From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
The French maritime empire enabled the continued colonization of territories all over the world and was built upon the backs of those in lower socioeconomic classes. This session will focus on those who were necessary to or heavily impacted by the French maritime structure, and whose agency and importance is often overlooked, like French sailors, settlers, enslaved populations, and shipwrights. Focus will be given to processes often seen as static that were, in reality, extremely dynamic, such as the negotiation and struggle between the center of power and marginalized populations, and the complex reality of technological knowledge which is far removed from the polished image of a united national tradition. This isn’t the story of kings, generals, or political leaders; this is an exploration of the perspectives of those that provided the fuel for the French maritime empire – this is the story of the French maritime empire from the bottom.
Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex •
Settlements •
Domestic Structures •
Water-Related •
Shipping-Related Structure •
Shipwreck
Other Keywords
Maritime Archaeology •
France •
History •
Trade •
Material Culture •
Methods •
Shipbuilding •
Navigation •
Social Theory •
Science
Culture Keywords
Historic •
Euroamerican
Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview •
Collections Research •
Data Recovery / Excavation •
Historic Background Research
Material Types
Ceramic •
Fauna
Temporal Keywords
Colonial •
Modern •
16th Century •
1600-1900 •
1750-1800 •
XVII-XVIII centuries •
18th-19th •
1680-1760 •
Modern and contemporary periods
Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) •
Massachusetts (State / Territory) •
New York (State / Territory) •
New Hampshire (State / Territory) •
Idaho (State / Territory) •
Maine (State / Territory) •
Wisconsin (State / Territory) •
Michigan (State / Territory) •
Washington (State / Territory) •
Minnesota (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-11 of 11)
- Documents (11)
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An "Abri" for French Migratory Fishermen? The Evolution of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon’s Salt-Cod Fisheries, 1670-1970. (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Traditionally viewed as a marginal French settlement, the small islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon were in fact an essential component to French colonial expansion. Afterall, the transatlantic migratory salt-cod fishery was how European nations first made commercial use of North America....
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Archaeology and History of Sea People in French West Indies (end 18th – 19th century) (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For Colonial period, research in West-Indies History and Archaeology focused to date on naval, economical or risks aspects. Though it is possible and necessary to study maritime history through a socio economic prism in order to access to the relationship to the sea of coastal inhabitants or...
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Becoming Jack Tar: The Vessel as a Center for the Construction of Identity (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Vessels during the Age of Sail in the French maritime empire served multiple vital functions, both economical and cultural, and were the nexus of multiple important historical narratives, including wars, the peak of Atlantic piracy, and the transatlantic slave trade. However, the vessel did not...
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Framing Pattern and Shipwright Agency: Understanding the Uniformization of the French Navy in the Late 17th century (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Sunk in 1692 at the Battle of La Hougue during the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the wrecks of Saint-Philippe, Magnifique, Merveilleux, Foudroyant, and Ambitieux constituted what is considered to be the first navy of France. These ships were built by master shipwrights who were already seasoned...
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The French or the British: Who Built "Better" Ships? (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Throughout the 1700s, France and Great Britain warred over command of the sea. Internally, administrators of both countries, inspired by the rationalism of the Enlightenment, pushed shipwrights to design ships scientifically, convinced that this would give their navy an edge in battle. Shipwrights...
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In The Wake of Malouin Fishermen : Ceramic Evidence of the Transatlantic Triangular Cod Trade, 17th-18th centuries. (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Archaeological collections in Canada from the 17th and 18th centuries contain North-Mediterranean ceramics, in contexts related to Saint-Malo fisheries. This paper retraces the route of Mediterranean ceramics to study triangular Atlantic trade and ceramic diffusion routes. To link these ceramics...
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Pêcher à Miquelon: Provisioning Routes of Crève Coeur, Martinique (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The expansion of the French empire throughout the colonial era relied heavily on the labour and enslaved labour of displaced individuals. The historic Saint-Pierre and Miquelon cod fishery exploited this labour to fund and feed the empire. Cod would become a key commodity in the transatlantic...
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Rhenish stoneware in New France: German potters, Breton traders, New France consumers (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The ceramic record of New France is dominated by coarse earthenware, faïence and stoneware produced in various pottery centres of France, with local varieties also found in the Saint-Lawrence-Valley. Within this French Atlantic pottery-scape, Rhenish stoneware represents a small but significant...
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Ships As "Social Spaces": Analysing Shipwrecks From A Social Perspective (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. When Keith Muckelroy (1978) conceptualised ships as machines, closed social spaces and extensions of land-based systems, he didn’t equip his ideas with working methods for analysing shipwrecks. Similarly, Richard Gould (2000) didn’t undergird his “social history of ships” with clear methods. Given...
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The Trials of Trinité: the Discovery and Archaeological Potential of Jean Ribault’s 1565 Flagship (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. With the 450th anniversary of French colonization at Fort Caroline (Jacksonville, Florida) in 2014, both state and LAMP archaeologists attempted searches to find the remains of Jean Ribault’s four shipwrecks. While these attempts were inconclusive, in 2016 a treasure hunting company found a...
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Underwater and Intertidal Archaeology of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (France) (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "From the Bottom Up: Socioeconomic Archaeology of the French Maritime Empire" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Within the French Maritime Empire, the Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon archipelago (SPM) represents a rare example of a colony mainly devoted to the exploitation of maritime wealth. As such, SPM appears as an exception within the French Empire. Its history is closely linked to the Great cod fishing, that...