Jamestown: Part 6. Scottish Plack found in a mysterious Cellar

Jamestown is full of mysteries. The excavations pose as many questions as they answer. This is what keeps me coming back for more.
   Pit 5 was discovered about 10 years ago. At the bottom, it was rectangular at 3' deep and measuring 5'6" by 3'8" -- as such, it was judged to be a cellar. Oddly, this feature is located north (and a tad east) of the "Factory" that was built just outside (and attached to) the palisade wall at the southeast fort extension of 1608. As such, Pit 5 was not aligned with the fort wall or the Factory.
   It was a structure located outside the fort!
   What was it used for?

   The stratigraphy suggested a date range of 1608 to 1610. There were no less than eight layers of trash fill, all coming from the west, so the cellar was sealed soon after the fort was cleaned up following the horrific winter of 1609-10. Many small animal bones found at the bottom of Pit 5 suggest that this cellar was occupied during the starving time.

Scottish plack of James VI. 

   Also found in Pit 5 were trading items and weaponry: sherds of Indian pottery, beads (53 of them), and scrap copper (550 bits). Sword parts, bandolier cylinders, and matchlock components were found too. This does not sound like a residence. It appears more like the Factory, as this structure had many trading items as well (the Factory has been described as a storehouse and trading center). There is no clear link between the two structures but for crossmending in the trash fill. Consequently, they are of the same period.
   Two coins were found in Pit 5, one of them at the bottom in a sealed context (that is to say, it was buried before the trash began to pile up in 1610 or so). So what was it?
   A Scottish plack. What is that? Well, that is what I said. I never heard of one before.
   The piece is a thin billon coin valued at eight pence in Scottish money. At the time, a plack was valued at only a third of a penny in English money. The coin is smaller than an English sixpence (more like a groat) and contains very little silver. It was minted before James VI ascended to the English throne (1567 to 1603). On the obverse (pictured) it shows a shield with lion; the reverse depicts a crowned thistle.
   I wonder if any other placks have been found in a North American colonial context?
   It is a scarce coin but available with some diligence. You will have to get familiar with coin dealers in the UK to find one. The Jamestown piece makes it part of the American colonial series -- just barely. I doubt that it ever circulated, so some folks will not want to include it in their collections. Still, it is a Jamestown relic from the early fort period. Perhaps the plack was a keepsake?
   By the way, the other coin (found in the trash fill) was an Irish penny dated 1602. These were profiled last January). Irish coppers were scattered about the fort and were probably in the debris that was moved about to fill in the cellars collapsing buildings after the colony nearly vanished during the starving time.