Approved F 2300540002-6 METRO Ic From Md. Coffins, a Crypt* Tale HOW TO MOVE ANCIENT LEAD COFFINS ead-covered wood coffins were discovered within the ruins of colonial Amerka'sfirst English Catholic church at St. Mary's City. Datingfrom thi L 16M, they are believed to contain the remains ofMaryland's fou#dixgf4mi1$ ney are not only fragile, but very heavy---the largest is estimated to weigh 1500 to 2,00OPounds. An elaborate system has been designed to move them SON The grave is excavated, leaving a raised four-inch shelf of earth beneath each coffin, Gamma-ray technology is used to get some idea of what is inside. A small hole is drilled and air El samples are taken. A sophis- ticated system analyzes the air to see if it is pre-1850. An Inert gas is then introduced to keep out oxygen that would produce decay. filn turn, a metal frame Is placed @ next to each coffin. A metal plate is pushed under the casket by hydraulic jacks with 30 ions of pressure. Four inches of earth is kept between the casket and the heavy steel plate for safety. A chain hoist lifts plate and all to Ma cart, Coffins then will be moved to @ lab And opened, and their contents studied. A larger hole is drilled, and a fiber-optic scope with a flexible shaft is inserted to check for cracks and fissures. The instrument has a built-in TV camera and is similar to that used by doctors to see inside the human body. Approved IFor Release 2001/03/07 : By Eugene L. Meyer W83hington Post Staff Writer ST. MARYS CITY, Md., Oct. 26-Such a fuss they've made Over some stale air. 0Whether three 17th-century lead coffins un. c vered here contain pre-Industrial Revolution air has been the subject of intense speculation and media coverage encouraged by officials at this 850-acre archaeological site, Maryland's first colonial capital, Finally today, after months of preparations and a Weekend of scientific analysis of stale cof- fin air at NASAs Langley Research Center in Hampton, the scientists faced a roomful of re- porters and Cameras to announce their conclu- sion. They don't know. They may never know, "It's extremely complex," said Wesley R. Cofer 111, a NASA atmospheric scientist. Tests to determine the presence of freon, which would date the air from, say, 1940 on, were inconclu- sive. Other test results showing levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide higher than normal could be attributed to decomposition of the corpse, he said. Only time and more study may tell. The chemical composition of old air would help provide insight on how the Earth's atmos- phere has been altered since the start of the Industrial Revolution. "There's no hurry," he said. 'These samples sat for 300 years. They can sit another 30 days. Said Joel Levine, his boss, "You've got to remember, less than 72 hours ago, we didn't have the air. To expect results at this point is really unrealistic, We said the chances of suc- cess were one in one million to one in one thousand." And, said Henry Miller, director of what officials are calling "Project Lead Coffins. The Search for Maryland's Founders," there's more than hot air here. The question of who was buried in the extravagant coffins is still pending. Official speculation about the largest coffin's inhabitant centers on Philip Calvert, half broth- er to Maryland's first governor and the young- est son of the first Lord Baltimore. Calvert was wealthy enough to afford a lead coffin. Miller said he is excited by the discovery of brass tacks in the largest coffin. They may be arranged in the shape of initials, he said. The coffins were found in the foundation. of the Great Brick Chapel, one of the oldest Ro 0 0 2 3 0 0 940SMS5, COL 3 Approved F lease 2001/03107 : C -I,A-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 HINGTON POST DIESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1992 17th-Century Coffins Yield Stale Air, Little More.'.., COFFINS, From B1 man Catholic churches in the country. But ar- chaeologists have not found any marks that would indicate the identity of the occupants. The coffins are scheduled to be opened the second week of November. To help identify the remains, Project Lead Coffins has enlisted Clyde Snow, a forensic an. thropologist who identified the body of Nazi Joseph Mengele. Today's non-announcement on the coffin's air quality followed days of high drama as sci- entists used sophisticated devices to take shad- owy pictures of the coffins' insides and to ex- tract liters of air from the largest,4he only one they concluded might actually be airtight. But today, they weren't even sure of -that, Cofer said he detected in the testing results !a few ripples, one of which may be freon." If that is so, this tale from the crypt would be over. But that was all right with Levine, NASA's chief atmospheric scientist. He said the media coverage had focused public attention on prob- lems of global warming and the ozone layer. The stafe air caper has even inspired a "Sat urday Night Live" spoof. "There's a certain 7here's no hurry. Yhese samples sat for 300yearS* They can sit another 30 @1 days. Wesley R. Cofer drama to this whole process," said Brian Myer, a producer for ABC's "Nightline," which is film- ing at the site. "Each day is a mystery." To extract the air, the scientists used a de-'11'-_ vice developed by Mark Moore, of the Armed.--- Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. A cus--'@ torn-made hollow needle was screwed into the- racted and argon, an inert; lead. The air was ext int gas, was pumped o the coffin to preserve the,@: remains. The archaeological project, underway for*_',,. two years now, has greatly increased attend-,.'--. ance. at the site of the colonial city, which be-, came a ghost town after the capital was moved ,, in 1695 to Annapolis. While no original build-,-, ings remain, Miller said, foundations, artifacts,.-,; coffins, and, just perhaps, 17th-century air,.. were "fossilized" beneath the Southern Mary@_.,. land soil. "We shouldn't be discouraged," Levine said.-7 "Eventually, someone will find a sample of pre.-@-- 118501 air. We have written another importanr' chapter in that search." Approved For Release 2001103107 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 Arenaeologists uacover lead corims in 61, marys Ulty, Md., in late 11190. Tests have been done to determine whether the Coffins held unpolluted 17th-century, air. I )02300540002-6 Tuesday, November 17, 1992 ST r@e Z@adl By Kenneth Ci Rossignoi ST. MARYS TODAY ST-MARYSCITY. Asthcassci-abfj group of scientists and medical examiners from around theUnited Statesexamined the remains Of the three occupants of the now famous Lead Coffins, one member of the Historic St. Mary's City Commission staff toldST. MARYSTODAYthat therewere no personal belongings, no jewelry or crucifixes or other items that the pathologiSts use to enhance their knowledge of modern day bodies that they examine. "Maybe people are less sure today of resurrection," said a researcher referring to modern customs of taking a little something with them into the grave. "People back then led very simple lives, they didn't have a lot and would have left their belongings behind for others". In anyevent, theoccupantsof the first two coffins were found to have not been buried with any keepsa. 'kes. Some particles of ribbon and lace were f-,:md arm-d Ow wrists of the woman and some fabric was found inside. , The one year old baby was buried with a shroud and some small brass pins had been, at the time of burial, holding the shroud in place. In the colonial days most people were buried without clothing, they took seriously theashes toashes proverb and weregoingout without the extensive clothing ensembles that are popular in today's caskets. The expert medical examiners, who' included some of the same people who work on the Armed Forces most severe and tragic aircraft crashes and took part in the Gulf War two years ago, were among'those who looked the bonesover forclues as to the lives the people led in the late 1600's. . The bodies would have had to had been interred in the floor of the church between 1666 and 1765--the time period which the St. Mary's Chapel was used as church before the British Crown Governor ordered it closed for worship as part of the religious persecution of Catholics in Mary- land. An Army born'six."art is loaded with the lead coffin containing a person that researchers had hoped would turn odt to be Philip Calvert. Below, an anxious crowd of spectators and television camera operators a-wait the hoist of the coffin. Right Paul Sledzik points to tv monitor as he discusses the autopsy of the woman in the second coffin with Joe Anderson. Below, the skull and the bones of the woman are being cleaned, and Mark Moore, below gives the final OK to bring up the last coffin. ST. MARYS TODAY phatog ApproVed For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 0! call back yesterday, bid time return. William Shakespeare, Richard 1I In the aftemiath oj six ftermied weeks at Historic St. Mary's City, some work has been concluded, but for others the work Ims just begun. THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. Long before there were Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards or Mid- shipmen walking the streets of Annapolis, there was a hardscrabble village on the shores of South- ern Maryland. St. Mary's City, the 17th-century colonial capital of Maryland, rose up amid strife on the site of a former Indian village. Although much of the colonial city still lies buried beneath the sod, the past is beginning to come to life. In the fall of 1990, three lead coffins were found buried within the excavated foundation of a 17th- century brick chapel--called the Great Brick Chapel by archaeologists-the oldest Roman Catholic Church of English origin in America. Dr. Henry Miller, Director of Research at Historic St. Mary's City in St. Mary's County, recalls the day his team of archaeologists unearthed the lead coffins. "The sky turned black, and a cold wind blew up out of nowhere," he said. "It was eerie." The discovery was one of historical signifi cance. Lead coffins signified wealth and social stature. Miller and fellow archaeologists Tim Riordan and Silas Hurry speculated that the un usual biers, completely encased in lead, might contain the well-preserved remains of 17th-cen tury colonists-perhaps those of the founding Calvert family. Their excitement stemmed from an 18th-century account of two lead coffins dis covered iii St. Nhirv's Citv by some adventurous -'2" scie])Ck2 silicicills- ffillS dIZIL beloilgCd tO th, first royal governor of Maryland, Lionel Copley, whose remains were buried in a brick vault at Trinity Episcopal Church. In 1799, the students found the cadaver of Copley's wife to be in an exceptionally well-preserved state. The account stated that when they opened Lady Copley's cof- fin-some 100 years after her burial-they found that her hair, clothing and even facial features were totally preserved. Their revelation exacted a high price; within five hours of being exposed to air, she turned to dust. Now, historians and. ar- chaeologists at St. Mary's City could scarcely contain their excitement. Could there be such preservation in the coffins at Chapel Fields? And who was buried in the lead coffins? The chapel was built in 1665 and torn down in 1704. Whoever Nvas buried in the crypt at Chapel Fields, had to have died within that time span. Thus, the most likely candidate was Philip Calvert, a pivotal figure in Maryland's colonial history who died sometime after December 22, 1682. Historical archaelogists at St. Mary's always knew they had one of the most pristine archaeo- logical sites in colonial America. Jamestown, site of the 1607 colony, had long since half-eroded into theJames River. Plymouth and Boston, which followed Virginia on the colonial frontier, were buried under tons of urban concrete and asphalt. St. Mary's City, however, was positioned on a high bluff overlooking a tributary of the Potomac River. In the late 1970's, land acquisition battles for the historic park were fought and, finally, over 800 acres of the townlands were procured for preservation. Archaeological research progressed as innu- merable four by four foot excavated test pits revealed where roads once led along the ancient town; where fence palings were; where structures stood; where 17th-century colonists discarded their waste. Such research gave historians much information about what early Marylanders ate, how they lived, and how the site evolved over time. As more money became available to Con- duct research, Chapel Fields became an archaeoloiical summer sohool where St. M.11-v's Coll(26, ofN1,11whilld suldents tooli aII ci,ffit- t,C cre@it summer course. Maps carefully penned under the hot summer sun provided historians with I looli back into time. The three lead coffins first appeared as a dark stained anomaly beneath the topsoil. Archae- ologists could tell that the soil had been disturbed, but it wasn't until ground-penetrating radar was used during the summer of 1990 that they discov- ered the presence of sometbingsubstantiaL When the summer school was finished and archaeolo- gists were concluding their work for the fall, they decided to determine once and for all what lay beneath the left branch of the cross. When the lead coffins were unearthed, news media from Washington and Baltimore were T1 0 C t1ing Bwk Yes a ter&ty COLONIAL BURIALS IN ST. MARTS CITY By JOSEPH NORRIS PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARKUS WHITE U.S. NAvy P110To LAB 42 mARAWqXgg FpgrGliglease 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 SUninioned to the scene. Historic St. Mary's City, which for years had struggled to gain notoriety as the site of the state's 17th-century capital, sud- denly found itself thrust into the national limelight. Ted Koppel of ABC's Nightline, a St. Mary's County resident, donated $80,000 to the project in exchange for exclusive rights to the story. St. Mary's City suddenly had something substantial to show for 25 years of laborious research. Miller, to his credit, spent the next two years bringing together the most notable and advanced team of specialists he could find. Meanwhile, the coffins were rebtiried. The six-Nveek pr(@jcct to Ull-,:;11111 @111d 01M] t11C ('011111S W:IS SChCdL11CC1 tO take place in October of 1992. In April of 1992, Miller and Riordan examined I the Cople-, crypt at Trinity Episcopal Chiirch in St. Mary's City. "The Lionel Copley crypt was a very important part of the archaeology, because it helped us to think of the right questions to ask about the other three lead coffins," Silas Hurry noted later. "We knew that such coffins existed in 17th-century England, but this was a rough and ready frontier." If the three lead coffins found at St. Mary's City had been discovered 10 years ago, much of the technology used to decipher their contents would not have been available. In the 1990's, however, historical archaeologists were able to utilize a variety of sciences to their utmost advantage. In fact, some technology was created specifically for the project. For example, Mark Moore, head of the tactical team at Historic St. Mary's City, works for the Armed Forces Radio-Biology Insti- tute. lie suggested to Miller that they use a new process called Gamma Ray Imaging to take pho- tographs through the lead coffins to determine what was inside. Along with engineers from the Naval Warfare CenterAlreraft Division and the Naval Electronics System EngineeringActivity, Moore de- signed a device to extract air samples for NASA and to introduce an inertgas calledtVgon into the coffins to help with preservation. "This was an experiment of opportunity," NASA's Joel Levine pointed out. "Right now, one of the key questions that we're interested in is our global environment. What was theearth's atmo- sphere like prior to worldwide industrialization? At this point, we can only speculate because we only began makingmeasurements of the composition and chernistry of the earth's atmosphere in 1958." The Gamma Ray Imaging promised to yield much information. The smallest coffin appeared to contain the reinterred remains of an adult, 1'11C]i11@,Speeiil,,itioii diat Leomird Cdvert, the first governor of Maryland, might be buried there. The middle coffin showed a skull turned to its side th' but the photo taken of the largest coffin had e whole camp buzzing. To those hopeful of com- plete preservation, there appeared to be a human face, revealing eyes, a nose, a mouth, chin and neck. Fibreoptic cameras were inserted into the coffins and the rummaging lenses revealed in- credible preservation of the wood in the largest coffin. The first disappointment came when NASA scientists tried to analyze the roughly two liters of air they had successfully extracted from the lead coffins. Because of decompostion that had taken place inside the coffin from which the best sample was obtained, scientists thought it might be months before they could complete their analysis. The atmosphere surrounding the actual extrac- tion of the coffins from their resting place of 300 years was tense with excitement, but when the coffins were at last opened, there was disappoint- ment that the preservation was not as good as had been hoped. The smallest coffin -was found to contain the diminutive skeleton of a six month old female child. "The child was a complete surprise," Silas Hurry commented. "In the 17th-century, it was Toi@ LEFT: Mark Moore, who worksfor the Radiations Source Department of the @1,n,d Forces Radio- Biology Institute, is head of the tactical team at Historic St. Mary's City. Moore helped to design a device to extract air from the coffins. Here he is preparing to introduce Argon into one of the coffins to assist in the preservation of the rmains. Ai@ow: Lqft to right, Joe Matthews of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Mark Moore, and Andy Amber of the Naval Electronic Syst- Engineering Activity at St. Inigoes, remove a coffin to the laborato?y tent where it will be oprw!d. Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789,5,9 si RIA9AMMM/M 43 cp Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 Let's talk of graves, of worm, and epitaphs... TOP: The remains of pn iqfantfemale surpri.@Ied archaeologist.,;. In the 17th century, children under the age of six were rarely given such elaborate burial. "The fact thia dicy intermd the child in a lead- sheathed coffin," said archaeologist Silas Hurry, '@speaks volumes about how importaTit she wus to somehodv. Bowo.xi: An initial gammagraphfrom the lar,oest cofln suo f @csted the ghostly image of a human face and lead to hopeM speculation that preservation of the remains in this coffin might be complete. Williant Shakespeare, Richard II extremely rare to have such effort put into a child's burial. In fact, it was not unusual to give several children the same name in the hope that one of them would live to adulthood. The fact that this child was interred in a lead-sheathed coffin says volumes about how important the child was to somebody." The second coffin revealed the incredibly well- preserved remains of a middle-aged woman who some theorize to be the first wife of Philip Calvert, Ann Wolsey. The woman's hands, knees and feet were tied together with ribbons, apparently of silli, mid a bow \N%ls still visible wilell the fid %\-@Is lifted. The woman's hair, still intact, was brow,, with sonic gray in it. "What is really unusual is that all over the body are sprigs of a herbaCCOLIS plant Of Sonic tvl)e which has been tentatively identified as Rose- mary," Miller said. "Perhaps it was important in burial rites. There is some information that the 17th-century English associated Rosemary with remembrance." "The woman had been in poor health for some time," he said. The femur of right leg, he explained, was broken and had been set poorly. The point of breakage had been infected and, he speculated, it nilght eventually have been the cause of death. "The lower end of the femur was twisted out- ward, which would have caused the woman to walk with a limp," Dr. Richard Froede, Chief Medical Examiner of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, added. "flow did it happen? It could have been a fall-a fall from a horse, for example, or a fall in the home." Of special interest were blood clots located at the of tlie woman's brai'l. @J might have been the cause of herdeath. -'We careftaly removed the blood and, under a microscope, we could see red blood cells that were over 300 years old," Froede said. "To me, this is phenomenal." "Thebloodean be rehydrated,"MiHerexpWned. "We can look at the woman's blood type and we can look at the diseases she was suffering from, since this is where the antibodies that the body produces to fight off disease reside. For example, historians have suggested that a major disease of the Chesapeake regionwas malaria. If this woman lived in Maryland for many years, which is likely, shewould have been infected, and we will be able to look at the blood sample and identify malaria. There is a lot of information here." The largest coffin, which had held the greatest promise for archaelogists, proved a disappointment. "Because of the gammagrams, we had some expectation of finding good preservation," Miller said, "but what we found was a body in a very poor state of preservation. Much of the bone had been replaced by a white ash-like material that we're still trying to identify. It has completely replaced the bones and tissue of the upper body. The forensic scientists say they've never seen any- thing quite like it. It may be associated embalming." "So what do we know about this individual?" he continued. "It was an adult male, approximately five foot three in height and, based upon evidence of arthritis and wear on some of the joints, prob- ably an older gentleman. There were remnants of ribbons around the neck, at the sides and around the \viist, possiblv part of a garment There is also evidence of leather. It's very Luiusual to find someone buried in clothing from that time period, and it is certainly unlike the burial of the wonian and child who were wrapped in shrouds." One of the clues, presently being explored by entomologists, is the absence of fly casings or larvae in the large coffin. This suggests burial in the cold time of the year-and that clue fits very nicely with speculation that the man is Philip Calvert who is known to have died in the winter months. "There are many small clues that we're going to need to assemble and work out," Miller said. In the aftermath of six frenzied weeks at His- toric St. Mary's City, some work has been concluded, butforothers the work hasjust begun. After being treated and stablized, the human remains were transported to the Smithsonian. "Some samples from all of the burials were not treated so that we could have them for futur" chemical tests," Hurry explained. "We must be extremely careful not to lose information." His- torians and preservationists are recording information about the construction of the wood and lead portions of the cowns; Erce-ring dating specialists are studying the wood itself. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is going to do DNA analysis on the physical remains, and if they Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 44 MARYLAND MAGAZINE SPRING 1993 Approved The project Ims For Releaseq2OgAVOW,07A;41ARPPT9~rPP7A%13W;;AWQQA-§CE Lu 0 0 LA > z z 0 drawn z U NOT attention to tize fact :3 ii t1tat Historic St. Mary's City is a spectacular archaeological site. can extract DNA from the child, they may be able to look at genctic relationshi ps bet ween thechildand twoadults. Addition- aIIN, the ramifications of Project Lead Coffins for forensic science are Nvide-ranging. Mark Moore was not disappointed. "Those coffins could not have been treated better' if they were made out of cry tal," he said. "We wanted to give the .8 forensic scientists the best chance to finclandasscinble information, and I am pleased with the results." @@,nd what has Project Lead Coffins done for I listoric St. Mary's City? The fallout is alreadv evident. Tourism to the site in 1992 %VaS LIJ) substantially. "The project hits drawn attention to the fact that this is a spectacular qr h@iC()I(Wi(--:11 \Iill(21- SNid. ICNCI coffins are oniv One ot'Lhe rich historical resources still to be discovered here. St. Mary's City isa uniqueand irreplaceable 1),111 Of Our historv." Silas I lurry Nvas emphatic in hisagree- luent. "The origins ofMarvIandarc buried hereat St. Marv's City but only by careful historical and archaeological research are we going to be able to bring this history to life. We want to commerno- rate and tell that storv." "The 17th century was, in many ways, an alien time," he continued, "but the 17th century set many things in mo- tion-helping to create an American personality and way of life that is really different from that of the English or any other European group." "It's been very exciting," Miller said finally, "and very draining. The people who volunteered their time, resources and energy have been remarkable. From the project's inception we have tried to make sure that everything was done in a proper and respectful manner. It will be fitting to be able to remark these graves and to say who these individuals are."-.*- < LU 0 U U z UJ a z a. 0 V) c1d 0 LU U. z 0 z W :2 z z 0 U HAVE T1-1E BEST? NIGHTWOOD HAS IT ALL. A place where people over 60, from all walks of life, enjoy an elegant, distinctive lifestyle. Brightwood is Baltimore's finest retirement community offering an unequalled combination of security, value, peace of mind and true freedom of choice. It is truly retirement living at its very best. Which makes Brightwood the one community you must see before making any decision. BRICTHTWOO. D_ Retireinent Living At Its Very Best. Call or write for more inforination and a copy of our video presentation. 1 oo BRIGHTWOOD CLUB DRIVE - LUTHERVILLE, N IARYLAND 21093 410-321-9501 UNEQUALLED SERVjcE FINE CUISINE OWNERSHIP CHOICE CRA Qum There is only one World. For info, call (410) 742-4988 - Instant TOURISM Infortnalion Mar,land 900-VISITOR- has instant information on daily events throughout all the regions of Maryland. Choose a category, call 1-9MVISITOR- on your touch-tone phone, and follow easy inStructions. Number available after 3/31/93. 1-900-VISITOR- 1-9WB47-407 S 2.00 M minutc. CALL NOW. U HOURS A DAY. r) M M 0 0 0 0 r) M > z Cn U) 10 C: > > 0 z rn 0 C Ln Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO2300540002-6 SPRING 1993 MARYLAND MAGAZINE 45