Though Fort Pike was completely without any form of modern trash at the time of my visit, one thing with which it was liberally littered was barrel hoops. While relatively rare today, wooden barrels, the only means by which any number of food, powder or liquid supplies could dependably be stored in the 19th century, would have been ubiquitous at any American starfort. Presumably when the fort was tidied up for visitors, the remaining metal bands that held barrels together were left where they lay, being an inexpensive reminder of the period that wished to be represented.