Page 171 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

figure 32
Copper-alloy wax seal stamp fragment from Zekiah Fort.
It wasn’t until 2011 that the site of Zekiah Fort was identified for what it was.84 Archae- ological excavations at the site seem to confirm the presence of Reynolds’ “Bead Hill,” with hun- dreds of glass beads having been recovered. Red and black beads make up the majority of the assemblage from Zekiah Fort, which is similar to other Piscataway sites such as 18PR248, which may be associated with the Piscataway town occupied just before Zekiah Fort and Heater’s Island, where the Piscataway moved to in 1699. In addition to beads, other high-status items were recovered such as copper/brass points and scrap material. This likely points to the site being the location of the Piscataway leadership.
Two artifacts of intrigue are a silver scabbard hook and a wax seal stamp bearing the initials “CC” (see figures 31 and 32). The scabbard hook is a puzzling artifact, which is relatively rare to find, even on colonial sites. Whether this belonged to the Piscataway tayac or one of Lord Baltimore’s rangers is uncertain. The wax seal stamp is crude- ly etched, but the initials may stand for Charles Calvert. Its presence at Zekiah Fort could be explained if it were part of a gift given to the Piscataway tayac on behalf of Calvert as a sign of their allegiance.
No subsurface features were identified
through excavation that would constitute con- crete evidence of a palisade, as would be expected of a fort site. Despite this, the number of firearms related material is striking, which lends to the notion that the site was indeed heavily armed. A total of 21 gunflints, dozens of fragments of flint debitage, and relatively large quantities of lead shot suggest as much. The sheer number of gun-related artifacts, given the relatively short occupation period, is particularly remarkable.
This is not to say that the people of Zekiah Fort were using guns for everyday uses like hunting either. Lithic materials recovered
figure 31
Silver scabbard hook from Zekiah Fort.
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