Ye Pleasant Mount: 1989 1990 Excavations - Open site which ...

Type G, which is associated with British Indian tradeguns (Hamilton 1976:14). Tradeguns
were intended primarily for Indian use, although some British also may have used them.
Similar examples have been excavated from Fort Frederica and other British frontier sites.
The iron ramrod tip is similar to a button-headed iron rammer described by colonial gun
expen Neumann who dates this type of ramrod to the period 1710 to 1760. This date is
consistent with the known occupation ofthe site.
Most of the lead shot were small shot (11 to 20 caliber) fired as scatter shot. Larger
lead shot include: one 62 caliber, five 60 caliber, two 57 caliber, and one 28 caliber. Most
ofthe larger balls were cast in a mold,while the smaller shot were Rupen shot produced by
pouring lead onto the ground from a tower. Several cut or mutilated lead balls were found
whose caliber could not be determined. Two features yielded significant amounts of lead
shot. Twenty-six lead shot were found throughout the midden including 13 large balls and
13 small shot. Nine pieces oflead sprue also were found in the midden indicating that lead
shot were manufactured on the site. In contrast, no lead sprue was recovered from the
Rae's Creek site (Crook 1990). Feature 13 contained 28 small shot and Feature 20
contained 10 larger lead balls, or mutilated bullets. Several of the lead balls found in
Feature 20 suggest that they were manufactured by hammering lead into a roughly spherical
shape.
Personal Items
Personal items found included two clasp knives and four mirror glass fragments. One
example of each is illustrated in Figure 16. The knives are similar to the modem-day
pocket knife. The more complete specimen has an iron blade with iron and brass pans on
the handle. Mirror glass was a common Indian trade item. It can be distinguished from
eighteenth-century window glass by its greater thickness, clear color, and remnant traces of
silvering of the back surface. Similar examples of mirror glass are reponed from
excavations at Okfuskenena town on the Chattahoochee River and Tugalo on the Savannah
River (Williams and Huscher 1969; Smith and Williams 1978).
Tobacco Pipes
Clay tobacco pipes were widely used by both Indian and Englishmen at Mount
Pleasant. The tobacco pipe assemblage contains varieties produced during the early- to
mid-eighteenth century. These pipes were made of white clay, or kaolin, and in all
probability were produced in Europe. Examples are illustrated in Figures 25 through 27.
Even though all of the pipes were broken, many important clues about the site were
revealed through this collection. Tobacco pipe stems can be used to determine the date that
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