We have a bit of a three-way tie today for artifact of the day. So instead, I have decided to feature all three of them.
The first artifact is a bit enigmatic. All we can see is that it is a strap of ferrous metal, with two nails driven through. On of the nails is quite curved at the end, perhaps intentionally, or from hammering it in to some kind of surface that caused it to roll while it was being driven in. The other nail, however, is straight. We don’t know if this strip was originally flat and has been bent after discard such as by being caught by a plough. It might have also been wrapped around a piece of wood. It is pretty corroded, but after cleaning we might be able to discern some more details that might help us to better interpret its function.
Next up is a straight pin. I was really excited to see this find because this is one of those artifacts that pretty much screams that a site is a domestic context. Straight pins have been around for a very long time, thousands of years! They were first made of bone or wood, and then metal. While we associate them now with holding fabric together while it is being sewn, straight pins used to be used by men and women for all sorts of purposes. Before fasteners like buttons or zippers were common, straight pins were used to attach the various components of dress together, and to arrange folds and tucks to customise the fit of a garment to the wearer (for which we are now thankful for safety pins!). They were used to pin together pages before paper clips or staples were invented, and in any application where folds or tucks in blankets, veils, mantles, etc. needed to be fixed temporarily.
Early pins were formed by drawing wire through a plate of steadily smaller holes to make it thinner until the desired thickness was reached. This wire would be cut in pieces and a head would be formed by wrapping a loop of wire around the end and soldering it in place. These wrapped heads were sometimes rough and would catch on clothing or scratch. Later pins were made all in one piece by stamping the end of the wire shaft into a die to form the head.
Once we have some time in the lab, we can determine if this piece is made of brass or some other metal, and look more closely at the head to see how it was made. Pins usually fall through screens as they are so small, so it was great luck to find this one!
And last but not least, we have part of the handle of a piece of what is probably pewter flatware with a linear break. Pewter is an alloy of zinc, lead and tin. Our piece is shaped in the fiddle pattern, which was pretty popular in the eighteenth and nineteeth century. Interestingly, there are some hints of marks on the back side of this artifact. These are mimicing the hallmarks found on silver and silverplate flatware. Unfortunately since all we have is a bit of the handle, we don’t know if this was a spoon or a fork! I am hopeful that under a microscope we can maybe see the marks a little better to figure out what is there.
