Like any urban area, Baltimore is filled with archaeological sites that reveal a side of the past not generally detailed in textbooks and traditional histories. Archaeologists are good at digging, literally and figuratively, into the daily lives of Baltimoreans, answering questions about diet, consumer choices, social and economic aspirations, gender roles, and working and living conditions. Join archaeologist and Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab director Patricia Samford as she talks about what she learned about Baltimore’s buried past while writing the book Below Baltimore: An Archaeology of Charm City.
About the presenter: Patricia M. Samford is the Director of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, a position she has held for 16 years. Prior to coming to Maryland, she worked as an archaeologist at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and as a regional manager for North Carolina Historic Sites. She attended undergraduate college at William and Mary and has a Ph. D in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
She has written and co-authored several books, including Subfloor Pits and the Archaeology of Slavery in Colonial Virginia (2007), Artifacts that Enlighten: The Ordinary and the Unexpected (2020), and Beneath Baltimore: An Archaeology of Charm City (2023). Her research interests include English ceramics, public archaeology, and the archaeology of colonial and nineteenth-century North America with an emphasis in African-American archaeology.
This meeting of the NHSM Archaeology Club will take place on Zoom. To receive the Zoom link and passcode via email, register for the program. Registration is free and open to the public, but non-members are asked to donate if they can. Please contact the club coordinator (mfalk@marylandnature.org) with any questions.
Natural History Society of Maryland’s Archaeology Club promotes the value of archaeology in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and surrounding areas. The goal of the Archaeology Club is to educate citizenry in the ethics, methods, and artifact preservation methods of archaeology and how archaeology can be used to document, discover, and promote local history. The Archaeology Club is inclusive to all persons who have an interest in archaeology.
If you are an archaeology enthusiast, please consider joining us. You must be a member of NHSM to join any of its clubs. Follow this link to learn more: https://www.marylandnature.org/club-membership/
The Natural History Society of Maryland is a volunteer-led non-profit organization, so your payment will go directly to support the programs, the nature collections, and the building that make this kind of nature education possible.
Location
Online via Zoom