Field Notes

The 2026 field season has opened with beautiful weather and a fascinating feature. For the past year, the field team has been examining a large circular pit near the mouth (or 'gorge') of St. Mary's Fort's west bastion. The pit was first identified via ground-penetrating radar during the 2018 geophysical survey that located the fort. The current campaign is focused on excavating the pit's western half to clear the way for the reconstruction of the fort's firing platform. Work

This summer marked an important and exciting moment for this project: portions of St. Mary's Fort are now visible above ground for the first time in nearly 400 years. Specifically, approximately 300 feet of the palisade wall that formed the fort's western bastion and part of its northwest and southwest walls have been reconstructed in their original location. Visitors to the site will now see the fort's southwest corner and how it anchored the fort onto the landscape. Having

Students and staff pointing to the western wall palisade trench. The linear features running perpendicular to the palisade are plow scars. Summer has fully arrived in southern Maryland, with a healthy dose of heat and humidity. Our 2025 Field School in Historical Archaeology has concluded and our seventeen students have returned to their home institutions a bit dirtier and with callouses on their hands. Their hard work paid off as we have expanded our excavated area around th

Archaeologists excavating the St. Mary's Fort site Welcome to Field Notes, the St. Mary’s Fort Project blog! Since the discovery of St. Mary’s Fort in 2018, Historic St. Mary’s City archaeologists have been exploring this incredible archaeological site and learning more about early Maryland history. Stay tuned to this page for updates from the field and laboratories, including recent discoveries, new insights, and plans for exciting developments at the St. Mary’s Fort site.