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Historic Indian Artifacts

A

Anonymous

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I visited the Historic (Fur Trade Era) site this morning and found the following items along with some misc nails ETC. The one item appears to be some type of hammer with a notch along the handle. Any ideas???
 
Rob, I have an extensive fur trade collection from the 1760-1820 era, but have not seen a like item in my research. When does your site date to? Crosses and other religious items are not uncommon at fur trade era sites. Many were traded to the Indians as ornaments,without any religious overtones,especially in the later sites. However, sometimes priests did circulate among the tribes to try to convert and "save" them as Marquette and Joliet did on their trip down the Mississippi in the 1670's. We know that they did pass out so-called "Jesuit" rings on this trip. Dale in Iowa
 
Thanks for the info Dale. Also found at this site were cone tinklers, kettle copper ornaments, an off-set iron awl ETC. I find the odd hammer to be quite intersting, just wish I knew more about it. Would be nice to know what the artifact beside the hammer is also. Rob
 
The best I can tell Dale is somewhere in the middle to later 1700s, could even go just into the 1800s.On the surface we found a few (& Very Few) small Blue edged & Redware fragments. We have not found the first coin button at the site but did find 3 musketballs. Funny thing about it is there is no recording or historic mentioning of such a site in the area. I actually just stumbled onto it as most of my metal detecting involves walking fields in surch of pioneer sites. In 1812 a family was massacred by indians about 1/4 mile away. Rob
 
Rob, my guess is that this is a temporary hunting camp. If it were a permanent camp you would have many more utilitarian items. Also you have noted the lack of flat metal buttons that are frequent finds at long-term camps. Can you tell me all the different, and number of each item that has been found? This will give me more of an insight into the type of site.Also, can you give me a general location? (But you don't need to give me the exact location!)
There is an excellent identification book that just came out this year. "Indian Trade Relics,Idetification& Values", by Lar Hothem.ISBN L-57432-303-2 Kind of pricey at $29.95,but believe me, worth every penny!! Dale
 
Hello David; the ferriers hammers iv'e seen have a split claw like claw hammers of today. This hammer does not although it does curve back without the split for pulling nails or tacks. Maybe early ferriers hammers didn't have a split claw, I dont know. It appears to be somewhat crudly made and has a notch towards the bottem of the handle which must have had some function. Rob
 
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