Two Atlantic Worlds Collide in Arkansas: Spanish Coins from the 1830s Mercantile District in Historic Washington, Arkansas

Summary

Traditionally, the Atlantic World concept has been used to frame analyses of places on the eastern seaboard of the United States, as the ties with Europe were strongest during the colonial period and clearest along coastline. However, these economic spheres extended their reach well beyond the coastlines and ports. Surprisingly, the interface between two of these Atlantic worlds’the British and Spanish Atlantics’can be found in southwestern Arkansas in the 1830s. During 2011 and 2012 excavations at Historic Washington State Park, in the city’s old commercial district, Arkansas Archeological Society members recovered four Spanish coins. These small silver disks, all minted in the late 18th century, evoke the commerce, licit or otherwise, that flowed back and forth between these two worlds.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Revelatory Power of an Artifact in Context   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-14,01