Archaeologists working at the site of a colonial fort in Maryland have discovered a concave, nearly rectangular scrap of metal that they say was once part of colonial armor.
Archaeologists determined that the piece of metal was an iron pauldron that could be hung from a breastplate to protect the wearer’s thighs.it was found in Historic St. Mary’s CityIt was the first capital of the Colony of Maryland and a site where American colonial history continues to be unearthed.
Archaeological teams have been excavating Fort Saint Mary, a building built in 1634 and thought to be Maryland’s Earliest Colonial Site, since 2020. The armor was covered in dirt, but X-ray images showed steel bands and rivets that decorated the armor and held it together.
“Given the early context in which the object was found (circa 1634 to the early 1640s), it is likely that it was brought from Europe,” said Travis Parno, director of research and collections at Historic St. Mary’s. ) said in an email to Gizmodo. “During that time, there was a limited amount of blacksmith activity in St. Mary’s City.”
Pano added: “Given that this tasset and another previously discovered in the city of Sainte-Marie were both discarded, it is likely that these tassets were carried across the Atlantic, deemed unnecessary, and then disposed of. throw away.”
The property was recovered from the cellar of Structure 101, Maryland’s first warehouse. So far, about 20% of the cellars associated with the warehouse have been excavated. The excavation also uncovered decorative metal braiding, a pair of colonial-era scissors and the outline of a large building built shortly after colonists arrived on the Maryland coast, The Washington Post reported.
Pano said excavations at the fort are expected to continue over the next decade, but thankfully you won’t have to wait that long to see the results: See the excavations with one of the Historic St. Mary’s City tours The scene itself.
more: 1,000-year-old stainless steel precursor discovered in Iran surprises archaeologists