Archeological Overview and Assessment Piscataway Park Volume 1

King, Julia; Postemski, Megan; Strickland, Scott; Ternent, Garrett

This is the first of three volumes comprising the Archeological Overview and Assessment (AOA) of Piscataway Park for the National Park Service (NPS). This AOA is the first to be completed for the park and was prepared by St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) in consultation and partnership with NPS staff between September 2020 and December 2024. Located along the Potomac River in Prince George’s and Charles counties, Maryland, Piscataway Park was established in 1961 through an act of Congress to protect the viewshed from George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Encompassing nearly 5,000 acres, the park contains 73 archeological sites. Of these sites, 67 lie on federally owned land within the park, while the remaining six are found on private land protected by scenic easements within the park. These sites—including camps, villages, quarries, forts, farmsteads, plantations, and more—date from the Early Archaic Period (9500 BC–7000 BC) through the twentieth century, attesting to the region’s deep history before and after George Washington’s era. The archeological record thus reflects the diverse people and communities who have inhabited and visited what is now Piscataway Park over time: Native Americans, Indigenous Piscataway, English settlers, indentured servants, enslaved and free people of African descent, planters, farmers, merchants, socialites, outdoor enthusiasts, and many others. The purpose of the AOA is to provide an overview and assessment of these archeological resources for multiple audiences: the public, the park, NPS cultural resource managers, and the archeological community more broadly. To that end, the AOA is divided into three volumes. This volume (I) addresses the public, presenting a historical narrative of Piscataway Park based upon historical, ethnohistorical, and archeological research. To improve accessibility, technical jargon is avoided, and, to ensure site preservation, sensitive and specific site location information is omitted. In contrast to Volume I, which is for general readers, Volumes II and III are technical reports geared toward NPS staff, archeologists, and other preservation professionals. Volume II presents the results of the AOA in detail, including an overview of the park environment, history, previous archeological investigations, and collections, and provides recommendations for future research and management of the park’s archeological resources. Volume III contains the report’s numerous appendices, including transcriptions of archival records referenced in Volume II, site forms, artifact inventories, and other supplementary information.

Archeological Overview and Assessment Piscataway Park Volume 1

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