Archaeoacoustic measurement and simulation of the Jesuit Chapel at St. Mary’s City, Maryland

Abstract

St. Mary’s City, Maryland was the original capital of Maryland, founded as a colony with protections for Catholics by Lord Baltimore. As a result of the colony’s religious toleration, the city built a permanent Jesuit chapel, the earliest brick structure in Maryland, in 1667. The chapel was one of the earliest brick worship spaces in America, and the only permanent Catholic worship space in the English-speaking world. When Protestants later took control of the state and moved the capital away, the chapel was closed by the governor, and the Jesuits recycled its materials into other structures. As part of archaeological excavation and heritage preservation efforts at St. Mary’s City, the Jesuit Chapel was rebuilt according to historic building practices and materials in the 2000s. The reconstructed chapel was known for its pleasant acoustics by many in the area, and impulse responses were measured in the rebuilt space. The measurements were used to calibrate a geometric acoustic model of the space, which is used as a starting basis for the acoustics of the original 1667 chapel. Some discussion is given to the role of physical versus virtual reconstruction in heritage acoustics and archaeoacoustic projects.