"Where Ornament and Function are so Agreeably Combined" Redux: A New Look at Consumer Choice Studies Using English Ceramic Wares at Several 19th Century Fur Trade Sites Along the Columbia River

Summary

This paper takes a new look at my 2006  doctoral dissertation, where I analyzed over 20,000 British-manufactured ceramic ware sherds excavated from archaeological households at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington. These archaeological households are located both within the ca. 1829-1860Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Vancouver palisade site, as well as in the associated employee (Kanaka) Village site. This allows for synthesis of the data and to compare household dynamics from a broad spectrum of socio-economic class associated households. Data from ceramic sherds were synthesized to define the minimum number of vessels and decorative patterns by household, and these data were used to create economic value indexes utilizing the George Miller CC Index. The results of this dissertation are now compared with ceramic assemblages from several other British fur trade forts located along the lower Columbia River, as well as several Chinookan Village sites. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• A Different Angle of View: Doing Contemporary Historical Archaeology from the West

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 171