Slavery archaeology update A different diversity

Under blue tents in Cockeysville, archaeologists scrub shards of pottery with toothbrushes. Nearby, small flags jut from the grass and a hole reveals a stone foundation and steps.

It might seem an unlikely place for an archaeological project, just a short distance from Interstate 83 and a light rail stop. But it's where a team of archaeologists working with the Maryland State Highway Administration is unearthing the remnants of a small plantation where slaves, free blacks and European immigrants once labored side by side, an arrangement historians say was more common in Maryland than in other slave states.

The archaeologists are seeking to uncover how the diverse group lived and interacted on the plantation, a 20-acre site once known as the Marble Valley Farm.