Hi all - I believe that the Catoctin Furnace cemetery in Western Maryland
was excavated and reported (somewhere, perhaps in the Maryland
Archaeologist?) The Maryland Historic Trust Library in Crownsville,
Maryland would be a good place to look for that literature. There was also
an idea floating around that those enslaved at the site might have been
taken from certain parts of Africa known for iron working skill (earlier
and much advanced there). I also want to mention that an iron forge was
excavated at Great Falls Park in Virginia by Southside. The latter
organization was once in some way affiliated with William and Mary College,
but the National Park Service would be the place to start looking for the
report. The forge was part of an early, small industrial community that
focused around the Patowmack Canal.
Joe Dent