(Conjectural sketch by Sidney
E. King.)]
DAIRYING AND CHEESEMAKING
Earthenware milk pans, bowls and pots, iron hoops (from wooden vessels),
an earthenware funnel, and parts of skimmers, sieves, and ladles have
been excavated. All these are evidence that dairying was an important
household industry. This activity was usually carried on in a
brick-paved room (with slatted windows) located on the northwest side of
the house. Cheese, as well as butter, was probably made in the same
room.
[Illustration: LEAD AND COPPER PIPES, KETTLE FRAGMENTS, A BRASS SPIGOT,
AND OTHER ITEMS FOUND WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN USED FOR BREWING OR DISTILLING
PURPOSES.]
BAKING
One of the largest objects that has been found is an earthenware baking
oven, which was unearthed in an old ditch near the site of the
May-Hartwell House. Restored from over 200 fragments, the oven was
probably used between 1650 and 1690. It may have been made at Jamestown,
molded of native clay and fired in a pottery kiln. In use, heated stones
were placed inside the oven and left until the walls were hot enough for
baking. Sometimes, however, the oven may have been placed directly on
the embers of the fire. It undoubtedly was used out of doors, near a
small house.
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