Clusters of Beads: Testing for Time on the Carolina Frontier c.1680-1734
Author(s): Sarah Stroud Clarke; Jon Marcoux
Year: 2016
Summary
When analyzing archaeological sites with almost continual episodes of occupation, it is often difficult to discern distinct temporal periods; given this challenge archaeologists have long relied on a variety of methodological techniques to help narrow down dates of occupation. In 2012, Jon Marcoux published a new correspondence analysis study using over 35,000 glass trade beads in Native American mortuary contexts dated c.1607-1783 with the results indicating four discrete clusters of time. This paper tests the usefulness of this study on a colonial period frontier site on the Drayton Hall property outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The site is known to date to before c.1734 and possibly had at least two European occupations from 1680-1734. Glass trade beads from in and around sealed features from this time period are used to determine if it is possible to use this methodology on individual historic period sites to help define distinct occupation periods.
Cite this Record
Clusters of Beads: Testing for Time on the Carolina Frontier c.1680-1734. Sarah Stroud Clarke, Jon Marcoux. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434759)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Beads
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South Carolina
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Trade
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
c. 1680-1734
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 667