Be Our Guest: Tablescapes in Early Modern Ulster

Summary

The ethnic relationships found in colonial settings are complicated and varied negotiations that are hard to decipher in the present, much less in the past. Performance of ethnic allegiance may be influenced by oppressive legal structures, systemic racism, reformation or resistance movements, and personal taste. As archaeologists have adopted more nuanced readings of material culture and its relationship to ethnic performance, such as the use of Homi Bhabha’s concept of the third space and hybridity, we have developed a new interpretation of life in a colonial setting.

The area known as Ulster is one such region where complex ethnic relationships are evident in the past, as well as in the present. This paper presents some preliminary results of my dissertation which seeks to understand better the relationships between native Gaelic Irish residents, Plantation English colonists, and immigrant Scottish settlers in Northern Ireland through their use of tablescapes and ceramics as markers of ethnicity, economic class, and market opportunity. This study looks specifically at the trade of ceramics in Early Modern Ulster, to see if there are patterns that can be discerned and related to ethnic affiliations through XRF data about parent materials, and archival information about land ownership.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Proper ID Required: Difficulties in Discerning Past Identities

Keywords

Spatial Coverage