First Settlement: Second Installment
There was nothing to indicate to us that we were standing on or near the site where people had settled in the early 1700s, other than the topography.
We'd stumbled onto a small area that bore hints of some modification, as the grade and vegetation differed from what we'd been walking through and over for the last forty five minutes. Now, to say that we'd "stumbled" does our research some injustice, but given the very nature of these early and very rudimentary home sites we were looking for, we knew it was like looking for needles in a haystack. There would be no tell-tale cellar hole, stone walls, or any other feature with which we were so familiar with nor any other outstanding visible clues.
The weather and the mosquitoes were constantly on the verge of sabotaging our endeavor, as the rain fell intermittently and with a little more force each time, and the winged little pests incessantly attacked us. The mosquitoes were not abiding by the rules of engagement which we'd come to know in other regions closer to home. These voracious hellions did not discriminate between body parts, as they swarmed and aimed at every inch of exposed skin. "Did you bring repellant?", my friend asked. "No, I figured it would just take the edge off the adventure", I replied, mocking my own lack of preparedness with some improvised bravado.
As we switched on our machines, we put some distance between us in order not to interfere with each other's signals. My friend and I, right from the very first time we detected together, seemed to know what to do and where to go in relation to each other. This was one of the things I grew to like very quickly about my new detecting partner. It had been a long time since I'd had someone to detect with on a regular basis and I found his company and friendship refreshing and encouraging.
I think I expected just silence to spring from my machine's speaker. I should explain at this point that we were detecting without headphones because we were so far removed from civilization and because it is our way of knowing where we are in relation to one another, as well as whether one of us had found a target. Well, the ground was not silent!
The sound of iron filled the air. We looked up at each other at the same time and smiled. It was a stark contrast to the other potential sites we'd encountered on our journey. We swung our coils enjoying the sound, even with the "falsing" (this is what happens when you bump your coil against an obstacle, causing your machine to emit a short "false" signal) that the ferns and other vegetation were causing. Had it been two, maybe three minutes? That's when I got a signal other than iron.
My target lay about eight inches from the base of a tree. The ground offered little resistance, releasing that musty rich smell which I've come to love and relate to history. At about six inches' depth I encountered a layer of fine gray material about an inch thick, and just below it dark soil again. The presence of ashes further confirmed that we were on an site that had obviously seen some human habitation. Now the question was to establish whether this was just an old logging camp, or the much older site we were seeking. The answer came soon enough.
The pinpointer indicated I needn't dig much more. Besides, the ground was soft enough to dig and sift through with your fingers, something I rather welcomed. And while I'm gently attempting to feel for something solid other than a stone, I hear my friend's detector sound off on a target on the other side of the clearing. Even before seeing my target I could tell by touch what it was. But now exposed, it's presence filed me with joy. "I've got a spoon!", I called out. I had gently brushed off some of the dirt, revealing one specially distinguishing feature, and then handed it to my friend. He gently turned it over in his hand and then looked up at me with a bit of a quizzical look. "How old is it?" I smiled at him and said, "As old, if not older, than what we are looking for!". He returned to where he'd left a half-dug hole and continued to wrestle with a large stone that was directly over his target. Soon enough he called out, "I'll see your spoon and raise you a whole spoon!"
His spoon was intact, with only a slight bend in its handle, but in the best condition I'd ever seen thus far with my own eyes. His was a near exact match to mine in terms of size, complete with the "rat tail" feature. However, his spoon had something mine did not, a complete handle. And at the end of that handle was the most revealing feature of all, the "dog nose", which put it well in the time frame of the site we were seeking. I'll provide you with a useful link at the end of this installment so that you may also successfully date and identify your spoons.
Perhaps it was the weather which in some way grounded my fantasy of finding some very early coinage, I don't know. But I felt it was only fair to point out to my friend that our chances of finding coinage was close to improbable. The reasons for this were because these first settlers had little if no use for coinage or any moneys at all. And while it is true that money did in fact change hands by way of paying taxes and other such transactions back in the day, it was most likely to happen in more populated areas or in the meeting houses. This site we had just discovered predated all surrounding towns and its inhabitants had more than likely relied on bartering and living off the land for their sustenance and survival. From a historical perspective, we had scored a resounding success, confirming our research and the location of what we knew to be a small settlement. So where were the other home sites? Well, first we had to meticulously detect this one site and see what else we could unearth there.
Here's the link I promised: http://www.kdmdc.co.uk/resources_files/spoons_articles13_146.pdf
To be continued...
