Cultural Identity and Remembrance at “French” Fort Chartres

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Colonial Archaeological Research in the American Midcontinent" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Built between 1754 and 1765 in southern Illinois, Fort de Chartres has been interpreted as a French settlement in historical and archaeological interpretations and reconstructions. This continues to be the case, despite a large British garrison and attached civilian workforce and traders who have been erased or villainized. This obscures any nuanced discussions of identity and the cultural affiliation of material goods, and flies in the face of a rich British documentary record that illuminates quantities, styles, and producers of these goods. As such, previous interpretations of the cultural affiliation of artifacts are compromised, and a recent re-examination of the assemblage suggests a better proxy argument for a British affiliation, especially when considering the impacts of geography, trade, and historical events. This assemblage, when corroborated with documents, reveals the intricate negotiation of identity that emerges from intersectional categories that aim to parse a culture of production of materials from a culture of use.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Colonial Archaeological Research in the American Midcontinent   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37855.0