Threads across the Ocean: Investigating European Cloth in New France through Lead Seal Analysis

Summary

This presentation will seek to highlight the use of lead seals ("bale seals") as documentary artifacts that reveal pertinent information relative to the varieties of cloth and merchant networks once connected with archaeological sites. Used in the 17-18th centuries to mark merchandise, especially cloth, these metal tags are found in Europe and at European colonial sites, where they remain as silent witnesses to the markets and consumers of the past. Their markings and imprints give us a glimpse into textile trade in the French Atlantic world. Included in this presentation will be a discussion of ongoing comparative research concerning seal collections from three French colonial sites (Fort Saint-Joseph, Fort Carillon, Fortress Louisbourg) that differ in function, location, occupation dates, and cultural environment. The steps in the analysis of seals and the way in which the collected evidence reflects differences and similarities in textile consumption between these sites will be considered. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions) 2017   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 272