Practical and Preferable: An Analysis of Portuguese Coarseware on Virginia’s Northern Neck

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "A Land Unto Itself: Virginia's Northern Neck, Colonialism, And The Early Atlantic", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The John Hallowes site is a 17th-century fortified house site located in Westmoreland County, Virginia. A reanalysis conducted in 2010-2012 determined that the site was occupied beginning in 1647, when John Hallowes and his family moved from Maryland just after Ingle’s Rebellion, and likely ended when later tenants were evicted in 1681. Hallowes’ diverse roles, including his involvement in colonial politics and Anglo-Indigenous trade, have previously been discussed. However, the reanalysis of this site also included a minimum vessel count (n=199) which identified a large quantity of Portuguese coarseware vessels (n=46). Of the Portuguese vessels, many are multi-use forms similar to milk pans and bowls, which would have been readily available from local or English potters. This paper will discuss possible connections between the Northern Neck and Portuguese markets, as well as potential consumer choices driving this trade.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• A Land Unto Itself: Virginia's Northern Neck, Colonialism, And The Early Atlantic   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow