Oregon Archaeology Month began with a great talk about a surprising historial treasure unearthed by highway workers in Maryland -- the 19th Century home site of a former slave.

Julie M. Schablitsky, chief of cultural resources for the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and a scientist with the University of Oregon's Museum of Natural and Cultural History, opened the month's three-lecture series. The next event, Friday, Oct. 23, will feature the UO's Dennis Jenkins, who will talk about his research in the Paisley Caves, from where his team successfully pulled the oldest human DNA from dried feces dating to more than 13,000 years ago.

Schablitsky, a star of last summer's PBS series "Time Team America," told of the home of Melinda Jackson, a freed slave, found in a heavily wooded area being prepared as part of the Intercounty Connector, an 18.8-mile toll road that will link I-270/I-370 to I-95 and U.S. 1, north of Washington, D.C. The home had burned to the ground quickly in about 1917.

Schablitsky's team uncovered more than 100,000 artifacts, including an 1860 Lincoln campaign button and other items that linked the family to hoodoo, an African American spiritual practice that was brought to the U.S. by slaves. After the fire, the family left the land and the forest reclaimed it.

A search by Maryland officials led to descendants of the former slave, Melinda Jackson, who had purchased almost nine acres and a slave house in 1869 from her former owner. Jackson, a single mother, grew crops and raised livestock to support five children.

Schablitsky, near the end of her captivating talk, displayed a photo of many of the former slave's descendants (shown on this page, courtesy of the MDOT's Winter 2009 issue of The Connector). The descendants and family members attended a special gathering at the site in late 2008. Each family member was given a piece of the unearthed structure.

The next Oregon Archaeology Month talk, by Jenkins, will begin at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23, in the auditorium of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

The final talk will feature museum Director Jon M. Erlandson, who will speak Friday, Oct. 30, on "The Vikings in Iceland: Archaeology Meets History in the Mosfell Valley."

If you need more information, contact Ann Craig, assistant director of education for the museum, 541-346-3116, acraig@uoregon.edu