Colonowares of the Apalachee Province of La Florida

Summary

Colonowares of the Apalachee Province of La Florida consist of plain and red painted pottery made in European vessel shapes by Apalachee potters between 1650 and 1702. This pottery, also known as “copy wares” or “mission ware,” represents hybrid products of transculturation that show elaboration or syncretization, in which newly introduced European vessel shapes provided the inspiration for vessels made by Apalachee potters using traditional materials and methods. Typical colonoware vessel forms at San Luis include brimmed plates and bowls with foot-ring bases, cups, pitchers, and storage jars with handles, candlestickholders, and long-handled skillet forms. It is presumed that this pottery was made at the instigation of the Spanish missionaries to supplement imported Hispanic-tradition tablewares that may have been in short supply. Vessel form distinguishes this pottery from most other colonowares from British colonial sites and Spanish colonial Hispaniola. Studies of colonowares from Mission San Luis de Talimali in Florida show that there is continuity with traditional Apalachee pottery in terms of indigenous materials and manufacturing techniques. This colonoware potting tradition was carried on when many San Luis Apalachee residents fled to Old Mobile in French colonial Louisiana in 1704.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Beyond the Ethnicity Debate: Examining the Many Contexts of Colonoware

Keywords

Spatial Coverage