November 2007 :

The Frederick Coalition for Archeology promoted a draft archeological review ordinance to the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners for consideration of staff review on November 1st. and it will be brought back for discussion in February 2008.

The proposed ordinance closely follows the Frederick City ordinance adopted in 2005 and successfully implemented since that time.

Link to the City of Frederick Ordinance Here

Letter to the Editor in response to Frederick News Post article posted below, by Jack Lynch

Archaeological sites on private county land not protected
Originally published October 17, 2007

An Oct. 15 News-Post article titled "Uncovering earthly treasures" has misrepresented whether archeological review is required in Frederick County. It states in error that "Before any building takes place, developers are required to have the land surveyed to make sure artifacts will not be disturbed."

This is absolutely untrue!

In fact, on private property in the county, development can remove any archeological site not under a separate protective easement, regardless of its value.

Dr. Goodwin was only referring to sites of highway construction, because when federal dollars are used in a highway project, that requires an archeological review. Yet even then, once a site has been identified and tested, it receives no preservation beyond the SHA's requirements.

A local coalition of archeological interests has submitted a proposal to have an archeological review conducted on sites prior to county subdivision.

It is currently in the hands of county staff and the Frederick County Commissioners for consideration.

A similar ordinance has been used in Frederick City for about two years with much success.

Frederick News Post Article 10/15/2007

Uncovering earthly treasures: Land surveyed before development sometimes reveals arrowheads, other artifacts
Originally published October 15, 2007


By Pamela Rigaux
News-Post Staff

URBANA -- American Indian arrowheads, spearheads, ax heads and celts (similar to ax heads, but without grooves) -- developers take these artifacts seriously.

They have to.

"Developers know a prehistoric Indian ground could be a show stopper," said archaeologist R. Christopher Goodwin. "They do due diligence before they buy the property."

Before any building takes place, developers are required to have the land surveyed to make sure artifacts will not be disturbed.

Goodwin's company, Goodwin & Associates Inc. based in the Glass Factory on East Fourth Street, surveyed Md. 80 area years ago, long before recent developments were built around Urbana.

"All rocks are old, but not every old rock is an artifact," he said. "An artifact is a shaped rock or the by-product of a stone tool."

In Frederick County, pottery has been found all around the Monocacy River, according to inventories at the Maryland Historic Trust's website and related links. Colonial artifacts include hand-glazed pottery, clay pipes and buttons made of brass, bone, pearl and pewter.

Civil War era items have been found -- from hat badges to rifles with bayonets and officer's swords. Bullets and mini balls (round lead balls fired from muskets) still show up occasionally.

"Archeological work is destructive," Goodwin said. "It involves a lot of digging."

To minimize the impact, he researches an area's history to predict what kind of archeological review might be needed. One way to do this is by looking for maps.

"There are lots of maps," Goodwin said. He finds Union and Confederate maps in official compilations of Civil War records. The National Archives is another source.

Goodwin interprets the maps, and precision is part of his job, he said. For instance, he might want to know exactly how far an army advanced in a given area. He also looks at how post-war activities might impact the ground, as well as more recent phenomena such as agricultural activities, soil erosion and natural disasters.

After a site's history is thoroughly mapped, field work begins, using tools such as shovels, radar and metal detectors.

As part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, aimed at preserving cultural artifacts, Goodwin has to make sure all cultural resources below and above ground and near the sea are taken into account, he said.

The Maryland State Highway Administration review program is one of the best in the nation, he said.

"Every realignment of our highway is an undertaking."

He often works with Julie Schablitsky, a cultural resources team leader at SHA.

Schablitsky reiterated that the process is thorough.

"Historic bridges. Civil War battles. You name it," she said. "Once a site is narrowed down, then we bring archaeologists, historians back in."

SHA has 12 historical researchers working for them.

"We spend millions of dollars of year in cultural resources," Schablitsky said.

Their goals are clear.

"We need to avoid archaeological sites or minimize effects."