We have a photo of a pre-Columbian, three-legged metate that measures only 3.25 inches in length, by 1.5 inches tall. It is said to be made from vesicular basalt and may have been used for grinding herbs or pigments. This small metate would serve essentially the same function as a mortar and pestle. (See figure 21)
Figure 21 - 3.25" Pre Columbian Metate
Among the earliest people in North America to use millstones were the Cochise, of southeastern Arizona. Carbon-14 testing dates the Cochise Culture to at least as early as 9,000 years ago. The use of such tools indicates extensive reliance on plants as food. As the huge animals of the Pleistocene epoch disappeared, prehistoric man began to turn to foraging for plants and for smaller game such as deer, and antelope. (America’s Fascinating Indian Heritage. Editor, James A. Maxwell. Pg. 24 Pleasantville, N. Y., Reader’s Digest Association, 1978)
A Sailing Vessel’s Knee
During the year 2000 salvage season the motor vessel Esmeralda recovered an intact, one piece wooden knee from the Rio Mar wreck site, and tagged as artifact number 46636 (See figure 22). This knee weighs 7.8 kilo’s, and the measurements are shown on the illustration. (See figure 23) It is not known what type of wood it is made of although a sample will be taken for analysis. Neither is it known what type of vessel this was a part of or where in the structure it may have come from. It may be possible to at some future date determine these answers.
 Figure 22 - Photo of artifact #46636 |
 Figure 23 - sketch with dimensions #46636 |
The wooden sailing ship is made up of a vast number of components, all fastened together to make a complicated and difficult creation. A 74 gun English ship built around 1760 would require roughly 150,000ft.³ of timber. (The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War, 1650-1850, pg. 3) These colossal demands for timber over the centuries depleted the forests of the English countryside’s, and by the 1680’s the problem necessitated the importation of materials from the Baltic. Eventually, the manner in which vessels were built using fewer individual pieces in the 1650’s, entailed using a number of shorter pieces scarphed and bolted together to make the same piece in the 1750’s. This actually resulted in construction that was far stronger than the original method. (The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War, 1650-1850) Towards the end of the 18th century the utility of wrought iron was recognized and the hanging knees, which supported the deck beams, were braced with flat iron plate knees. (See figure 24, "The Overlook Illustrated Dictionary of Nautical Terms", by: Graham Blackburn)
Figure 24 - Ship Cross-Section showing use of knew: Blackburn
Soon the use of iron was extended to other areas of the ship. No matter the materials used, in the age of fighting sail (1650-1850) the ships were a bewilderingly complex assortment of parts and pieces having names like rising wood, crutch, gripe, breast hook and futtock. These are only a very few of the timber parts used in the frames alone.
When a sailing ship was on the open water she lived by the wind, and good winds were noisy, often shrieking and screaming through the gigantic maze of rigging. (The visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms under Sail, Calls and Commands, Alan Villiers) This was not weather to be feared for it was wind and weather of this kind that drove the Spanish ships in the early 18th century along at average speeds of about 6 knots. The warships of the Flota could go faster but the slow pace was necessary because the slowest vessels would determine the speed of the others.
Most of the vessels of the 1715-Treasure Fleet were low-profile frigates. (Florida’s Golden Galleons, Burgess/Clausen, pg.11) Frigates were known as the racehorses of the fleet. Stoutly built and able to outrun most any other warship, they carried plenty of firepower if they needed to stand and fight. These ships were built to flourish in strong winds and rough seas. When the frigate was not hampered by the need to maintain a pace no faster than the worst sailor of the fleet, she could surely reach speeds of 9 knots. In fact a few generations later, the United States Frigate Constitution would log a speed of 13.5 knots. This would have been mach-one of the day. (The Frigate Constitution and other Historic Ships, F. Alexander Magoun Pg. 104 Bonanza Books, New York)
The construction of a ship was a systematic progression of logical processes learned over time. Nothing was done on impulse, nor was there rapid change-tried and proven methods were strictly adhered to. The men who built ships knew what was needed to make a safe, sea-worthy vessel. As ships became larger and heavier, they became faster and more stress was applied to the structure. As a ship makes way, pushed along by strong winds and rolling seas, it does not stiffly plunge up and down on the waves. Instead, the hull twists and bends causing timbers to move and work, and the rigging to creak and groan. The whole structure is flexed. This is as it should be and because all those structural components work together as one unit, the vessel remains seaworthy.
A critical component of the ship was a part called the "knee". The knee is an angled piece of timber, generally used to connect the beams of a ship with the sides or frames. Knees are said to be lodging or hanging (although there are more types of knee than these) with the former was fixed horizontally and the latter, vertically. (The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms under Sail, The Ship-Basic Terms, Villiars) The knee was an "L" shaped brace that served the same function as a shelf support in a bookcase. The knee was part of the internal stiffening, along with beams, carlings and ledges. The group of timbers that comprised the internal stiffening both supported the decks and gave lateral rigidity to the vessel, thus preventing racking. The effect can be likened to collapsing a matchbox by exerting a force on one of its top edges in the direction of the opposite corner. (The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War, 1650-1850, pg. 65)
The Swords
For thousands of years the sword has been the Prince of weapons. Of all weapons the sword has had the greatest impact on our imagination. In the introduction to his famous work, (‘The Book of The Sword", Richard F. Burton says ")The Sword killed and cured; the hero when hopeless fell upon his Sword; and the heroine, like Lucretia and Calphurnia, used the blade standing. The Sword cut the Gordian knot of every difficulty. The Sword was the symbol of justice and of martyrdom, and accompanied the wearer to the tomb as well as to the feast and the fight." (The Book of the Sword. Richard F. Burton. Dover Publications, Inc. 31 East 2nd St. Mineola, New York. Pp. xv-xvi). 2,000 years ago the Roman historian Livy wrote this account of how one weapon changed history." Arms were cut off, heads separated from bodies and other disgusting sights". He was writing about the Spanish sword. (The History Channel. Arms in Action -The Sword) The Spanish swords must have been excellent in quality since the Romans adopted them after the Carthaginian war. (Spanish Industrial Arts. Juan F. Riano. Pp. 80 Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. New York: Scribner and Welford. 1879).
Historical and archaeological evidence show that the large majority of swords were personally owned during this period and were not supplied by the military, nor were they a standardized government type. In fact, during the period of 1500-1700 it is an easier matter to show a lack of officially supplied swords than not. As a result the sword served not only for defense but also to display the wealth, status, military rank, and political or religious affiliations of their owners. Evidence that swords were privately purchased can be found in (Consulate of the Sea, published in Barcelona on July 14, 1494). It says that every sailor aboard the vessel, "..is required to equip himself with proper weapons, as follows: a strong chain of mail, helmet, headgear, a broadsword, two crossbows in good condition, a grappling hook, a quiver, and two hundred common or feathered arrows, and must use these weapons in defense of the vessel every time he is ordered to do so by the officer in charge."(Consulate of the Sea and Related Documents. The University of Alabama Press, 1975 pp. 266-267)
Further evidence can be found in( The Conquistadors: First Person Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico, Patricia de Fuentes, University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. Pg. 17). The introduction to the Andres de Tapia chronicle says the conquistadors had to buy their own equipment and received no pay until the profits or booty was divided among the participants.
The Archivo listed is a typical inventory in regards to the dearth of swords shipped to the colonies prior to 1587. AGI Contaduría 283, 2
Accounts of the Factor Antonio de Eguino
Of the preparation for the armada
of General don Jaime Rasquin
1559-1560
Translated by R. Wayne Childers
October, 1999
The things that His Majesty commands to be sent to the Viceroy of New Spain are the following:
2 bronze artillery pieces of 20 quintals apiece with 200 iron balls
2 bronze artillery pieces of each 15 quintals with 300 iron balls
15 breech loading bronze falconets of about 8 to 10 quintals apiece with 600 balls
150 standard arquebuses {purchased them and charged with them}
Item: 50 small breastplates {purchased and charged with them}
Item: 50 Basque corslets {purchased them and charged with them}
Item: 100 morions {purchased the morions and charged with them}
Item: 50 round shields {purchased them and charged with them}
Item: 1000 javelins {purchased 1,108 and made a charge for them}
Item: 200 darts {purchased 206 and made charge for them}
Item: 200 half pikes {purchased 206 and made charge for them}
Item: 100 pikes {purchased 108 of them and made charge for them}
Item: 40 quintals of powder and 10 of sulfur {purchased 10 quintals of sulfur)
In the month of November 1570, Alonso Scudero, an ensign in the province of Florida, was asked to make a recommendation concerning supplies needed by the Spanish manning the forts of San Pedro, Santa Elena, and St. Augustine. "And
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