Baum Site facts for kids

The Baum Site (31Ck9) is a very important archaeological spot in North Carolina. It shows us a lot about the Middle and Late Woodland Period people. This site is located near Poplar Branch in Currituck County, North Carolina.

The people who lived here were part of the Algonkian cultures. They lived during the Late Woodland period, around the time English explorers first arrived. This was between 1584 and 1587. The English settlers then started permanent villages around 1650. The Baum Site was likely a village that early English explorers saw when they came to the coast.

Archaeologists found places where many people were buried together. They also found signs of a coastal village. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1982. This happened after archaeologists like David Sutton Phelps from East Carolina University studied the area in 1972 and 1973. Sadly, the site is now being damaged by waves from the water.

Where is the Baum Site?

The Baum Site covers about 5 acres of land. It is made of a type of soil called Norfolk loamy fine sand. You can find it north of Poplar Branch, a small town in North Carolina. The site is surrounded by Currituck Sound, a canal, and a farm pond. The land at the Baum Site is not flat. It has two small hills or ridges. One of these ridges runs along the coast.

What Did Archaeologists Find?

Archaeologists from East Carolina University started studying the Baum Site in the 1950s. This happened after people reported finding bones along the beach. In these early digs, they focused on understanding the layers of soil and what they meant.

Milford Baum, who owned the land, allowed the research to happen. The site was named after him. The findings showed strong evidence that Algonkian and Woodland people once lived there.

One important discovery was a large burial site called Burial 1. It contained the remains of 58 people. Some of these remains were still connected, showing how they were buried. Another burial, Feature 1, was found first. But it only had traces of a pit, so it wasn't fully dug up. Many remains were very well preserved. This was because of oyster shells in the soil. The shells helped stop the bones from decaying. This amazing preservation helped Phelps and his team learn about the age of the site. They also learned about the culture and how people lived.

In 1980, more remains were found because of erosion. This led to another study. This new burial, called Burial 5, held about 30 individuals. One person was found in an upper pit. These discoveries confirmed that Native Americans lived here during the Colington Phase.

For many years, the Baum Site has been known as a very important shell midden site. A shell midden is a pile of shells left by people who ate shellfish. The site has been studied many times. In 2005, archaeologists found more remains uncovered by erosion.

In 2006, another group, Coastal Carolina Research, Inc., investigated the site. This was because a new housing area was planned. They found that the planned development was on the edge of the old village. The area was then carefully studied and recorded before building began.

Challenges for the Site

The Baum Site faces big problems from erosion. Rising sea levels and storms keep damaging coastal sites like this one. Archaeologists also have challenges with time and money. For example, Burial 1 was found in 1973. But it couldn't be fully dug up until 1974. This was because they needed enough resources to do the work properly.

External Links

• Archaeological Salvage of an Ossuary at the Baum Site by David Sutton Phelps
• Southeastern Prehistory Woodland Period
• North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office
• The Carolina Algonkians
• Picture of Milford Baum with Anthropologists at Indian Burial Site
• Rethinking Taxonomies: Skeletal Variation on the North Carolina Coastal Plain
• Southeastern Prehistory - Woodland Period
• The Archaeology of North Carolina: Three Archaeological Symposia
• Picture of Native American Burial at Baum Site