MACKINAW CITY, MICHIGAN—According to an Associated Press report, archaeologists at Fort Michilimackinac have unearthed a serpent-shaped sideplate that belonged to an eighteenth-century British trade rifle used by fur traders on the Straits of Mackinac. Only four gun parts have previously been found in the last 12 years of excavations at the site, which was a nexus of British, French, and Native American commerce, and now houses a reconstruction of a colonial-era trade village. Plans are in place for the serpent sideplate to be analyzed and conserved in a labaratory, and to eventually go on display along with other recent discoveries at the fort, which include a silver trade brooch, a door hinge, and a large piece of feather creamware. To read more about the archaeology of colonial-era America, go to "Letter from Philadelphia."