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VOLUME: 3 linear feet

ACCESS: This collection is open to the public upon request.

COPYRIGHT: Please consult the archivist for information about duplication or publishing of any materials from this collection.

Administrative History

The Potomac River Archaeology Survey (PRAS), part of American University's Department of Anthropology, has conducted research within the Potomac River watershed and greater surrounding Mid-Atlantic region for over four decades. Many of these investigations have been undertaken for the National Park Service, local government agencies, private institutions, companies, and preservation organizations. Projects included both historic and prehistoric archaeology.

Scope and Content Note

This collection documents the Potomac River Archaeology Survey's excavation sites in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. This includes site survey records (1960 - 1972) and contact sheets and negatives of dig sites and excavated items (1970 - 1971). This collection also contains an archaeological field catalog (1963 - 1972, 1978), drafts of a manuscript about the history of archaeology along the Potomac River, and American Indian archaeology teaching modules for middle schoolers (1981-1982).

Provenance

The American University Department of Anthropology donated this collection in 2015.

Box and Folder Listing

Box 1

American Indian Archaeology in the Middle School, 1983

  • Modules
    • 1. People Who Study People: Archeologists and American Indian Tribes, 1981
    • 2. Many Different People are Called American Indians, 1981
    • 5. Corn: An American Indian Gift to the World, 1981
    • 6. Pottery: What can it tell us about the Past? 1981
    • 7. Son of the Sun: Priest-Kings in the Southeastern U.S., 1981
    • 8. The First American Apartment Houses: Pueblo Indians of the Southwest, 1982
    • 10. Ordinary People in History: The Archeology of the Colonial Period, 1982

Annotated U.S. Geological Survey topographic map of Alexandria Quadrangle, Virginia-District of Columbia-Maryland, undated

Archaeological Field Catalog (2 folders), 1963 - 1973, 1978

Clippings, 1968, undated

Deep Time in the Potomac River Valley-Thoughts on PaleoIndian Lifeways and Revisionist Archaeology, 1991

"Digging up the Past," Pocono Record, 1987

Historic Sites Identification Map [of Maryland], 1969

Manuscript Drafts - Prehistoric Archaeology in the Middle Atlantic Region (6 folders), undated

Maryland, undated See also: Photos

  • Allegheny
    • Undated
    • 18 Allegheny 2-13, 15, 1969, undated
  • Charles
    • (2 folders), undated
    • 18 Charles 1-26, 1961, undated
    • 18 Charles 27-47, 1961 - 1963, undated
    • 18 Charles 47 [Rowe Site Ms], undated
    • 18 Charles 48-61, 73-74, 1970, undated See also: Photos
    • 18 Charles 75-93 [incomplete], undated
  • Frederick
    • Undated
    • 18 Frederick 1-38, 100, undated
  • Montgomery
    • Undated
    • 18 Montgomery 1-10, 1958 - 1961, undated
    • 18 Montgomery 11-26, 1961 - 1963
    • 18 Montgomery 34-52, undated
    • Patuxent, undated

Box 2

Maryland (continued)

  • Prince George's
    • (3 folders), undated
    • 18 Prince George's 3-13, 38, 48-50, 1956 - 1965
  • Ruppert Island (2 folders), undated
  • St. Mary's
    • Undated
    • 18 St. Mary's 17, undated
  • Washington
    • Undated
    • 18 Washington 2-26, undated

National Park Service Archaeological Base Map, undated

Photos

  • Undated
  • Ayers, Harvard, undated
  • Early pottery sequences in the Potomac Piedmont and coastal plain, undated
  • Maryland
    • 18 Charles 1-11 [Valley photos], undated
    • 18 Charles 26, undated
    • 18 Charles 58 [Loyola Retreat] - includes stratigraphy, 1970, undated
    • 18 Charles 58 and 61, 1970, undated
    • Pope's Creek ware, undated
    • Swan Point map and stratigraphy, undated
  • Maryland and Virginia - 18 Charles 58-59 and 44 Loudoun 15, 1970, undated
  • Potomac shell middens, undated
  • Virginia - 44 Loudoun 15, 1970 - 1971, undated

Smithsonian sites, 1969, undated

Thermoluminescence, 1974 - 1975

Topographic Maps, undated

Virginia, undated See also: Photos

  • Alexandria - 44 Alexandria 1, undated
  • Arlington
    • 1968, undated
    • 44 Arlington 1-24, 1972, undated
  • Augusta
    • Undated
    • 44 Augusta 1-6, 8-22, 1960, undated
    • 44 Augusta 23-45, 1960, undated
    • 44 Augusta 46-50, 1960, undated
  • Clark - 44 Clark 1-5, 11-12, 1966 - 1969, undated
  • Fairfax
    • (2 folders), undated
    • 44 Fairfax 1-18, 1963 - 1965, undated
    • 44 Fairfax 31-36, undated
    • 44 Fairfax 42-54, undated
  • Frederick - 44 Frederick 1-4, 1967 - 1969, undated
  • King George - 44 King George 1-5, 11-16, 1964, undated
  • Loudoun
    • 1963
    • 44 Loudoun 1-10, undated
    • 44 Loudoun 11-23, undated See also: Photos
  • Northumberland, undated
  • Page
    • Undated
    • 44 Page 1-4, 11-28, 1963 - 1964, undated
  • Prince William
    • Undated
    • 44 Prince William 1-18 [incomplete], 1965, undated

Box 3

Virginia (continued)

  • Rockingham
    • Undated
    • 44 Rockingham 1-12, 21-23, 1960, undated
  • Shenandoah
    • Undated
    • 44 Shenandoah 1-6, 11-16, 1963 - 1968, undated
  • Stafford
    • 44 Stafford 1-2, 1963, 1968, undated
    • Aquia Creek, undated
  • Warren - 44 Warren 1-11, 1967, undated
  • Waterford, 1971 - 1973, 1986
  • Westmoreland
    • Undated
    • 44 Westmoreland 1-14, 21-26, 1963 - 1969, undated

West Virginia

  • Beverley
    • Undated
    • 46 Beverley 7-8, undated
  • Grant, undated
  • Hampshire, undated
  • Hardy, undated
  • Jefferson County, undated
  • Mineral
    • Undated
    • 46 Mineral 1, 2, 4, undated
  • Morgan
    • 1971 - 1972, undated
    • 46 Morgan 1-3, undated
  • Pendleton, undated