A soapstone quarry with Indigenous roots is set to become an archaeological park.
By Kim O?Connell
Examples of previously excavated soapstone. Montgomery Parks says future archaeological excavations are likely. Courtesy Montgomery Parks.
Four thousand years ago, if you were working with a stone mallet, it would be steady but relatively quick work to carve a soapstone boulder into a medium-sized bowl. With stone chipping off with every strike, you could start the project in the morning, work into the afternoon, and be boiling water in the bowl by nightfall. Soapstone was ideal that way?easy enough to carve but dense enough to hold heat.
In late 2023, Montgomery Parks, a department of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, acquired a longtime equestrian facility tucked into the watershed of the Patuxent River, a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. According to county park staff, archaeologists had long known that the site was the location of a soapstone quarry used by Indigenous people between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago. The department has now begun a planning process to turn the 33-acre property into a park that will interpret this history. The park?s conceptual plan includes places for demonstration, reflection, and reforestation. Courtesy Montgomery Parks.
Also known as steatite, soapstone is a metamorphic rock that is solid but relatively soft, making it a popular material for carving into cooking vessels, tools, pipes, and other objects. The Ednor ...