Horseshoes

17th-Century Horseshoe
17th-Century Horseshoe

Horses were extremely rare in the English colonies in the first half of the 17th century and not all horses needed to be shod, meaning that we wouldn’t expect a large number of horseshoes to date to the 17th century occupation of the site. As such, only 4 horseshoe fragments have been found at Jamestown that date to the Early Fort Period. It is possible that all four shoes belonged to a single one of the horses that was brought to Virginia with the Third Supply just before the Starving Time winter of 1609-1610. As we know from documentary sources and the analysis of the horse bones themselves, the horses were butchered and consumed when food supplies were scarce. Based on the number of nail holes, it appears that the horse that at least one of the shoes belonged to suffered from a severe hoof injury.

In addition to the four early 17th century horseshoes, there are about 20 horseshoes or horseshoe fragments in the collection. Two mule shoes have also been recovered, as evidenced by their different shape. While the majority of the horseshoes date to the 19th-20th century occupation of the site, a couple of examples of 18th century shoes have also been recovered. These differences can be seen in the width and thickness of the shoes, with the branches of the horseshoes typically becoming more narrow and thicker as hand wrought techniques changed to machine-made. Features that show indications of the manufacturing processes such as fullering (the fuller is the channel in the shoe that the nail holes sit in) can be a good indicator of time. Later machine-made horseshoes have a very precise fuller, whereas earlier handmade horseshoes may have more irregular channels. There are additional features that can help with dating, though none appear on Jamestown’s collection of horseshoes.

Horseshoes are interesting artifacts that can provide insight into multiple aspects of life. The most obvious is in the use and presence of horses whether for riding or agricultural purposes. However, horseshoes can also be apotropaic items and are used as protection for households. As such, characteristics such as use wear and archaeological context can be vital in determining the purpose of each individual shoe.

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