Spurs

Spurs are one of the many artifact types that exemplify how important it was to the gentlemen present at Jamestown to maintain an appearance of social standing and elite values, despite their circumstances far from the English court society.  While today these objects are used mostly for functional purposes, in the 17th century they were often worn as ornamental dress accessories. Look carefully at the shoes in full-length portraits and other paintings of gentlemen, including one of Thomas Gates who was an important figure in the colony’s early history, and you’ll likely spot some fancy spurs. Archaeological finds from Jamestown supports this supposition. While only 7-8 sets of horse gear are present in the collection excavated to date, over 100 individual spurs have been found. Though there are a few likely matched pairs, many appear to not have matches or are too degraded to tell. Additionally, spurs have been recovered from features which date throughout the 17th century, while horses were few and far between. The first known horses arrived in 1609 and were consumed during the Starving Time winter.

There is huge variation in the style of spurs worn by the colonists at Jamestown. Both copper alloy and iron spurs have been recovered as well as a few examples that are comprised of both material types. There are also various forms and combinations of arm styles, rowel shapes and sizes, terminals, and studs. Additionally, some of the copper alloy spurs are elaborately decorated, including one example with a gilded neck punched to look like scales.

Despite the plethora of spurs, only a few are still complete spurs with all of their parts intact. This is likely due to the delicate nature of certain elements as well as some of the elements being detachable even when the spur was in use. For instance, studs and buckles are often missing as they are typically separate objects attached to the main spur.

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