Sara Rivers Cofield is the Curator of Federal Collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. She holds a B.A. in History from Murray State University in Kentucky, and a Master of Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland. Sara’s specialty within archaeology is the study of metal artifacts, especially those relating to horses and clothing She began looking at religious artifacts while adding categories to JPPM's Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland website.

Artifacts of Magic & Religion: Interpreting the material

culture of faith and the supernatural in Maryland

When there is evidence of religious faith and superstition in the archaeological record, it is a valuable opportunity to explore and interpret the beliefs of the people we study. Artifacts like saint medals and cross pendants were made as religious symbols, but sometimes ordinary objects like coins or horseshoes were used as lucky talismans or protective charms that offered similar comfort. Both kinds of artifacts will be consid-ered in this talk to explore not just where people lived and what they owned or ate, but also how they perceived the world around them.

April 4

Stephanie Sperling, M.A.A. has been working as an archaeologist in the Middle Atlantic for nearly 20 years. She has excavated sites ranging from ancient Native American camps to colonial planta-tions to 20th century beach resorts in a career that has spanned public, private, and non-profit sectors. For the last decade, Steph-anie has studied, monitored, and mitigated coastal and inland sites that are threatened by the effects of a changing climate and has tried to engage the public every step of the way. In 2018, she accepted a full-time position as the Assistant Archaeology Pro-gram Manager with Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission/Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation.

History Erased: The Detrimental Impacts of Climate

Change on Archaeological Sites Archaeologists throughout the Chesapeake are in a race against time to record sites that are threatened by the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels, eroding coasts, and intense storms have washed away countless resources, some dating back thou-sands of years. Sinking land and rampant development have exacerbated the problem. Throughout the region, professional archaeologists are working with concerned citizens to excavate sites and record data before our coastal history is lost forever. Stephanie Sperling will discuss work that she has undertaken to combat this problem over the last decade and share stories from other archaeological digs throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

Stephanie Sperling

May 23

Carleton Young has undergraduate degrees in economics and English from Westminster College and Point Park University, an MA in history from Ohio University, and his PhD in the history of education from the University of Pittsburgh. For 37 years he taught AP American history at Thomas Jefferson High School in Pittsburgh. He has also taught classes as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Allegheny County, the University of Pittsburgh, Eastern Gateway Community College, and in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Voices From the Attic: The Williamstown

Boys in the Civil War

Imagine clearing out your family attic and discovering an enormous collection of letters written by two soldiers during the Civil War, but not knowing why the letters were there.

Faced with that situation, Carleton Young spent more than a decade visiting battlefields and researching the two Vermont soldiers. In Voices From the Attic: The Williamstown Boys in the Civil War, he tells the story of two brothers who witnessed and made history by fighting in the Peninsula Campaign, then at South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Cedar Creek. They then preserved that history through their surprisingly detailed and insightful letters.

June 27

Carleton Young

The Patuxent Environmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory is located near the Patuxent River (part of Chesapeake Bay water-shed) in Saint Leonard, Maryland. Research conducted at the state-of-the art facility is designed to increase the understanding of coastal ecosystems so that they may be properly managed and protected. Much of the work is focused on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, such as the Patuxent River.

Current Research at the PEARL

Learn about the environmental and oyster research projects underway at Patuxent En-vironmental & Aquatic Research Laboratory (PEARL).

PEARL Staff Member

August 22

Author Barbara Glickman has been an avid and active member of the DC

gardening community for many years and is a member of the Acorn Garden

Club and Great Falls Gardeners. Her extensive travels have taken her to

gardens around the country and the world. She holds a Bachelors Degree in

English from Franklin and Marshall College, a Masters Degree in Public

Health from the University of Michigan, and an MBA in Marketing from

George Washington University. She has presented her book to numerous

garden clubs, rotary clubs, libraries, and other community organizations,

and has been a featured author twice at the Gaithersburg Book Festival. She

worked in health care administration for twenty years and has lived in the

Washington area for over thirty years.

A History of Maryland through its Gardens

The history and horticultural highlights of approximately 11 gardens and their homes and owners will be covered in some detail, and these are: Historic St. Mary’s City; His-toric London Town and Gardens; Sotterley Plantation; Mount Harmon Plantation; Hampton National Historic Site; William Paca House and Garden; Montpelier Mansion; Riversdale House Museum; Glenview Mansion; Evergreen Museum & Library; and Cyl-burn Arboretum. Other sites she will discuss briefly include: Annmarie Sculpture Gar-den & Arts Center; Baltimore Museum of Art Sculpture Garden; Wye Island Natural Resources Management Area; Cranesville Swamp; Brookside Gardens; Ladew Topiary Gardens, Antietam National Battlefield, and Monocacy National Battlefield.

Barbara Glickman

September 19

Dr. Bill Schindler is the director of the Eastern Shore Food Lab, an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at Washington College in Ches-tertown, Maryland and the co-star of the National Geographic series, The Great Human Race. As an experimental archaeologist, primitive technolo-gist, and chef his research and teaching, both in and outside of the college, revolve around a comprehensive understanding of prehistoric and tradition-al technologies especially as they relate to food acquisition, processing, stor-age, and consumption. He believes that the better understanding of prehis-toric life made possible through the archaeological record and a practical understanding of the technologies that created it can contextualize our place in the world and help provide answers to many of the issues facing us today. Bill is a strong advocate of traditional foodways and is constantly seeking new ways to incorporate lessons learned from his research into the diets of modern humans.

Augmented Reality: how we transformed a reality

show, The Great Human Race, into a unique teaching

and learning opportunity The National Geographic series, The Great Human Race, represents an innovative ap-proach to making television. By merging reality tv with the most up-to-date interpreta-tions of human evolution and technological innovation over the past 2.5 million years interpreted through an experimental archaeology approach we attempted to create something different and significant. This presentation will highlight the goals, obstacles and triumphs we faced in our struggle to accurately depict our shared ancestral past while simultaneously grappling to preserve the entertainment value necessary to catch and keep viewers. The result was the formation of a unique teaching and learning opportunity that reached millions of people in 171 countries. and insightful letters.

Bill Schindler

October 10