Examining Economic Agency within the Colonial Economy: Chemical and Isotopic Analysis of Glass Trade Beads and Lead Shot from 18th Century Pensacola

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

How effective were Spanish economic institutions in a borderland region and what role did both colonial and native people play in disrupting or contributing to those economic institutions by expressing varying degrees of economic agency? Colonial Pensacola, Florida provides an ideal stage to witness where monolithic trade policies meet economic reality. The Spanish missions of San Antonio de Punta Rasa and San Joseph de Escambe were both peripheral to direct Spanish control but proximal to French and British settlements. Using LA-ICP-MS and OES techniques this study uses the chemical and isotopic composition of glass beads and lead shot in conjunction with a close examination of historical documents to provide evidence of how goods moved through colonial and indigenous landscapes, foregrounding the importance of economic agency among settlers and natives, even when these practices challenged idealized models of mercantilism and colonial government regulations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• 2020 SHA Poster Submissions

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 512