University of Massachusetts Boston ScholarWorks at UMass Boston Graduate Masters Theses Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses 8-2020 “We May Have Profitable Commerce And Trade Together”: An Analysis of 17th-Century Ceramics in Plymouth Colony Elizabeth G. Tarulis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/masters_theses Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the United States History Commons “WE MAY HAVE PROFITABLE COMMERCE AND TRADE TOGETHER”: AN ANALYSIS OF 17TH-CENTURY CERAMICS IN PLYMOUTH COLONY A Thesis Presented by ELIZABETH G. TARULIS Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2020 Historical Archaeology Program © 2020 by Elizabeth Tarulis All rights reserved “WE MAY HAVE PROFITABLE COMMERCE AND TRADE TOGETHER”: AN ANALYSIS OF 17TH-CENTURY CERAMICS IN PLYMOUTH COLONY A Thesis Presented by ELIZABETH TARULIS Approved as to style and content by: ________________________________________________ Christa M. Beranek, Research Scientist Chairperson of Committee ________________________________________________ David B.
Landon, Associate Director Member ________________________________________________ Stephen A. Mrozowski, Professor Member _________________________________________ David B. Landon, Program Director Historical Archaeology Program _________________________________________ Stephen W. Silliman, Chairperson Department of Anthropology ABSTRACT “WE MAY HAVE PROFITABLE COMMERCE AND TRADE TOGETHER”: AN ANALYSIS OF 17TH-CENTURY CERAMICS IN PLYMOUTH COLONY August 2020 Elizabeth G., University of Massachusetts Boston Directed by Dr.
Beranek This thesis analyzes the formation of early English colonial trade networks through an examination of three Plymouth Colony sites. Although Plymouth Colony has been studied extensively by both historians and archaeologists, materials from the original settlement have only recently been identified by University of Massachusetts, Boston archaeologists at Burial Hill in downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts. This thesis compares the 17th-century ceramics from Burial Hill (1620-c. 1660) to two homesteads established later by Plymouth colonists, the Alden First Home Site and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site.
A minimum number of vessels (MNV) was established for each site and the country of origin was established for each vessel to determine the origin of consumer goods, specifically ceramics, in Plymouth Colony. These vessels were then divided up into “English” and “foreign” categories, and a iv chi-square analysis was conducted to determine whether the composition of ceramics was significantly different at Burial Hill than at the later two sites. By comparing a site that likely pre-dates the implementation of most of the Navigation Acts (1651, 1660) to two sites that continue decades after their passage, it is possible to determine whether there was a significant effect on Plymouth’s trade. The results of this analysis demonstrate that the difference between Burial Hill, the Alden First Home Site, and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site with respect to proportions of English to Foreign vessels is not statistically significant.
This suggests that the percentage of foreign vessels did not significantly change over time. In addition, there were more English and foreign ware types found at the later sites than at Burial Hill. Combined with documentary evidence, this indicates that the Plymouth colonists were skirting regulations and establishing their own personal and intercolonial trade networks, even as the English government tried to limit them. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the help and support I received from a variety of people.
I would first like to thank Christa Beranek for her patience and guidance throughout this process, along with my other committee members, David Landon and Stephen Mrozowski. I would also like to thank John Steinberg, Melody Henkel, and Dennis Piechota. I am grateful to Desiree Mobed and the Alden Kindred of America, as well as Kathryn Ness, Jade Luiz, and Plimoth Plantation, for allowing me access to their collections. Thanks also to Sarah Carr for her assistance throughout the cataloging process.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family, and especially my spouse, Kirk Tarulis. Thank you for always being there, and for encouraging me to keep going. This project has been made possible by two major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this thesis do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .vi LIST OF FIGURES. ix LIST OF TABLES. xi CHAPTER Page 1. 5 History of Plymouth Colony.
5 Burial Hill Site. 8 Alden First Home Site. 10 The Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site (C-21). 22 Ceramic Studies of 17th-Century New England.
22 Burial Hill Assemblage. 23 The Alden First Home Site Assemblage. 24 The Allerton/Prence/Cushman Assemblage. 24 Ware Type Analysis.
67 vii CHAPTER Page 5. 77 Acquisition of English Goods. 77 Acquisition of Foreign Goods. SHERD COUNT FOR 17TH CENTURY WARE TYPES.
BURIAL HILL VESSEL LIST. ALDEN FIRST HOME SITE VESSEL LIST. ALLERTON/PRENCE/CUSHMAN VESSEL LIST. 99 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: Map of Massachusetts Showing Research Area.
7 2: Map with Locations of the Burial Hill Site, the Alden First Home Site, and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 7 3: Photo of the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site courtesy of Plimoth Plantation. 17 4: Two distinct rims originally identified as V28, Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 34 5: Cistercian Sherds, Alden First Home Site.
35 6: Close-up of Cistercian Paste. 36 7: Reconstructed Iberian Storage Jar, Alden First Home Site. 39 8: Unglazed Midlands Purple (V9), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 40 9: North Devon Sgraffito Flatware (V5), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site.
45 10: North Italian Marbled Slip (V36), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 45 11: North Midlands Hollowware with Reverse Slip (V2), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site47 12: Sherd from Vessel 19 Showing Fine-Grained Design, Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 47 13: Italian Tin-Glazed Vessel (V29), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 55 ix 14: Tin-Glazed Saucer (V30), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site.
56 15: Tin-Glazed Cup Rim (V34), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 56 16: Tin-Glazed Cup (V34), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 57 17: Red-bodied tin-glazed (V35), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 57 18: West of England Type D Sherds, Alden First Home Site.
58 19: Wrotham Slip-Decorated Redware (V115), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 59 20: Wrotham Slip-Decorated Tyg in the Victoria and Albert Collections. 59 21: Cobalt and Manganese Decorated Rhenish/Westerwald Sherds (V12), Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site. 63 22: Porcelain Wine Cup Sherds, Alden First Home Site.
65 x LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1: Minimum Number of Vessel (MNV) Analysis of 17th-century Vessels Across All Sites. 30 2: Percentage of total sherds at each site that is redware. 49 3: Redware Vessel Form Analysis. 50 4: Crosstabulation of identified and unidentified sherds at the three sites.
69 5: Crosstabulation of identified and unidentified sherds at Alden and Allerton sites. 70 6: Identified and Unidentified Vessels at Each Site. 70 7: Crosstabulation of identified and unidentified vessels at Alden and Aller sites. 71 8: Percentage of Sherds with Redware.
72 9: Percentage of English and Foreign Vessels Across Sites. 73 10: Percentage of English and Foreign Vessels without Redware. 74 11: Country of Origin for All Ware Types Found at Each Site. 75 xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The story of Plymouth Colony has been constructed over nearly 400 years into a powerful national narrative which James Deetz describes as the “Pilgrim Myth” (Deetz and Deetz 2000).
The Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact, and Thanksgiving have all become deeply ingrained in America’s national narrative. The centrality of the “Pilgrim Myth” has led to substantial attention not only from the public, but also from historians (Demos 1999; Philbrick 2007; Bunker 2010) and archaeologists (Robbins 1969; Deetz and Deetz 2000). Archaeological investigations of Plymouth Colony have been carried out since 1856, when James Hall sought to find the home of his ancestor, Myles Standish. Excavations continued to take place throughout the 20th century, notably by Henry Hornblower II, James Deetz, and Roland Robbins.
However, deposits related to the original 1620 settlement have only recently been discovered at Burial Hill in Plymouth, MA by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This provides an invaluable resource that, when combined with documentary evidence and previous archaeological investigations, will provide a more accurate picture of life in Plymouth Colony. The data from Burial Hill allows archaeologists to answer questions about the development of Plymouth Colony. This thesis utilizes the new data from Burial Hill in conjunction with previously excavated sites to analyze the formation of early English 2 colonial trade networks.
It seeks to accomplish three goals: 1) to determine the origins of consumer goods, specifically ceramics, in Plymouth Colony; 2) to determine whether this trade was affected by the implementation of the Navigation Acts beginning in 1651; and 3) to compare Plymouth’s trade patterns to other 17th-century English colonies. To achieve these goals, this project analyzes the ceramics from three archaeological sites related to Plymouth Colony. The first, Burial Hill in downtown Plymouth, provides invaluable information on the early colony (1620-c. 1660) that is not available elsewhere.
This site is compared to two homesteads established later by Plymouth colonists: The Alden First Home Site in Duxbury, MA and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site in Kingston, MA. This project poses three questions: 1) What is the composition of the ceramic assemblage at these three sites in terms of ware type, vessel form, and function? 2) Is the composition significantly different between Burial Hill and the two later sites? 3) How were these ceramics arriving in Plymouth Colony? The location and date of manufacture of ceramic sherds can often be determined based upon characteristics such as paste, glaze type, or decoration. It is possible to determine where a ceramic was produced at least to the country/regional level, or even to a town or individual potter. When combined with the documentary record, it is possible to shed light on Plymouth’s trading partners and determine how these ware types were reaching the colony.
The first Navigation Act was passed in 1651, and the rest were not passed until 1660 or later. By comparing a site that likely pre-dates the implementation of most of the Navigation Acts to two sites that continue decades after their passage, it is possible to determine whether there 2 was a significant effect on Plymouth’s trade. A decrease in foreign-produced goods would suggest that the Plymouth colonists were adhering to English trading regulations. If, however, there is no change or even an increase in foreign-produced ceramics, this suggests that the Plymouth colonists were skirting regulations and establishing their own personal trade networks.
This is in line with recent archaeological analyses of other 17th-century English colonies (Pecoraro and Givens 2006; Gaulton and Manuel Casimiro 2015; McMillan 2017). Chapter Outline Chapter 2 of this thesis contains five sections of background information. The first details the creation of Plymouth Colony, from the organization of the Separatist group in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England through the division of land in 1627. The next three sections provide detailed histories of each site under consideration: Burial Hill; The Alden First Home Site; and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site.
The final section expands this view to look at the competing economic positions of the English in the 17th century and their main competitor, the Dutch. Chapter 3 provides a brief summary of 17th-century ceramic studies in New England, the condition of the archaeological assemblages being analyzed, and detailed information of the ware types under consideration. This chapter supplements existing literature by providing a reanalysis of the Alden First Home Site and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site, as well as offering the first major analysis of the 17th-century Burial Hill ceramic assemblage. Chapter 4 compares the ceramic assemblages at Burial Hill, 3 the Alden First Home Site, and the Allerton/Prence/Cushman Site to determine whether there was a change in ceramic composition over time.
The concluding Chapter 5 provides an analysis of the documentary record, and suggests possible trade networks established and maintained by the colonists. This chapter also compares these findings to recent studies of other 17th-century English colonies to provide a wider view of economic patterns throughout the broader English colonial world. 4 CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND History of Plymouth Colony The Pilgrims were Separatists who believed that the Church of England could not be reformed.