The primary source that I discovered is a Brass Kettle on a soil pedestal. Its diameter at the rim is 19.5cm and was located in an excavation at Fredricks site in Orange County, North Carolina. It dates to the historic period of AD 1700 and is currently in the North Carolina Archaeological Collection in the Research Laboratories of Archaeology at UNC Chapel Hill. The online 3D model was created by Chris LaMack.
The kettle was discovered through the UNC Siouan Project excavations, which took place from 1983 – 2016. The Siouan Project aims to “study the impact of European colonization on the native peoples of central North Carolina and the archaeological correlates of that impact,” (Siouan Project). The Siouan Project found that the Occaneechi tribes settled in the Haw River areas during the late seventeenth century, and that they interacted and traded with the English (Davis). “There is clear evidence that trade began to increase during the last quarter of the seventeenth century,” (Ward) between the Siouans and English, and “brass kettles were common trade items,” (Eastman).
This piece is an important finding for the food ways in Chapel Hill for this period because it is a vessel for cooking and storing food, which can withstand heat – for example, over a fire pit. Therefore, the introduction of the brass kettle from Europeans marks an significant moment in time for the cooking methods available to the local peoples living in the Chapel Hill – Orange County area.
Link to Brass Kettle:
https://sketchfab.com/models/7f53b3c97dce4527a93ca314936422e8
By: Rachel DeMay
Citation:
Davis, R. P. Stephen. “Settlement Structure and Occupational History at the Fredericks-Janrette Site Complex, Orange County, North Carolina.” Research Labs of Archaeology at UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill, 2002, https://archaeology.sites.unc.edu/files/2017/07/Settlement-Structure-and-Occupational-History-at-the-Fredricks-Jenrette-Site-Complex-2002-Davis.pdf
Eastman, Jane M. “Seventeenth Century Lithic Technologies of the Piedmont Siouans.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Research Labs of Archaeology at UNC Chapel Hill, 1990, https://archaeology.sites.unc.edu/files/2017/07/Seventeenth-Century-Lithic-Technologies-of-the-Piedmont-Siouans-1990-Eastman.pdf
Research Labs of Archaeology at UNC Chapel Hill. “Brass Kettle.” Sketch Fab, UNC Chapel Hill, 2017, https://sketchfab.com/models/7f53b3c97dce4527a93ca314936422e8
“Siouan Project.” Archaeology UNC Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, https://archaeology.sites.unc.edu/home/rla/research/siouan-project/
Ward, H. Trawick, and R.P. Stephen Davis. “Tribes and Traders on the North Carolina Piedmont, A.D. 1000-1710.” Siouan Project – Selected Bibliography, UNC Chapel Hill, https://archaeology.sites.unc.edu/files/2017/07/Tribes-and-Traders-Contact-and-Change-on-the-North-Carolina-Piedmont-2002-Ward-and-Davis.pdf