Existing comment:
The Archaeology:
Blockhouse Point Conservation Park gets its name from one of the blockhouses associated with the Muddy Branch camps. Because the site is one of the few undisturbed Civil War camps in the Washington area, it gives us a unique opportunity to use the tools of archaeology to learn more about life at a small outpost. Park archaeologists and volunteer associates have begun a program to search written records and conduct field work.
Written records have told us when and how the blockhouse and camp were built and when it was finally burned. Fieldwork started with a scientific survey and computer mapping of the site. Since archaeology is history from the ground up, the gridded squares of the excavation have uncovered artifact-bearing soils which reveal changes over time. Archive and field research will then give us the tools to interpret and display the story of the officers and soldiers at Blockhouse Point. |