News and Events
Calvert County
September 21, 2009
As the Chesapeake Semester students made their way north through Calvert County along the Western Shore they took the opportunity to explore the Calvert Marine Museum with exhibits capturing the natural and cultural history of Maryland. After ending the morning with lunch under the Drum Point Lighthouse, students proceeded to the Maryland Archaeology Conservation Lab in Patterson Park for a tour of the grounds that featured ongoing archaeology. Students finished the day with a tour of the facility with discussions on the preservation of artifacts from around the world.
Click to enlarge photos by Mike Hardesty '05.
Calvert Marine Museum of Solomon's Island, MD.
Chesapeake Semester students are developing a critical eye and an inquisitive mind.
Students look on at skate cases in different stages of development.
Museum curator of Maritime History Richard Dodds tours with the students through the Museum's historical exhibits. Here we take a moment to talk about Maryland's long history with the almighty oyster.
Students Laura Lazenby and Brittany Hulbert take a moment to get a closer look at the details of a fossilized natural history.
Students had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum's extensive marine animal collection.
Students spent some time playing with the museum's otters, Bubbles and Squirt.
Julia Krout '11 with Bubbles.
Benjy Duke '10 looks on at the Museum's working boat exhibit.
Benjy Duke '10 and Dr. John Seidel discuss what the real voyage that John Smith conducted in 1608 must have been like as Duke plays captain on the 28-foot reproduction shallop that was used to retrace John Smith's voyage in the summer of 2007.
Chesapeake Semester and a skeletal reproduction of a megalodon shark.
Students arrive at the Maryland Archaeology Conservation Lab (MAC Lab) for tours of the reconstructed native America village and ongoing archaeology by Deputy Director Ed Chaney.
MAC Lab Deputy Director Ed Chaney talks about the reproduced native America village on the site.
Students also visited a nearby archaeological dig of what is believed to be the site of slave quarters.
Liz Shandor '11, an anthropology major who attended this past summer's archaeology field school at Washington College, inquires about a feature on the western end of the dig.
The MAC Lab plays a crucial role in the restoration and preservation of artifacts. Here students stand with staff observing the preservation processes.
The MAC Lab also serves a storage facility for artifacts found in the area. Artifacts range in size and type with a steam boat propeller shaft seen in the background to Native American wall carvings seen on the bottom left.
Students discussed the importance of animal remains in archaeology. The MAC Lab is currently working on expanding its collection of animal remains to increase the capacity of its referencing database.
"Do you know how to make dead oysters talk?"