Excavating Occaneechi Town

Common Artifact Types

Below are some of the common types of artifacts found at Occaneechi Town.

Click on an artifact type
(at left) to view it.
Animal bones were commonly found in archaeological features at the Fredricks site. Most of these bones are from animals that were hunted or caught for food (such as deer, bear, raccoon, turkey, and fish).
Small brick fragments occur in the plowed soil at the Fredricks site and are associated with European settlement in the area after about 1750.
Charcoal was commonly found in archaeological features at the Fredricks site. Most of this charcoal is from wood used as fuel; however, plants that were grown or collected for food also are amply represented by seeds, nutshells, and (occasionally) other parts.
The Occaneechi and their predecessors used the bow-and-arrow as a weapon. Their arrows were tipped with small triangular points that were chipped from stone. Much earlier inhabitants of the site (before about 1,000 B.C.) used larger stemmed or notched, chipped-stone points to tip spears.
The Occaneechi smoked tobacco, and possibly other plants. This is reflected by the numerous clay pipe-stem and pipe-bowl fragments that were found. Some of these were made by Native Americans (probably including the Occaneechi) but many were made of English kaolin clay (at bottom) and acquired through trade.
Daub and fired clay are created when clay is hardened by fire. Daub represents mud plaster used to construct wattle-and-daub houses. It normally exhibits stick impressions from the wattle. Fired clay lacks the stick impressions and may represent daub, plaster from around the smoke hole in the roof, or pieces of a hearth.
Flakes are by-products of making chipped-stone tools. They usually are small, made of rhyolite or some other type of rock with conchoidal (glass-like) fracture properties, and have recognizable characteristics which allow them to be readily distinguished from unmodified rocks.
Glass beads were made in Europe and traded by Virginians to the Occaneechi, who used them in necklaces and bracelets and to decorate their clothing. The presence of glass beads is a tell-tale sign of contact with Europeans; however, they may not be found by excavators unless a very fine mesh is used to screen the soil.
Glass fragments were frequently found at the Fredricks site. Those contemporary with Occaneechi Town are usually dark green in color and have heavily weathered surfaces.
The trade with Virginia provided the Occaneechi with flintlock muskets and pistols. Use of such firearms is reflected by the occurrence of numerous gunflints made of European, honey-colored flint.
The trade with Virginia provided the Occaneechi with flintlock muskets and pistols. Ammunition for such weapons comprised small, spherical pieces of lead shot, many of which were found at the site.
Potsherds are fragments of fired-clay cooking and storage pots that were made and used by the Occaneechi. Some potsherds predate Occaneechi Town, while others (usually glazed) date after the mid-1700s when the town of Hillsborough was established.
The Occaneechi used small beads made of marine shell to decorate their clothing and as jewelry. These were partially replaced by European-made glass beads.