Clues From The Past

 Hey everybody, Carson again!

Today I want to share an intriguing artifact with you that was found at Fort St. Joseph. The artifact is made of copper alloy, about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide. It was folded together by whoever created this piece  about halfway through to form its tallest part at 1.5 cm tall. Otherwise, the artifact is pretty flat except for in the center where it is slightly shaped into a "U" and the tallest part has a hole drilled through both sides. The artifact does not appear to be complete as it seems to have been attached to something on the thicker end and broke in half on the other end. 

Due to the strange shape and structure of the artifact and the lack of the other missing pieces of this artifact, we are uncertain as to what exactly this item is. However, I have begun hypothesizing on what the possible artifact could have been when it was used over 200 years ago at Fort St. Joseph. My first hypothesis is that it could be an eighteenth-century kettle lug piece. I thought this may be possible because of the holes located at one end where a handle may have been attached. My second hypothesis is that it is a broken priming pan from an eighteenth-century flintlock. We originally tossed around the idea that it may be a gun part after we recovered it through excavation, but we weren't sure exactly what it was. During the Archaeology Open House, one living history reenactor suggested a priming pan and after performing some research I also believe that may be what this artifact is. My third and final hypothesis is that the artifact is a broken eighteenth-century ramrod guide due to the shape, size, and overall weight of the object. If you have any other leads on what this artifact may be, please reach out. Otherwise, the research continues. 

That's all for now!

    Carson

Sources:

Baez, Kevin. “Weapons of War (1600-1800).” Smithsonian Learning Lab, https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/weapons-of-war-1600-1800/HUoHq60eaAj1UKyz

Fuhring, John. Shooting and Maintaining a Flintlock, www.geojohn.org/BlackPowder/Musketoon/ShootingTheFlintlock.html.

Nassaney, Michael S., et al. “Archaeological Evidence of Economic Activities at an Eighteenth-Century Frontier Outpost in the Western Great Lakes.” Historical Archaeology, vol. 41, no. 4, 2007, pp. 3–19., doi:10.1007/bf03377292.