management decisions aboard the facility.

Field methods for this Phase I investigation consisted of the excavation of 5,624 shovel test pits (STPs) at various intervals throughout the project area, the interval changing in response to varying potential for site discovery. Eight prehistoric, nine historic, and nine multicomponent archaeological sites were located and recorded during the project (see map in back pocket). In addition, one unidentified shell scatter site was found. The prehistoric artifacts recovered in 1996 range in date from the Middle Archaic (8,000 B.P. - 6,000 B.P.) to the Late Woodland (950 B.P. - 350 B.P.), while the historic sites range from the first half of the seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

This report contains an inventory of archaeological resources within the project area and includes concise soil descriptions of all investigated areas. It also summarizes for the first time the results of a Phase I survey conducted at NAS WFA in 1981 by Michael Smolek of the Southern Maryland Regional Center. Management recommendations for identified sites are presented in Chapter 7.0, Summary and Management Recommendations. This document is intended to serve as a source of management and planning information for future land-use aboard NAS WFA.