February 2013 — Artifact of the Month

This complete assembly of a French Musket Lock (previously identified as a Brown Bess English musket) was found in early December, 2012, at the site of the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge. The item was discovered by BRAVO team members assisting Temple University archaeologists. The Xray shows the flint in the cock. A photograph of an extant Brown Bess Lock is shown for comparison.

BRAVO is a nonprofit organization that works to promote public interest in history and archaeology in conjunction with the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, State Park Service. BRAVO’s purpose is to preserve, publicize, and enhance New Jersey’s cultural heritage, from prehistory to the recent past, with an emphasis on our Revolutionary War heritage. You can learn more about B.R.A.V.O. here and their work at the Washington Memorial Chapel site here. Temple University Anthropology Department students and faculty have been researching several sites at Valley Forge. Learn more about the Memorial Chapel excavations in this 2009 research blog and about the research on Washington’s Headquarters in this 2009 National Park Service blog.

Photo Courtesy of Dave Orr, Temple University Valley Forge Project/Washington Memorial Chapel/BRAVO.

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