C. 1820
Mixed-metal firearm remnants (2)
Private Collection of Peter Jennings, Wilton, CT

Colonists used firearms to defend themselves and their livestock, but they were also an important part of farming life for hunting everything from ducks to deer. Still in its infancy, firearm design was of the flintlock type where a piece of stone was used with a trigger mechanism to create a spark and ignite the powder charge inside the barrel. Some flintlocks were converted to a percussion mechanism after the 1820’s, as shown in these examples, that were unearthed during excavation around Compo Beach.