Crafting Culture at Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation of Labor Organization on the Colonial Frontier

Brock Giordano

Crafting Culture at Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation of Labor Organization on the Colonial Frontier

Part of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological project

Year: 2005

Summary

The study of labor organization through the examination of craft production in complex societies has been a topic of intense scholarly interest (Blackman et al. 1993; Costin and Hagstrum 1995; Shafer and Hester 1991). A number of scholars have hypothesized that goods produced in mass quantities by particular specialists can be recognized by their high degree of standardization or homogeneity (Blackman et al. 1993:61; Schiffer and Skibo 1997). As such, this study employs the theoretical framework that in an archaeological context it is possible to differentiate centralized production from noncentralized production by identifying any standardization or variation within the manufacturing techniques used and formal style of the final forms created. This study investigates the way labor was organized in the context of Native American and French populations in the western Great Lakes fur trade at Fort St. Joseph. Specifically, this study examines the degree of standardization or variation in the technological metalworking practices and morphological variation associated with one form of material culture – the tinkling cone.

Cite this Record

Crafting Culture at Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation of Labor Organization on the Colonial Frontier. Brock Giordano. 2005 ( tDAR id: 372265) ; doi:10.6067/XCV84X560P