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Have you ever wondered what life was like for the early settlers who lived in the North Carolina colony? Thanks to NCDOT-sponsored archaeological research several years ago near Edenton, we now know more about this period of North Carolina's history. Archaeologists began to dig at the Eden House site after it was discovered that future road work would destroy a part of the site. The North Carolina Department of Transportationconsulted with the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office and the Federal Highway Administration. After taking measures to avoid a cemetery and other parts of the site, NCDOT funded a major excavation at the Eden House site. Archaeologists from Coastal Carolina Research of Tarboro, North Carolina worked at the site during the summer and fall of 1996. there they uncovered the remains of one of the oldest settlements in the Albemarle region. Traces of two houses, a barn, a well, trash pits, fencelines, a privy (outdoor bathroom), and thousands of objects (which archaeologists call artifacts) thrown away by the people who lived at the site show us today what life was like in early North Carolina.
What Did Archaeologists Discover at the Eden House Site?
The team of archaeologists who worked at the Eden House site found evidence of two houses, a barn, a well, trash pits, and many thousands of artifacts discarded by the people who lived at the site three hundred years ago. Read the sections below to learn about the site history, view maps of the site, see photographs of the excavation in progress, and to discover how archaeologists learn about the past by digging in the ground.
Setting the Stage The first settlers in the Albemarle region arrived from the Virginia colony in the 1660s. Since there were few roads, these colonists settled along the sounds, rivers and broad creeks of the region, which they used as highways. When the first settlers moved to the area, they probably found forested lands along the river. One of the first things they would have done upon arrival was cut trees and clear lands for building houses and planting crops. Because they needed lots of land to grow tobacco, the colonists built their houses at some distance from one another. To earn money, the occupants of these plantations, as their farms were called, also did other types of work. They trapped animals for their furs, which they sold to other colonists living in Virginia and New England. Tar, turpentine, and pitch, important materials for shipbuilding, were made from pine trees.
Life was difficult for these early North Carolina settlers. They had to worry about attack from pirates and the nearby Tuscarora Indians. Many of the settlers died from diseases such as malaria and smallpox. Complications from childbirth caused many women to die while they were still very young. there were no towns in the area until Edenton began developing in the 1690s. Things that the colonists could not produce for themselves, like fabric, dishes, and some types of building supplies, had to come from England or the colonies to the north. Often colonists had to wait many months for these supplies to arrive.
General Archaeology Page Scientists who dig in the ground to uncover information about how people lived in the past are called archaeologists. The work they do is called archaeology. Archaeologists working on colonial American sites use physical and documentary clues to help them discover where to dig. People always leave physical traces or clues where they have lived. Archaeologists call these physical clues artifacts.
Building foundations, broken dishes and bottles, animal bones from food, and children's toys are some of the kinds of artifacts people leave behind at places where they have lived and worked. Sometimes these items were thrown away because they were broken or no longer needed, like smashed pottery plates or chicken bones from a meal. Other things, like coins, buttons, and jewelry, were lost by their owners and never found. These artifacts provide archaeologists with clues about how people lived in the past. Archaeologists can also use documents, such as maps, letters, and diaries, to tell them where archaeological sites are located and who lived there.
Since archaeologists destroy sites as they dig them, they must excavate very carefully so they do not lose valuable data. They make maps, take photographs, and write notes on what they have found. They must also follow certain methods in order to excavate a site properly. The ground beneath your feet is like a layer cake of different-colored and -textured soils. These layers have built up over time, and archaeologists remove them slowly and carefully one at a time. Usually, the deeper the layer of soil is, the farther back in time it goes. Archaeologists sift or screen each layer of soil, saving the artifacts they find from each layer separately. By looking at the artifacts from different time periods, archaeologists can tell what was happening on a site in each period. If they dug out and mixed all of the soils and the artifacts, archaeologists would not be able to know what people were doing there at different times.
Archaeological research is a lot like putting a puzzle together or solving a mystery. Archaeologists examine artifacts and the other clues they find on their sites, fitting these puzzle pieces together with documentary information. When they finish, they have a picture of how people lived in the past. Archaeologists working at the Eden House site used both archaeological and documentary information to help them find out how people were living in the early North Carolina colony.
Early Site History (circa 1663-1720) Although historical documents tell us who owned the land where the Eden House site is located, we actually know very little about the earliest owners. The first person to own the land was Saint Mount Wells, who got the land in 1663. Since he sold the land within two years, he probably did not live at the site or build a house there. The first person to live at the site was probably William Duckenfield, a wealthy man who bought the land sometime after 1683. Henry King bought the property in 1713 and lived there until he died three years later. Although documents do not tell us how these early owners of the Eden House property made their living, they were most likely planters.
Archaeological Findings (circa 1663-1720) Three buildings from the early years of the site were excavated in 1996: a 24' x 16' structure that probably served as the first house (Structure 2), a barn or similar outbuilding (Structure 3), and a slightly later structure, a 16.5' by 12.5' stone-lined cellar (Structure 1). Excavation revealed that Structure 2 was an earthfast house with two rooms on the ground floor. The owners made the inside of the house fancy by adding expensive glass windows and a set of Dutch tiles that showed stories from the Bible.
Archaeologists found traces of fences that outlined where gardens and work areas had once been. One fence extended towards the Chowan River and the boat landing. A privy, or outdoor bathroom, was placed east of the first house and a well for drinking water was located beyond the privy. Archaeologists also found places where the settlers dug holes to bury their household trash and a small pen where rabbits or some other small animals were kept. Traces of what may have been a fort from the early settlement were visible at the northwestern edge of the site. During the first forty or so years at the site, the colonists would have been in danger from attack by the Tuscarora Indians and from pirates like Blackbeard. The settlers may have built a fort to escape to in times of danger. Unfortunately, a twentieth century highway may have destroyed most of the evidence of this fort.
A more permanent house was built on the property, probably within ten years or so of original settlement. This house, which the archaeologists call Structure 1, was visible only as a stone-lined cellar; however, the archaeologists found evidence that a larger building on a brick or stone foundation once rested over this cellar. Farmers growing crops on the site after the buildings had been destroyed plowed away all underground traces of this foundation, making it impossible for archaeologists to know how large this building was. Archaeology did show that Structure 1 was a wooden dwelling with a slate roof and a brick chimney. It contained glass windows, plastered walls, and maybe wooden paneling. Although Structure 1 would probably look small by today's standards, it was a grand house at the beginning of the 1700s.
After it was completed, Structure 1 probably became the main house for the planter and his family, and Structure 2 was used as a kitchen and a place for workers to live. Many colonial homes had kitchens that were separate from the main house. there were several reasons for building this way. Since cooking was done over an open fire, there was a greater risk of the building catching on fire. If a fire did start and could not be controlled, the family would lose their kitchen, but not their house too. Also, removing the kitchen from the place where the family slept, ate, and lived kept the heat of the kitchen fires away during the hot months.
When owner Henry King died in 1716, a list was made of everything in his house. This list, or inventory as it was called in colonial times, tells us a lot about how people lived then. Not only is it possible to see everything that King and his family owned, but because the person making the list moved from room to room writing everything down, we can also figure out how they were using the space within their house.
The organization of Henry King's 1716 inventory suggests that the inventory taker began in the kitchen (Structure 2), listing a variety of items used in preparing food. The kitchen also included five chairs, a table, several chests and a cupboard used for storing food and dishes. Next, the inventory taker went into the house (Structure 1). Today, rooms in homes usually serve specific functions, such as the bedrooms being used for sleeping. Such was not the case in the colonial period. Like most houses then, the rooms in King's home served more than one function. One room had two beds and a spinning wheel, showing that the family was sleeping and working in the same rooms.
1716 Inventory of Henry King
Log House TractItem(s) Value/Price 1 Negro Man 45/00/00 (price) 1 pr small Mill Stones f2/00/00 9 pewter plates 16/08 1 Glass [i.e., looking glass] 1/08 4 Pattee Pans [i.e., muffin pans] 1/04 5 Candlesticks 14/00 12 pewter spoons 4/00 4 pewter porrigers, 2 Salt Cellars 6/00 25 pounds of the best sort of Dishes 2/04/00 1 Basin 6/00 1 brass Pan, 1 Trivet 4/00 1 Sifter, 1 lg Grater, 1 pepper box, 1 grid iron 5/00 1 linen wheel, 5 reap hooks 18/00 1 set of smith's tools and some old iron 16/00/00 2 [? hole] 1/10 1 Sword and Cane 1/05 5 Chairs 6/08 1 lg Cupboard 2/05/00 1 Table 15/00 2 Chests 1/05/00 1 young Black Mare 4/00/00 (price) 2 barren Cows, 1 Heifer 4/00/00 1 Bedstead, Rug, 2 Blankets 2/00/00 1 [? hole] 16/08 (price) 1 Feather Bed, 1 Rug, 1 Blanket, 1 Sheet, Bedstead, Curtains, Valance 6/06/00 1 Linen Wheel 12/06 11 pewter spoons 4/00 1 Glass [i.e., looking glass] 1/08 glass Bottles and three vials 4/06 6 Mugs, 1 Bastard China cup 7/00 6 Coarse Earthen [? hole; hole] a glass Salt 7/06 22 pounds of the best sort of Dishes 2/04/00 1 Basin 6/00 2 brass Kettles 4/00/00 3 Bowls, 2 coolers, 3 pails, 2 butter tubs, 1 half-bucket, 1 peck, 1 cade [i.e., small herring barrel], 2 tubs 15/00 2 Spits, 1 pr [Fire] Backs, 1 Hook, 1 Flesh Fork 1/00/00 1 Case of Pistols, 1 Cutlass 2/10/00 5 Chairs 6/08 1 Table 15/00 1 Crosscut Saw 1/00/00 2 Chests 1/04/00 1 Grindstone 14/00 1 Bed, 1 Rug, 1 Sheet, 1 Bed Cord, 1 Bedstead 6/10/00 1 Table Cloth, 1 Sheet, 6 Cotton Napkins, 8 Diaper Napkins, 3 Towels f2/05/00 2 Ewes 16/08 (price) 2 barren Cows & 1 Heifer 4/00/00 2 Spades 16/00 1 lg pair of Steelyards 12/00 1 Basin 16/00 1 lg Candlestick, 1 old Tankard 15/00 Total value put at £150 sterling. Later Settlers at the Site (1720-1740s) In 1719, North Carolina governor Charles Eden purchased the Eden House property from the sons of former owner Henry King. By this time, people had lived at this location for over forty years. At least several of the original buildings were still standing. Eden constructed a fine plantation house north of the original site and renovated at least two of the buildings that were later excavated by Coastal Carolina Research.
By the time Charles Eden arrived on the property, many of the conditions that had made life hazardous for earlier inhabitants in the Albemarle Sound region had vanished. Settlement was underway in the nearby town of Edenton, and the pirate Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, had been captured and killed. Piracy continued to be a problem for several more years, but starting around 1720 settlers began to expand their farms. The 1715 peace treaty with the Tuscarora Indians effectively removed the threat of Native American hostility.
In this period of newfound peace and expansion Eden used the plantation as a seat of government. Eden's ownership of the property was not destined to be long-lived, however. He died there on March 16, 1722, from yellow fever, only four years after purchasing the property.
Archaeological Findings (1720-1740) In the years before he moved to Eden House, Charles Eden's name had become linked with the infamous pirate, Blackbeard. Perhaps Eden thought it wise to move his government activities away from the town of Bath, where Blackbeard lived. After purchasing the plantation from Henry King's heirs, Eden set it up as the seat of government for the colony. there, the recently widowed Eden lived in his fine home with two stepchildren.
Renovation and repair to standing buildings during the years 1720-1740 reflected the changing use of the site during this period. It also informs us about the larger political and social changes taking place in the Albemarle region. At the site, new owner Charles Eden moved the main part of the plantation away from the area excavated in 1996 when he constructed a new home well to the north of Structures 1 and 2.
Only a few historical records about Charles Eden survive today, so little is known about what his plantation looked like. Archaeology tells us that Structures 1 and 2, both originally built during the early years of the site, underwent major renovations when Eden bought the land. An outside basement entrance opening towards the river was added to Structure 1. This new entrance may have been built to make it easier to move goods brought up from the river in and out of the cellar. In earlier years, when the colonists were nervous about the threat of Indian and pirate attacks, an outside entrance to the basement would have been a way unwanted visitors could get into the house. After the danger of outside attack diminished around 1720, the settlers were more comfortable about their safety and added this entrance.
By 1720, Structure 2 had been standing almost half a century and was beginning to show its age. Rotting wooden structural posts in Structure 2 were replaced. A new fireplace, chimney, and staircase were also built in Structure 2 at this time. Sometime after 1715, a fence line was built off the northeast corner of Structure 2. Since this fence ran right through the location of the seventeenth-century barn, its location tells archaeologists that the barn was no longer standing by the time the fence was built. The outdoor privy had also been filled in around the time Governor Eden bought the land, but the well continued to be used.
Although the ways Structures 1 and 2 were used after Eden acquired the property are not known, archaeology suggests several possible answers. The artifacts found at the buildings are the kinds found around places where people lived. Because a lot of people were needed to keep a large southern plantation running smoothly, these two buildings were probably used as workers' houses. By 1720, these workers would have been mostly enslaved Africans and African Americans. Structure 2 contained five large holes cut through the soil beneath the building's floor. These types of pits, which appear to have been used for storage, are often seen in association with places where enslaved people lived.
It is also possible that Structures 1 and 2 served as a sort of combination hotel and restaurant called an ordinary. Many people would have come from long distances to see the Governor on business. These people would have needed a convenient place to stay and it is possible that Structure 1 was used in this way. In that case, Structure 2 may have been refitted as a kitchen for the ordinary. This interpretation fits nicely with the newly built fireplace and chimney. Even in its role as a kitchen, Structure 2 would have likely served a double function as housing for the enslaved. It is also possible that Structure 1 could have served as a store for people living along the Chowan River, or as a house for a ferryman employed by Eden.
For unknown reasons, people stopped living at this part of the site sometime in the 1740s or early 1750s. The building that stood over the cellar in Structure 1 was removed or destroyed, and the cellar hole was filled with trash, stone, brick, and wood from the structure. The well and Structure 2 also fell out of use around the same time.
Colonial Life
Life was very different for people living in North Carolina several hundred years ago. there were none of the modern conveniences that we take for granted, like grocery stores, shopping malls, garbage trucks, flush toilets, central heat, and electric or gas stoves. Read the sections below to find out what it was like to live in colonial times.
What Did Their Houses Look Like? Archaeological evidence showed that Structure 2 had been built of wood. Instead of sitting on a brick or stone foundation, though, this house was built around wooden posts that had been partially buried upright in the ground. Archaeologists and people called architectural historians who study old buildings call such structures "earthfast", meaning they are fastened into the ground. Archaeologically, earthfast buildings leave discolorations in the soil where holes were dug to bury the ends of the wooden posts. By examining the patterns of these soil discolorations, archaeologists can determine building size, the number of rooms, chimney locations, and other structural details.
Such earthfast, or post-in-ground, structures were very common in the Virginia and Maryland Chesapeake in the seventeenth century, and they continued to be built into the eighteenth century. Even wealthy families lived in these types of houses until they could afford to build a larger or more permanent house. While the structures standing on the site would have seemed small and crude to us, they were fairly standard for the North American colonies in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In fact, studies of colonial Virginia buildings suggest that Structure 1, with its plastered walls, slate roof, brick chimney, and glass windows would have been nicer than most houses of the time.
What Did they Eat? The diet of the Albemarle colonists consisted of a great deal of meat, dairy products, and bread. Colonial cookbooks and diaries contain many references to fresh and cured pork, beef, mutton, bacon, butter, honey, and corn breads. Pork was popular in the southern colonies, partly because hogs required little care. They could be allowed to roam freely in the woods, surviving on acorns. Fresh vegetables and fruits were also a part of the colonial diet, but were considered less important than meat.
The vast majority of the artifacts found at the site, over 65%, were animal bones. These bones were from meals prepared by the first settlers at the site. While cows, pigs, and other domestic mammals were the most commonly found bones, several wild species, including white tailed deer and tundra swan, were also eaten at the site. Bones from turtles, and several types of fish, including grouper, gar, and perch, show that the river and sound were important food sources. Lead weights for fishing nets were found at the site. Archaeologists also found evidence of the settlers' guns, which were used for hunting food as well as protection. Also found were lead shot and gunflints used to create a spark that would ignite the powder in muskets.
Colonists did most of their cooking over an open fireplace. Women had to be especially careful to keep their long skirts out of the fire while they were cooking. Several methods of cooking were popular in the colonial period. A pole was used to suspend heavy pots over the fire for boiling and stewing, and meats were roasted on thin metal rods called spits. Another method of cooking was to set a pot or pan on a three-legged stand over hot coals. Some houses had small bake ovens built into the fireplace for baking bread. Hot coals were placed in the oven to heat it up before the uncooked bread dough was placed in it. Frying was not a popular method of cooking in the eighteenth century.
What Did They Drink? Most of the beverages consumed by the colonists were alcoholic. Unclean water could cause illness and the alcohol in beer and cider killed bacteria in the water used to make these beverages. Because colonial beer contained very low levels of alcohol (1/2 to 1 percent), children could also drink it. Wine was favored among the upper classes. Tea and hot chocolate were also popular among people who could afford to buy it, and serving these hot drinks was often used as an opportunity for a party or social gathering.
where did the Colonists Get Supplies? Because there were no towns and no stores in the early North Carolina colony, the settlers there had to rely on trading to get supplies they couldn't grow or produce themselves. The North Carolina colonists traded with the Virginia colony, as well as with England, Holland, New England, and the Caribbean Islands. Animal furs, turpentine, tar, tobacco, and wood used in boat building were exchanged by North Carolina settlers for manufactured goods such as cloth and pottery, and for foodstuffs like wine, rum, sugar, and salt. Much of the pottery called delftware found on seventeenth-century North Carolina sites was probably made in Holland. Other pottery found on the site was made by colonists living in New England.
Health and Hygiene People living in the North Carolina colony 300 years ago had very different standards of cleanliness and hygiene than we do today. People did not take baths very often; in fact they believed that it was unhealthy to do so. Of course, there was no running water then, so taking a hot bath was a lot more work than it is today. Water would have to be hauled from the well or the river, and heated over open fires in large pots. there were no bathtubs, so the colonists would have to take sponge baths.
there were no flush toilets then either. People had to relieve themselves outside, or, if they could afford it, they could purchase a pottery container called a chamber pot. Sometimes these pots fit into chairs that served as toilets, but other times, people just squatted over the pottery bowl. These bowls would later be emptied outside on the ground or into a hole dug for household trash. Archaeologists found an undecorated delftware chamber pot at the Eden House site. This type of chamber pot was common in the period between 1680 and 1735.
Among the other hygiene items found at the site was a bone comb. This type of comb was commonly used throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Toothbrushes were also made of animal bone, with bristles of hog's hair. Archaeologists do not find many toothbrushes on sites from the 1600s and 1700s. They were expensive, and most people probably used a chewed stick to keep their teeth clean. The archaeologists working at the Eden House site did not find any toothbrushes there.
Hunting Hunting in the American colonies was both a necessity and status symbol. Among the aristocracy, hunting was a status symbol. Because indentured servants or African-American slaves did most of the physical labor on plantations, aristocrats in the colonies had time to hunt as did the upper classes in England. The average colonial farmer instead had to devote his time to maintaining his farm.
Perhaps surprisingly, enslaved African Americans also hunted in colonial America. Black slaves brought hunting and fishing skills to the New World from Africa. Although the land was different, the enslaved were able to successfully adapt their skills to the new environment. Slaves hunted primarily with traps, hunted and fished at night when it did not interfere with their daily tasks, and some slaves even hunted with guns.
Archaeologists at the Eden House site found pieces of the settler's guns, called muskets, which were used for hunting and for protection. They also found lead shot that was used in the guns, as well as gunflints, which were used to create a spark and ignite the powder in the muskets.
What Kind of Artifacts Did The Archaeologists Find?
The descriptions below show just a few of the many types of artifacts the archaeologists found during their work at the Eden House site.
Sewing Utensils Sewing was an important skill in colonial North Carolina, since almost all clothes were made by hand at home. Clothes were generally made from imported cloth made in England, but some households also produced their own cloth from wool. A list prepared in 1716 of items in the planter's house at the Eden House site included a spinning wheel, so it is likely that the women at the site were making some of their own cloth.
Sewing machines had not been invented in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, so archaeologists working on colonial sites generally find scissors, thimbles, and straight pins -- items used for hand piecing clothing, table linens, and bedding. Since making clothes was such an important activity, it was common for women, particularly the woman who ran the house, to carry her sewing equipment in a small bag attached to the front of her dress. Sewing utensils found at the Eden House site included scissors, straight pins, and thimbles.
Charles II Sleeve Link This pewter sleeve button, or cuff link, celebrated the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, when Charles II became the King of England. Kings and queens had ruled England for many centuries until a Civil War ended the power of the royalty in the l640s. The military under Oliver Cromwell then gained government control until Cromwell died in 1658. The English returned or "restored" kings and queens to power in 1660, and Charles II became king. Many English people celebrated the Restoration, as this event was called. Some people showed their support by purchasing jewelry and buttons made with pictures of the king, like the example found at the Eden House site.
This sleeve button was an important artifact for the archaeologists to find. They discovered it in the soil filling a hole the colonists dug during the construction of the first house at the site. Since archaeologists found the button at the bottom of the hole, they believe it dropped off of someone's shirt into the hole while the house was being built. Because the button was not made until 1660, it would have been impossible for the house to have been built before then. The accidental loss of this button by a worker nearly three hundred years ago really helped archaeologists in dating the house.
Ambrose Ambler Tokens Two of the artifacts found at the Eden House were seventeenth-century trade tokens made in Leeds, England. In 1644, the English Parliament decided to stop making coins. This action caused a severe shortage of the small, or low denomination, coins that people use everyday. To help with the problem, many store owners had coin-like tokens made to give as small change to their customers. The next time the customers shopped at the store they could use these tokens like money, even though they were not real coins. Often these tokens were stamped with the names of the shop and a design that told people who didn't know how to read where they could spend them. For example, a tobacco shop token might show a smoking pipe. The tokens were usually of value only in the neighborhood or city where they were issued. The use of tokens in England continued until the English king Charles II ordered the minting of small coins in 1672. The crown punished people who continued to use the tokens, so many people were probably stuck with useless tokens.
The tokens found at the Eden House were made by Ambrose Ambler, a man who sold tobacco in the northern England city of Leeds. One side of the tokens shows the name "AMBROSE AMBLER" and a roll of tobacco and two pipes. The other side reads "IN LEEDS 1669 = HIS PENNY." How did the Eden House tokens find their way to a colonial settlement in North Carolina where they would seemingly be useless? Archaeologists have found tokens made by English businesses in the colonies, where they were used as money until a currency of greater value became available. Another idea is that the English settlers simply threw away these worthless tokens once they arrived in the American colonies.
Nottingham Cup One of the artifacts found at the Eden House was a brown cup that was probably used for drinking tea or coffee. Archaeologists in England found and dated to about 1710 another cup almost identical to the one from the Eden House. Archaeologists believe that most brown stoneware of this type was made at Nottingham, England from the last decade of the seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Nottingham stoneware was usually dipped in a liquid clay containing iron. This slip gave the stoneware its characteristic shiny brown glaze. Decoration on Nottingham stonewares usually consists of fine lathe-turned bands such as the ones found on the Eden House cup.
Window Leads Colonial architecture in Virginia has been described as "impermanent", with most of the small earthfast homes lasting only twenty to twenty-five years. Based on archaeological work in North Carolina, it is safe to conclude that houses in early North Carolina looked much the same as Virginia dwellings. Colonists did not consider it practical to build a large or fancy house when they first settled an area. They were more interested in getting rich growing tobacco, so they put their spare money instead into acquiring land and labor for growing the crops. As time passed, the wealthy began to build nicer, longer-lasting homes. Brick and stone became more commonly used as building materials, as did tile or slate roofs, glass windows, and plastered interior walls.
Some of the earliest glass windows on colonial American sites were what is known as casement windows. It was very difficult to make large pieces of glass in the seventeenth century, so these windows have small squares or diamonds of glass held together by strips of lead. The window pane glass was mounted in these grooved strips of lead, which in turn were set into iron frames. These frames were then nailed into wooden window frames.
Turned leads like the examples from Structures 1 and 2 at the Eden House site can be important finds because they can sometimes provide good dating information. Recorded in many strips of the lead are the name, date, and town of the manufacturer of the vise tool used to shape the strips of lead. Archaeologists can use dated window leads to help them date the buildings on their site.
Delftware Among the artifacts found at the Eden House were delft vessels. Delft is used as a generic name for all tin-glazed earthenwares made in England or Holland. Some delft manufacturers tried to copy highly popular, but expensive, Chinese porcelain by coating the pottery with a lead glaze containing tin oxide. Chinese style patterns were then painted in blue on the white glazed background. While the resulting pottery looked like Chinese porcelain, the glaze was very fragile and chipped off easily from the rims of cups and other dishes used for hot beverages. Consequently, colonists rarely used delftware cups after the 1750s, but other vessels, such as plates and punchbowls, were used into the nineteenth century. As the eighteenth century progressed, people began to use delftwares less and less as the cost of porcelain dropped. English manufacturers also developed pottery that was fired at higher temperatures with glazes that were more resistant to flaking and cracking.
Early in the seventeenth century, much of the delft in the Virginia colony was from Holland. By the end of the century, however, England dominated the marketplace. As a result, most of the delftware found in the colonies dating to the late seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries originated in England. The most popular eighteenth-century delftware in the Virginia colony appeared to have been drug pots, dinner plates, and punch bowls.
Colonoware Colonoware is a term used to describe unglazed, low-fired plain earthenware made in colonial America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Colonoware was not made using an enclosed kiln, but was fired on an open hearth. A potter's wheel was not used in the production of this hand-coiled pottery. Because it was not made using European production methods, some archaeologists believe that Native Americans made colonoware and sold it to American colonists. Other archaeologists believe that enslaved African Americans were making colonoware for their own use, since it resembles pottery made in Africa.
Which archaeologists are correct? there is no simple or easy answer to the question "Who made colonoware?" The discovery of unfired colonoware pieces from the ground around some South Carolina slave houses shows that the enslaved there made colonoware. But in other places, like Virginia, the same pottery is also found on Native American sites. Most likely, both Native Americans and African Americans made colonoware in colonial America.
Wine Bottles Archaeologists found many bottles at the Eden House site. The size and shape of some of the bottles tell archaeologists that they were made in the first ten years of the eighteenth century. Other bottles were made in the 1730s and 1740s. While these types of dark green bottles are commonly called wine bottles, they were also used to hold other products such as mineral water and olive oil. Archaeologists have also found bottles containing traces of milk, tar, lead shot, and cherry pits. Some of the Eden House bottles have wide mouths designed for storing fruit or pouring thick liquids such as syrup.
Much like we do today, colonists recycled their bottles. While we take our glass to the recycling center, people three hundred years ago reused their bottles many times. Because all bottles were made by hand, they were expensive to produce and usually not thrown away until they were broken.
Suggestions for Further Reading
Anderson, Joan. From Map to Museum: Uncovering Mysteries of the Past. Morrow Junior Books, NY. 1988.
James, Carollyn. Digging Up the Past: The Story of an Archaeological Adventure. Franklin Watts, NY. 1990.
Samford, Patricia M. and David L. Ribblett. Archaeology for Young Explorers: Uncovering History at Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA. 1995.
