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These two flintlock hammers were recovered during excavations at Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village site in Shawnee County and the site of the 2012 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school. The hammer, or mechanism as it is sometimes called, was used for flintlock muskets, pistols, and rifles. The hammer is pulled back into a cocked position, then when released, it moves the gunflint, held in the hammer jaws, down to create a spark which ignites the gunpowder. The difference between this view and the linked view is that the hammers have now been cleaned by electrolysis which passes an electrical current through a liquid solution to separate the rust from the artifact.
Date: 1828-1844
Item Number: 455886
Call Number: 14SH305-3212-1 & 14SH305-3742-1
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 455886
Collections - Archeology
Military - Weapons - Firearms
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Material/Stone Type - Iron
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Site Name - Fool Chief's Village
People - American Indians - Tribes - Kanza (Kaw)
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/455886