Digging into the War of 1812 at Bladensburg, MD

This summer I am excavating two 18th-20th century archaeological sites in Bladensburg, Maryland.  Bladensburg played a pivotal role in the War of 1812 and, as part of the upcoming bicentennial celebration, the Maryland State Highway Administration is studying the historic buildings, archaeological sites, history of transportation, and the Bladensburg battlefield located along our highway right of way.

Right now we are in the middle of an archaeological excavation at the Magruder House.  This home allegedly served as a hospital after the Battle of Bladensburg so we are trying to find evidence of American and British troops such as munitions, uniform accouterments and buttons.

Like the excavations I worked on for Time Team America last summer, our team here at Bladensburg has a limited time to investigate the site. We are half-way through our two week excavation and have only one week of digging left to confirm that the house played a role in the battle.  The good news is that we have found a late 18th century British Coin. It is not the smoking gun we were looking for, but it's a start!

Next month we begin a dig at the Market Master's House.  This is the home that sat on the edge of the town's market square where enslaved people of African descent were bought and sold.  Here we will gather archaeological information that will enable us to reconstruct the lives of the people who lived in this house since the 1760s.

As part of our public outreach efforts for the project, the field staff is publishing a Bladensburg blog. You can visit the web site to read more about the excavation and see what we find new each day.

Dr. Julie Schablitsky is a lead archaeologists for Time Team America. As an archaeologist with the University of Oregon and Maryland State Highway Administration, Dr. Schablitsky  conducts research and publishes on historic-period archaeology sites in both the United States and the UK.