MACKINAW CITY, MI - Excavators at Colonial Michilimackinac uncovered a 250-year-old piece of trade silver earlier this week; their second big find this summer.

According to Dr. Lynn Evans, curator of archaeology at Mackinac State Historic Parks, the triangle-shaped artifact has a small hole in it, which means it was likely part of an earring or pendent worn around 1765.

The piece was pulled from the same fur trader's home where a Revolutionary War-era lock was unearthed in June.

Trade silver is an excellent marker for the British era of the fur trade. The piece would have likely been used to trade for furs and pelts, Evans said.

She and her team found a smaller piece of trade silver several years ago, but it's a pretty rare find

"We don't find a lot of it at Fort Michilimackinac," she said. "We were really excited.

Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, it is preserved as an open-air historical museum, with several reconstructed wooden buildings and palisade.