Investigations in Global Material Culture

DOCUMENT Citation Only Maxime Poulain.

The Zwin-Scheldt estuary witnessed a turbulent history, with constantly changing occupations, landscape transformations and a complex urban-rural interaction following the outbreak of the Eighty Years’ War in 1567. However, three centuries of almost continuous warfare are hardly reflected in Flemish archaeological fieldwork. This presentation tries to uncover the underlying causes of this observation and illustrates the potential of research on military sites and material culture by the case of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Michele Hayeur Smith.

Textiles used for clothing provide direct evidence of cultural adaptations to climate change, the roles of textile producers as decision-makers adjusting to climate change, and regional variability in strategies responding to local and regional patterns of climate change. NSF-funded project, Rags to Riches, has been examining archaeologically recovered textiles from Iceland-from AD 874, until AD 1800. Textile technologies are often conservative, yet the long time span covered by this project has...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Jessica Goodwin.

In 2012, an abandoned well was discovered beneath the porch at the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House in Boise, Idaho. The house, now a part of the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, is already a cultural and historical landmark, both for its importance to Boise’s early history and its Basque population. The nearly 16,000 artifacts recovered in 2012 shed light on the house’s earliest occupation by the Jacobs family, from 1864-1907. The material culture of the Jacobs family reflects how they were...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Justin Eichelberger.

The presence of beverage alcohol containers and smoking pipes recovered from the Fort Yamhill company kitchen is undeniable evidence for the consumption of such indulgence items at this military post. The historical and archival record is not only laden with evidence of this behavior but also suggests that these forts were punctuated by periods of the institutional prohibition concerning the consumption of alcohol while the consumption of tobacco was actively encouraged. The spatial distribution...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Patrick Garrow.

True time capsules are very rare in historical archaeology. Most of the sites we investigate consist of architectural remains, middens, and features. The artifacts collected from middens often span the entire occupation history of the site. Features may represent frozen moments in time, but rarely reflect the total material culture present in the household. Further, features contain artifacts that have been removed from their household context and discarded. The site discussed in this paper...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Catherine Hawkins.

English Border ware was produced along the Surrey-Hampshire border in southern England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was distributed to all parts of England as well as to colonies in North America. Various collections of Border ware ceramics that have been excavated at archaeological sites in Newfoundland will be analysed to obtain a broader understanding of the presence of this ceramic type during the early years of colonization. By studying and comparing the collections of...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Martijn Van Den Bel.

The excavations at Eva 2 near Malmanoury yielded an important early and late historic ceramic assemblage. Their study reflect the transformation of Amerindian society from the pre-Columbian Late Ceramic Age to modern times which is supported by historical documents and Amerindian oral tradition for the western coastal region of French Guiana. We recognize a high level of cultural continuity until the end of the 19th century ; however, on the one hand, material culture and notably ceramics reveal...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara Ferland.

As one of the youngest states in the Union, Arizona is often thought of as not having much in the way of historical cultural resources. The Spanish mission and presidio sites in the southern part of the state have been well documented; however the later Euro-American mining, homesteading, and ranching sites are often overlooked due to poor preservation, lack of interest, and lack of trained historical archaeologists. This paper will serve to illuminate these issues and offer potential...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Boufassa Sami.

La céramique est un élément de décoration de la façade coloniale à Bejaia en Algérie. Interpréter la présence de cet élément décoratif est l’objectif de ce travail. Cela porte sur sa fonction et son utilité, sur son emplacement à travers la paroi verticale, sur son rôle comme signe qui peut véhiculer non seulement des messages mais créer surtout des ambiances. La façade sur rue a été une nouveauté dans le paysage architectural traditionnel algérien. La décoration est venue renforcer cette...

DOCUMENT Full-Text Eric Schweickart.

Over the course of the eighteenth century, individuals around the world began to embrace new ideas regarding the meanings inherent in the act of consuming household goods. As novel ways of signaling wealth became popular at all social levels, the production and acquisition of more commodified objects increased. This paper introduces a methodology for understanding a particular household’s ideological views through the classification of their ceramic vessels based on how commodified the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Eric Teixeira-Mendes.

This presentation will examine the significance of Japanese omamori (personal amulets) as artifacts. Disseminated by both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, omamori are organic objects, constantly adapting to the society in which they are made. Through their near innumerable variety of forms and functions, omamori embody both the changing concerns and aesthetic tastes of the public that these institutions serve, as well as the degree to which religious institutions perceive and accommodate...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Tânia Casimiro. Rosa Varela Gomes. Mário Varela Gomes.

Portuguese pottery was largely exported to several parts of the world from late 15th to late 17th century. Its presence is confirmed in archaeological sites but also in written evidence such as port books, probate inventories and other records, travelling with products such as wine, olive oil, sugar, etc.The combination of these two sources permits to conclude that Portuguese ceramics were a recognizable production due to its quality but mostly due to its decoration, colours and shapes. From the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Christine Heacock.

Plantation owners during the 18th to mid-19th century were known for lavish dinners and generous hospitality towards other elite families. Depending on one’s success and reputation, planters varied in the expectations placed upon them regarding food consumed, ceramics used, and alcoholic beverages offered. These meals are perhaps more appropriately examined as feasts aimed at serving a variety of purposes for hosts. This paper is a preliminary comparative analysis of planters’ feasting...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Lan Ngo Thi.

Tiles are one of the important architectural component materials in the traditional architectural of Vietnam. Decorative tiles contribute to making building more beautiful and solemn. The paper introduces the tile decorations found in Northern Vietnam aims to understand the production, processing technique as well as decorations on tiles in the 15th to the late 18th century. On the basis of the set of resources from the findings of the French scholar, the discovery and study of the Vietnamese...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Melanie Marquis. Mara Kaktins. Ruth Ann Armitage. Daniel Fraser.

An analysis of ceramics excavated from Ferry Farm, George Washington’s Boyhood Home, revealed that a minimum of five vessels exhibited glue residue. These table and teawares are associated with Mary Washington, George’s mother, and have raised a number of questions. What is the composition of the glues? How were the adhesives prepared and would their production leave a signature on the landscape? What compelled Mary to mend these wares? What do these sociotechnic artifacts say about a woman...