With This Bone I Thee Make

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "More than Pots and Pipes: New Netherland and a World Made by Trade" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Invisible yet famous, a small number of enslaved Africans were brought to Fort Orange in the seventeenth century. Their presence is known yet no objects have been tied to them. This paper explores the possibility that some worked bone objects made from domesticated mammals were crafted by enslaved Africans. While it is possible they were made by others, such as Native Americans or Europeans, some of these objects are unique in design while others appear to be expedient tools. It is well known that European manufacturers used domesticated mammal bone to make household objects such as handles for toothbrushes and other things like needle cases. However, the Fort Orange specimens are not standardized, but instead designed to serve specific needs. These objects are considered within the greater context of other worked bone assemblages found at sites where Africans and African Americans are known to have lived.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022   •
• More than Pots and Pipes: New Netherland and a World Made by Trade

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology