Dutch Treats: Archaeological Evidence of the Dutch Trade with Seventeenth-Century Virginians

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "From Maryland’s Ancient [Seat] and Chief of Government: Papers in Honor of Henry M. Miller" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Through the years, scholars have acknowledged that, aside from the English, no Europeans were more involved in the commercial and political affairs of the seventeenth-century Chesapeake than the Dutch. Dr. Henry Miller’s archaeological research in Historic St. Mary’s City has indicated that the Dutch presence is not represented through large numbers of Dutch-made objects, but is most clearly indicated in the Netherlandish architecture and use of space. This paper will examine the material culture found on Virginia’s colonial sites and will argue that there is a strong Dutch artifact signature—not necessarily in Dutch-made objects, but in the types of household goods they were trading to the English colonists for tobacco. This trade was underway by the 1620s and continued throughout the 17th century despite attempts by the English government to curtail the Dutch trade.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Maryland’s Ancient [Seat] and Chief of Government: Papers in Honor of Henry M. Miller   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 854