Reclaiming the Land,Reclaiming the Indian: The La Salle Series of George Catlin

In 1847, American painter George Catlin completed a series of paintings depicting La Salle's travels through North America, ostensibly at the request of King Louis-Philippe. This article argues that the La Salle series is an unusually coherent statement by Catlin about the value of the American wilderness and Native American culture for white America. A close examination of the paintings and Catlin's writing exposes the La Salle series as a reclamation project in which Catlin sought to rescue an imagined “pure” past at contact and preserve it in paint in order to make it available and useful to the present.     

A Mississippian conflagration at East St. Louis and its political-historical implications

Abstract

A walled portion of the extensive Precolumbian civic-ceremonial precinct of East St. Louis, near present day St. Louis, Missouri, enclosed a cluster of as many as 100 small buildings or huts. The huts were associated with a walled ritual-residential zone or elite compound dating to the late Stirling phase (a.d. 1150–1200) and, importantly, were burned in a single conflagration. The burning of East St. Louis may have resulted from a ritual commemoration, an act of aggression, or an accidental fire; circumstantial evidence primarily supports the first scenario. With strongly diminished mound and architectural construction at the site in subsequent decades, and with the coeval disappearance of key ritual-residential buildings from the regional landscape after the burning, the ancient East St. Louis fire was part of a larger pattern of historical events that mark a downward turning point in the social and political history of Greater Cahokia.     

GLASS TRADE BEADS FROM THE ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD IN THE SOUTHEAST,CA. A.D. 1607–1783

Abstract

The study of glass trade beads has contributed much to our chronological understanding of the colonial period in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. Indeed, this class of artifact has allowed archaeologists to identify and conduct research at important archaeological sites that never appeared in the European historical record. In the Southeast, the best chronological resolution established by current bead chronologies relates either to sixteenth- to mid-seventeenthcentury Spanish-traded bead assemblages or eighteenthcentury French-traded bead assemblages. There is a conspicuous gap, however, in glass bead chronologies associated with the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English-Indian trade in the Southeast. In this paper, I address this gap by characterizing a large sample of trade beads (n = 35,309) found in individual mortuary assemblages recovered from a number of Southeastern Indian sites. This is the first time a regional synthesis of this scale has been conducted for the English colonial period in the Southeast. In order to begin to refine the bead chronology of this period, I also present the results of a quantitative seriation (using a technique known as correspondence analysis) of the same mortuary assemblages. While the results of this exploratory technique represent a preliminary stage in this process, they nevertheless identify a number of temporal trends that can be used to derive occupation date estimates for sites spanning the English colonial period in the Southeast (ca. 1607–1783).     

Policy,ideology and equality. Perspectives on the field of education from an historical analogue

In his novel The Adventures of Telemachus, François de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651–1715) presents a utopian society, Boetica, in which the role of luxury, war and trade is extremely limited. In unreformed Salentum, on the other hand, Fénelon shows the opposite image, one in which the three elements reinforce each other in a fatal feedback-loop. I analyse the relationship between luxury, war and trade in the Telemachus and I sketch the background to Fénelon's views, with special attention to the military expansion and the mercantilism of Louis XIV, Fénelon's quietist spirituality, and the development of the concept of self-interest in seventeenth-century philosophy by mechanicist philosophers and economic thinkers.     

Overseas imports on the Blue Nile: Chemical compositional analysis of glass beads from Soba,Nubia

Archaeological evidence as well as textual sources leave no doubt about Alwa's (Alodia's) intense transcultural connections, further corroborated by understudied overseas glass bead imports found there. This paper presents results of an analysis of 23 glass beads from Soba, the most prosperous capital of medieval Nubia. Compositional analyses using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) have identified glass belonging to a number of broad compositional groups. Three samples were made of soda lime low-alumina glass produced in the Middle East (v-Na-Ca) and Egypt (m/v-Na-Ca). The remaining beads were made of two types of mineral–soda high-alumina glass (m-Na-Al) North Indian in origin. The results of this study provide new evidence for the provenance and chronology of glass beads available in medieval Soba and Northeast Africa, and contribute new data to research on trade contacts of that time.     

From shell to glass: how beads reflect the changing cultural landscape of the seventeenth-century lower Potomac River valley

ABSTRACT

This article examines over 7,500 beads from eight Native archaeological sites located in the lower Potomac River valley in order to understand how changes in bead assemblages between AD 1300 and 1712 expressed an ever-evolving Chesapeake cultural landscape. This analysis demonstrates clear differences in the types and distributions of beads from mortuary and domestic/nonmortuary contexts. Ossuary contexts contained the highest frequency of beads with the number of beads increasing over time. Following the arrival of English settlers in the 1620s, glass beads begin to appear in ossuary contexts. Beads from domestic or nonmortuary contexts are fewer in number, and those present were manufactured using local materials, including bone and clay, as well as shell. However, after 1680, there is a shift from shell beads being predominate on Native sites, to sites containing exclusively glass beads, red and black glass beads in particular. Post-1680 sites appear to reflect Piscataway displacement and the disruption of indigenous trade routes, leading Natives to obtain beads from colonial vendors. The distribution of bead color, an important attribute for communicating Native states of being, also shifts after 1680, with assemblages once dominated by white shell beads now dominated by black and red glass beads.     

Preliminary Examination of Archaeological Remains from Fort Johnson and Cantonment Davis

Abstract

In September 1814, Brevet Major Zachary Taylor established Fort Johnson on the eastern bluffs of the Mississippi to assert American control over the mouth of the Des Moines River and points northward. Completed in a matter of weeks, the fort and its works were razed in late October of the same year when the troops ran out of provisions and retreated downriver to the St. Louis area. The following October, a temporary winter camp called Cantonment Davis was established near the fort ruins as a staging ground for building Fort Edwards, a subsequent military trading post. This article presents highlights from the archaeological search for the fort/cantonment location and recent excavations undertaken at the site, with a special focus on the armaments-related assemblage.     

Images of towns in Frankish Morea: the evidence of the ‘Chronicles’ of the Morea and of the Tocco

Abstract

In the summer of 1205 Raimbault of Vacqueyras, the troubadour who had shared Boniface of Monferrat's exploits in central Greece, exclaimed enthusiastically in Salonica:

‘Never did Alexander or Charlemagne or King Louis had such a glorious expedition, nor could the valiant lord Aimeri or Roland with his warriors win by might, in such noble fashion, such a powerful empire as we have won, whereby our faith is in ascendant; for we have created emperors and dukes and kings, and have manned strongholds near the Turks and Arabs, and opened up the roads and ports from Brindisi to St. George's Straits'.     

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GLASS BEADS FROM MEDIEVAL AL‐BASRA (MOROCCO)

This paper reports the results of elemental analysis, using laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS), of 30 glass beads from an assemblage of beads excavated at medieval al‐Basra, Morocco. Six chemical glass types are represented and their characteristics and geographical origins are discussed, with reference also to the techniques used to make the beads. The presence of numerous beads of lead–silica glasses is of particular interest. The morphological, technological and chemical analyses of the bead assemblage shed light on al‐Basra's trade connections.     

NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF AD 1660–1930 EUROPEAN COPPER-COLOURED BLUE GLASS TRADE BEADS FROM ONTARIO,CANADA

Blue glass trade beads from well-dated late seventeenth- to early twentieth-century sites and collections have been analysed non-destructively by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The beads display enough variations in their elemental contents to allow us to characterize the different chemistries. The implication of these results is that similar chemical analyses of blue beads from undated archaeological sites may be used to help date the sites, since each bead chemistry has a specific earliest period.     

Beads from a mediaeval pilgrim centre: Chemical composition and provenance of glass from Banganarti,Nubia, Sudan

Christian Nubia was a region with intensive transcultural connections that are visible through the understudied overseas glass bead imports found there. This paper presents the results of an analysis of 20 glass beads from Banganarti, a Christian pilgrim site active during the Makuria kingdom (mid-sixth to 14th centuries CE). Compositional analyses using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) have identified glass belonging to a number of broad compositional groups. Two beads were made of mineral soda-lime glass, dated before the mid-ninth century CE. Numerous beads were made from plant ash-soda-lime glass associated with “Mesopotamian” production dated between the eighth and 10th centuries CE. Lead-soda-silica glass has parallels in the ninth–10th centuries glass found in Africa and Europe. One plant ash-soda-lime bead was of eastern Mediterranean origin dated after the 10th century CE. Results of this study provide new evidence for provenance and chronology of glass beads available in the mediaeval Northeast Africa as well as contribute new data to the research on the pilgrim and/or trade routes of that time.     

Establishing the Populations and Occupation Spans of Fort Johnson and Cantonment Davis,Hancock County,Illinois

Abstract

Fort Johnson and Cantonment Davis are two short-term War of 1812–era American military posts located above the east bank of the Mississippi River in Hancock County, Illinois, within what was then the western frontier of the United States. Because little has been written regarding the fort and the cantonment, most details of their occupations are poorly documented and occasionally contradictory. A review of the documents associated with the two military posts establishes that Fort Johnson was occupied by approximately 100 men for 42 days, while Cantonment Davis was occupied by as many as 825 military personnel for about six to eight months.     

Ground Penetrating Radar in the Northern Great Lakes: A Trial Survey of a Contact Period Occupation in Marquette County,Michigan

ABSTRACT

Timing, inclement weather, and limited budgets can obstruct archaeological survey efforts. Here, we ameliorate some of these with use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) at the Goose Lake Outlet #3 (GLO#3) site (20MQ140). GPR surveys to guide survey and excavation efforts in these well-drained sandy soils are limited. GPR imagery exhibited false positives; however, shovel probes, subsequent site excavation, and artifact analysis led to numerous discoveries at this protohistoric site—including glass trade beads dating to the 1630s. These discoveries solidify evidence for some of the earliest European-made trade items in the region and provide further confirmation for placement of an Indian trail and ancient travel corridor between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Two ¹⁴C samples obtained from moose-bone in features with trade goods fall within the expected occupation range of 1633–1668 and 1615–1647. Several anomolies, possible hearth clusters were seen on the GPR imagery; however, many features remained invisible.     

Ceramics on the Western Frontier: The Archaeological Assemblage from Fort Massac, 1794—1814

Abstract

This article describes the massive ceramic sample from the American component of Fort Massac (1794–1814) on the Ohio River in southern Illinois. Excavated by Paul Maynard and the Works Progress Administration between 1939 and 1940, the artifact assemblage from the late eighteenth-century and War of 1812–era component includes a minimum of 453 ceramic vessels, consisting primarily of creamware, pearlware, and redware products. This provides a well-bracketed view of the nature of such goods on the western frontier immediately before and during the War of 1812.     

Shells below,stars above: four perspectives on shell beads

ABSTRACT

In the papers assembled here, five scholars focus on shell beads at site, watershed, and regional scales. Themes include manufacturing techniques such as bore size discussions, changes in bead preferences over time and geography, the appearance of beaded regalia, and shell bead meaning. Claassen’s paper addresses the beads at Late Archaic Indian Knoll; Connaway discusses shell beads in northwestern Mississippi; Pearson looks at beads from coastal Georgia; and Webster and King examine beads before and after European contact in the Potomac basin.     

Rethinking the Dawn of History: The Schedule,Signature, and Agency of European Goods in Protohistoric Illinois

Abstract

Interpretations of the archaeological record of the seventeenth century Illinois Country have been temporally compressed, and the richly stratified archival, ethnographic, and material records from that era have not been applied to the archaeological information at hand. A muddied view of the remarkable changes that occurred within the cultural landscape of Illinois is the result. European goods first appear in the region between 1580 and 1630 and the pottery of the Illinois Indians—the Danner series—is present in each early Illinois sample that includes these imports. A reexamination of the Zimmerman, Palos, and Oak Forest sites suggests that temporal changes in trade good assemblages can be better understood in the context of historically documented trade schedules. Further, it is argued that the Illinois Indians actively positioned themselves in the political and economic landscape of the fur trade many decades prior to the arrival of the French in the Illinois Country, serving as the principal agents of the great changes that are associated with protohistory in Illinois.     

Medical anthropology: A comment on recent publication

George M. Foster and Barbara G. Anderson. Medical Anthropology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. 302 pp. Bibliography and index. $14.95.

Eleanor E. Bauwens, ed. The Anthropology of Health. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby, 1978. 200 pp. Index. $10.50, paper.     

Report of the Portable Antiquities Scheme 2011

Abstract

Dutch East India Company (VOC) Fort Frederik Hendrik, the first European settlement on Mauritius, was established as a refreshment station for onward- and homeward-bound East Indiamen. The fort's archaeological remains offer a rich fund of information on a 17th-century stronghold and the population once in occupation. The material evidence reflects the fort's links with the Company's worldwide network of settlements, with both trade goods and people passing through. It also reflects cultural change and the settlers' endeavours to adapt to the local environment.     

Risking Connection Across Difference: Reply to Sokal and Smith

William W. Howells. Evolution of the Genus Homo. Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1973. 180 pp. Illustrations, Bibliography, and index. $3.95 (paper).

Frank E. Poirier. Fossil Man: An Evolutionary Journey. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Company, 1973. xvii + 219 pp. Illustrations, bibliography, glossary, and index. $6.50 (paper).     

Towards a typology of stone beads in the Neolithic Levant

Abstract

This study is an attempt to develop a comprehensive typology of the earliest stone bead assemblages in the southern Levant from Late Natufian and Neolithic sites. I propose this typology as a tool for studying stone beads almost a century after Horace Beck published his monumental bead typology. Beads are often neglected artifacts in archaeological excavations, but a bead typology can contribute to definitions of relative chronology and to a broader understanding of social and economic aspects of certain prehistoric societies.