A 'pebble' found in NC tavern ruins was really a coded message among Colonial rebels

[bluedigger]

A clump of dirt initially dismissed as nothing more than a pebble has turned out to be one of the most significant 18th Century artifacts ever found in North Carolina, archaeologists say.

“No bigger than a pea,” the clump was washed to reveal a pressed glass jewel, etched with a Colonial-era code: “Wilkes and Liberty 45.”

Archaeologist Charles Ewen told McClatchy those words were infamously seditious in the 1760s, and indicate the excavated tavern in Brunswick Town was likely a den of rebellious Americans.

“That was a rallying cry for those in opposition of King George III,” says Ewen, director of Phelps Archaeology Laboratory at East Carolina University.

“John Wilkes was a pamphleteer who often published works critical of the government. Brunswick Town was a hotbed of sedition, being among the first to oppose the Stamp Act, and what better place than a tavern to find confirmation of these sentiments?”

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation reports Wilkes was an Englishman idolized by Americans at the time. The number 45 refers to a notorious Wilkes pamphlet, which dared say the King was not above reproach, according to the foundation.

Ewen’s dig at the tavern made national news in June, when he revealed a fire in the 1760s caused the walls to collapse on top of a trove of well preserved artifacts in the crawl space.

The glass jewel was found next a wall and was part of a cufflink, parts of which were also found, he said. Similar cufflinks with the message have been found in England, he added.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article232283702.html?fbclid=IwAR34qJgitDu7ABMejXMTjmtNSoemVJtazehVCzKcORETfBiDxDNWGPxISAg

Now, that's a good find!