Tavern And Mysterious Tools Discovered In North Carolina – Stunning Ancient Time Capsule

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Archaeologists excavating in eastern North Carolina were surprised when they came across an ancient tavern along with several mysterious tools that were buried beneath the building.

For reasons unknown, the tavern was burned to the ground. Even more perplexing is that the building cannot be found on any known maps of Brunswick Town, a major pre-American Revolution port on the Cape Fear River.

The tavern was discovered with help of ground penetrating radar. Credit: Stephanie Bunao | Kathy Sykes

The 18th century tavern was destroyed in a fire which occurred in the 1760s, caused the walls to collapse over the floors, sealing the crawl space shut like a “time capsule,” says Dr. Charles Ewen, who led the dig with a crew of students from East Carolina University.

The Charlotte Observer reports “it is suspected the site might also have served as a brothel for the historic port, known as Brunswick Town.

Items found under the foundation include intact smoking pipes that were never used, crushed liquor bottles and iron tools that historians can’t yet identify, Ewen told the Charlotte Observer.

“It’s something every archaeologist hopes to find,” Ewen said in a phone interview. “It’s a snapshot in time. Everything there got trapped.”

In 1776, Brunswick Town was razed by British troops and the place was never rebuilt.

The tavern was not easy to find, but thanks to ground penetrating radar the building, roughly 15-foot by 25-foot was detected along with several artifacts hidden about 5 feet down.

Among the artifacts was an Irish half penny from 1766, brass tap from a wine barrel and a lot of broken mugs and goblets. The examined objects clearly suggest this was a once a colonial tavern.

Left: Mysterious tool discovered at the site. Right: A smoking pipe found beneath the tavern. Credit: Stephanie Bunao | Kathy Sykes

Whether it was a brothel can’t be proven conclusively, but taverns in port towns often served that dual purpose for sailors, said Jim McKee, site manager of Brunswick Town and Ft. Anderson.

“Artifacts found have included thimbles, straight pins and clothing fasteners associated with the town’s female populace, officials said. However, it’s possible those items were part of a sewing kit carried by a man, McKee says.

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“Taverns really were one of the most important structures in a Colonial town, because they served so many purposes. Think of them almost as country club,” McKee says. “You would have a group of men talking business transactions, a group of people talking law, a group of people talking gossip and, of course, leisure. You might even have had escort service being run out of them.”

McKee told the Observer the discovery has confronted historians with a realization that the 250-year-old map they’ve relied on to document the site’s historic structures isn’t telling the whole story.

An old Irish coin. Credit: Stephanie Bunao | Kathy Sykes

“There is still a lot here we don’t know about,” McKee said. “It raises a lot of questions, which I guess is part of the fun of archaeology. What our maps may not tell us is what was burned down or torn down. It’s really kind of opened our eyes to the possibility of things waiting to be found.”

The next step is now to study the artifacts and figure out what some of the mysterious tools were used for. If everything goes according to plans, the objects will eventually be displayed at museums.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer