Mike Rodeffer poses a good question about what's in and what's not on
the site, www.chesapeakearchaeology.org.  

The original NEH project (from which the web site was developed) was
focused on plantation life in the Chesapeake region.  We selected and
used domestic sites associated with plantation settlements rather than
urban/town/village contexts.  Although the web site is designed to grow,
at this point, you'll see that all of the sites now posted are located
outside urban settlements like St. Mary's City, Jamestown, Williamsburg,
Annapolis, and other similar places.

We also selected sites for which large and reliable plow zone samples
are available (i.e., washed, cataloged, accessible), since the original
project was focused on the structure and use of household and plantation
landscapes.  

The sites currently posted reflect those parameters.  The final project
report, which is nearing completion and will be posted soon, addresses
the research focus and questions posed by the original project in more
detail. 

With regard to Historic St. Mary's City, of course they were included in
the original funded proposal.  HSMC offered a plantation site they had
excavated from outside the town.  They decided not to participate,
however, after they received funding to return to the site and felt
interpretations might change through additional data recovery.  

Although the web site at this point includes material used in our
particular project, it is designed to grow.  We invite colleagues
working in the Chesapeake to consider the site as a place to post
information on their sites.  We also hope people will use the data found
on the site in their own work.  

Julia A. King
Project Director


I was surprised to see that the ''Comparative Archaeological Study of
Colonial Chesapeake Culture'' website included virtually nothing on
Historic St. Marys City, MD.  Perhaps I am mistaken, but isn't this site
located on the Chesapeake?

Mike Rodeffer 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "King, Julia" <[log in to unmask]> 

> Dear HISTARCHers, 
> 
> Please take some time to check out the new web site for the project,
"A 
> Comparative Archaeological Study of Colonial Chesapeake Culture," at 
> www.chesapeakearchaeology.org. 
>