Erosion is a leading cause of degradation to ecosystems. It combines natural forces like wind and water with human forces like tillage and everyday use of the land. One site—a former plantation called Sellman’s Connection at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center—provides a case study of the profound effects of daily land use by the Sellman and Kirkpatrick-Howat families. In this talk, volunteer scientist Sarah Grady of the Smithsonian Environmental Archaeology Lab will highlight the unintentional ways these families altered the land over the short and long term, and outline a new method to document their impacts by analyzing artifacts and sediment. Free and open to all!

"Archaeological Secrets of Maryland" lectures will take place every second Tuesday of the month at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, now through December. Thanks to the Anne Arundel Chapter of the Archeological Society of Maryland for cosponsoring the series!