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Volunteers recover coins, buttons, cufflinks and an oboe key at Camp Security
Summary
Metal-detecting and surface-collection surveys found roughly 150 objects — mostly 18th-century — including King George II coins, ornate buttons, pewter cufflinks, thimbles, hem weights and a likely Hessian oboe key; finds inform interpretations of daily life at the site.
Presenting results from a fall metal-detecting survey, John said teams from Juniata College and the Veterans Archaealogy Program recovered about 150 objects, predominately 18th-century material that includes worn King George II coins, decorative buttons, pewter cufflinks and buckles. He singled out an oboe key as a particularly notable find and suggested the instrument part ‘‘likely originated from a Hessian military band’’ but arrived at Camp Security through earlier prisoner interactions rather than indicating Hessians were housed on-site.
John highlighted small personal items — thimbles, hem weights and straight pins — as direct material evidence of women’s and children’s industry at Camp Indulgence and emphasized that artifact distributions help the team infer activity areas. He also noted that many objects are fragmentary, and interpretation depends on continued mapping and conservation; all collected artifacts are catalogued and eventually curated at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.
