The Sacred is Secular: An Analysis of Jesuit Rings Recovered from Colonial Sites throughout the Eastern Woodlands

Summary

“Jesuit” rings are unset finger rings mass-produced in France from the 16th to 18th centuries with Christian iconography stamped or etched into the ring face. In North America, archaeologists have primarily recovered these artifacts from sites throughout New France. Due to the close association of these objects with Indigenous sites and the Jesuit missionaries of New France, initial interpretations of these rings outside of the colony include discussions of the religious conversion of Indigenous communities. However, analysis of Jesuit rings recovered from the New France, Chesapeake, New England, and Pennsylvania colonies suggest more secularized interpretations are required. This paper seeks to reanalyze Jesuit rings recovered outside New France to discuss how these artifacts are proxies for the complex and variable political economies that developed from preexisting and new interregional relationships throughout the Eastern Woodlands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

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Contact(s): Nicole Haddow