Squeezing Ceramics for More than Their Worth: Boundary Maintenance at an 18th-Century Port in New Jersey

Archaeological excavations and associated documentary studies at Raritan Landing, an 18th/19th-century port site on the Raitan River in Piscataway, New Jersey, suggested that the relationship between this small community of traders and New York City merchants changed during the years preceding the Revolutionary War. Diminshing kinship, commercial, and institutional ties between the Raritan Landing traders and New York investors appeared to reflect increasing independence from New York domination over time. When the ceramics recovered from pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary-period deposits were compared to deposits from several sites in Manhattan and another site within New York, a pattern emerged that has been interpreted as another indication of New Jersey\u27s increasing independence from New York. Interpreted in the context of boundary maintenance theory, this ceramic study contributes a different perspective on New Jersey\u27s history than is available from other sources

On the Edge: a study of Spanish colonisation fleets to the West Pacific and archaeological assemblages from the Solomon Islands

This thesis explores Spanish colonisation through the provisioning of colonisation fleets to the West Pacific during the 16th to early 17th Centuries. Historical research focussed on fleets departing from the Americas, namely, those of Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, Ruy López de Villalobos, Miguel López de Legazpi, Alvaro de Mendaña y Neira and Pedro Fernández de Quirós. The provisions recorded for each fleet were identified, allowing insights into provisioning patterns over time. The fleets were also placed in a colonisation model, allowing insights into these patterns, along with historical research. Research indicates that a generic provisioning pattern existed: local items (in close proximity to point of departure/provisioning) were generally sourced, unless the provisions were of poor quality, unavailable and/or the items were desired because their value was partially or wholly dependent on non-local origin and/or sourcing. The gathering of local resources was dependent on a number of factors including cultural preference, function, cost, production and distribution. The analysis of archaeological assemblages from Graciosa Bay and Pamua, Solomon Islands, was also undertaken, both sites associated with Mendaña’s second voyage to the region, c. 1595-1596. Research focussed on the ceramic component to gain insights into pottery production and distribution in the Viceroyalty of Peru and material culture at the close of the 16th Century. A ceramic attribute database collated finds from both sites, providing an updated range and description of pottery types and counts, and site plans were collated to better understand pottery distribution. Vessel forms and ceramic provenance were determined through typological, petrological and geochemical studies (instrumental neutron activation analyses), along with U-Pb dating of detrital zircons. Ceramics were variously provenanced to Peru, Panama, Spain, Thailand and China. The provenance results support the notion that the Pamua assemblage originally formed part of Mendaña’s fleet assemblage, and contribute to the chemical and petrological profiles of ceramics from colonial Peru and Panama, Spain and Thailand. The identification of Peruvian-made ceramics indicates distribution of colonial Peruvian-made vessels in Ecuador and Panama, evidence of the wide-ranging trade networks operating in the Americas during the late 16th Century, of which the Viceroyalty of Peru was an integral part. The provenance results also indicate that provisioned ceramics were available locally due to production in the area and trade. Ceramic selection appears to have relied upon ceramic production and distribution and its relationship to trade and cost, as well as cultural preference. By examining provisioning both historically and archaeologically, insights are thus gained into not only what was taken, but also into the society that provisioned them

On the Edge: a study of Spanish colonisation fleets to the West Pacific and archaeological assemblages from the Solomon Islands

This thesis explores Spanish colonisation through the provisioning of colonisation fleets to the West Pacific during the 16th to early 17th Centuries. Historical research focussed on fleets departing from the Americas, namely, those of Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, Ruy López de Villalobos, Miguel López de Legazpi, Alvaro de Mendaña y Neira and Pedro Fernández de Quirós. The provisions recorded for each fleet were identified, allowing insights into provisioning patterns over time. The fleets were also placed in a colonisation model, allowing insights into these patterns, along with historical research. Research indicates that a generic provisioning pattern existed: local items (in close proximity to point of departure/provisioning) were generally sourced, unless the provisions were of poor quality, unavailable and/or the items were desired because their value was partially or wholly dependent on non-local origin and/or sourcing. The gathering of local resources was dependent on a number of factors including cultural preference, function, cost, production and distribution. The analysis of archaeological assemblages from Graciosa Bay and Pamua, Solomon Islands, was also undertaken, both sites associated with Mendaña’s second voyage to the region, c. 1595-1596. Research focussed on the ceramic component to gain insights into pottery production and distribution in the Viceroyalty of Peru and material culture at the close of the 16th Century. A ceramic attribute database collated finds from both sites, providing an updated range and description of pottery types and counts, and site plans were collated to better understand pottery distribution. Vessel forms and ceramic provenance were determined through typological, petrological and geochemical studies (instrumental neutron activation analyses), along with U-Pb dating of detrital zircons. Ceramics were variously provenanced to Peru, Panama, Spain, Thailand and China. The provenance results support the notion that the Pamua assemblage originally formed part of Mendaña’s fleet assemblage, and contribute to the chemical and petrological profiles of ceramics from colonial Peru and Panama, Spain and Thailand. The identification of Peruvian-made ceramics indicates distribution of colonial Peruvian-made vessels in Ecuador and Panama, evidence of the wide-ranging trade networks operating in the Americas during the late 16th Century, of which the Viceroyalty of Peru was an integral part. The provenance results also indicate that provisioned ceramics were available locally due to production in the area and trade. Ceramic selection appears to have relied upon ceramic production and distribution and its relationship to trade and cost, as well as cultural preference. By examining provisioning both historically and archaeologically, insights are thus gained into not only what was taken, but also into the society that provisioned them

One hundred sherds of grey: compositional and technological characterization of medieval greyware pottery production at Cabrera d'Anoia, Catalonia, Spain

Detailed petrographic and geochemical analysis of 100 sherds of greyware cooking pottery from the large Medieval kiln site of Cabrera D'Anoia has revealed the presence of several compositional groups that are correlated to different phases in the operation of the site. These appear to relate to changes in the extraction of local raw materials for pottery production concomitant with the development of the workshop over several centuries. Macroscopic, microstructural and mineralogical analyses have permitted the reconstruction of a consistent tradition of ceramic manufacture at Cabrera D'Anoia. Close correspondence between the petrographic and geochemical characterisation of the sherds provides several well-defined compositional reference groups for this major production centre. This is permitting the identification of the products of Cabrera D'Anoia at other rural sites in Catalonia and will provide a firm basis with which to examine the supply and demand of utilitarian pottery vessels in this area during the Medieval period

Metal-Age maritime culture at Jareng Bori rockshelter, Pantar Island, eastern Indonesia

The archaeological record of Wallacea remains exceptionally fragmentary. This is especially the case for late Holocene human occupation of the region when lifestyle and culture in marginal island environments is relatively unknown. Here we report on the archaeology of Jareng Bori rockshelter, a Metal-Age site spanning c. 1800 cal. BP up to the late historic period and situated on the eastern coast of Pantar Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of eastern Indonesia. We use osteoarchaeological (human and vertebrate remains), invertebrate zooarchaeological (crustacean and molluscan remains), technological (lithics, shell, and pottery) and chemical sourcing (obsidian and metal) datasets to discuss networking, migration, and human subsistence strategies during this recent period of history. While some communities were no doubt living in open village settlements where they were producing pottery, the data indicate that aspects of maritime life-ways continued much as in earlier Pleistocene settlements, with people using rockshelters like Jareng Bori to pursue a range of subsistence activities focused on the shoreline. Shellfishing of rocky and reef intertidal species and fishing for mostly small herbivorous and omnivorous fishes was practised, while domestic animals only appear in the late historic period. Wider regional cultural interactions and networking are epitomized by obsidian exchange, dental modification practices, and pottery decorations, while lithic analyses indicates continuity of stone tool technology up until recent times