Two chert projectile points were found on the farmstead. One is a small arrow point (a) recovered from the yard area around the house. A Native American could have lost it there long ago, or it might have been picked up from elsewhere on the farm by one of the Williams children and brought home as a curiosity. The other specimen is a Darl dart point (b) that came from an interesting archeological context. This dart point came from within the layer of artificial sediment at the bottom of the chimney firebox. Its archeological context shows that it was intentionally placed in this sediment layer near the center of the chimney and covered over with more artificial fill. Only the chimney builder knows the precise reason it was placed there, but a great deal of circumstantial evidence suggests that this object had some sort of symbolic meaning (e.g., good luck). Ethnographic evidence (especially the WPA slave narratives and other interviews with former slaves) suggests this native-made object might have had spiritual meaning or a supernatural function, perhaps used as a conjure item to appease the ancestors and ward off evil spirits. Native American artifacts have been found in unusual contexts in antebellum structures, including slave quarters, and archeologists have interpreted many such finds as evidence that African Americans assigned important meaning to these types of objects. |