Nineteenth Century Ceramic Artifacts Froma Seasonally Occupied Fishing Station
On SaddleIsland, Red Bey, Labrador.
By CharlesAlexande r Burke
A Thesis
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Memorial University of Newfound land St. John's,Newfoundlend
Ninet eenthCentury CeramicArtif acts From aSeasonallyOccupiedFishingStat ion OnSaddleIsland,RedBay. Labrador
Charles AlexanderBurke Dr.JamesA.Tuck ile+173
ABSTRACT
This the sisidenti fies acollectionofceramicartifact s excavated froma mid·to- Iate nine teent h centUtvseeseeenvoccupiedsiteon Saddle IslandtnRedBav.southern labrador.Each type is examinedwit hinacontext ofctvonologV,manufa cture.
distribution and salewithparticularreference totheacquisit ion,use anddiscardof the object son Saddle Island.
The ceramicsare ident ifiedend quan tif ied by type.form and functi onalgroup.When possible,comparisonswith oth erarchaeol ogicaldateare made.The materialisused to interpretseveral aspect softhenineteenth cent ury useofSaddle Island.Thehist orical recordprov idesan organizat ionalframework inwhich theceramicmaterialisanalysed.
The ceramictypesand shapesrecoveredfrom SaddleIsland replicatethe range of ware savailablein ninet eenthcentUty NorthAmerica.Theanalysisshows thatin comparison to sitesofsimilarageandsocioec onomicstetustheRed Bayassem blageis 8product ofseveral unique factorsassociatedwit h aseasonerfishery-based cccuneucn.Apartfromthis,the evidence show s thatceramicsusedbythe resi dent s of Saddle Islandwere simil arto thetypesand decorative stylesacquired by their economic peersttvoughoutNorthAmerica.
iii
ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS
I wishtoacknowledge severalinsti tutions andindividuals fortheircooperationand support throughout thisresearch.In particular Iam gratefulto MemorialUniver sityand the Department of Anthropologyfortheirsupport and enc ouragementthroughoutmy Masters ","ogram.I wishto thankthe Canadian ParksService aswen for granting me leaveto completetherequired coursework.
My special thanks andappreciationgoto my advisor, Dr.James Tuck,who suggeste dthe topic andassisted me in many ways during the schoolyear and after, whilecom plet ing thethesis.Hisguidanc e,support,andeditorialadv ice have been invalu able.
Iwould alsolike to thank LynnSussmanoftheCanadian Parks Servicewhose inspiredworkshopsin1981lirst exposedmeto nineteenthcenl uryceramics.
Iwish to thank mycolleaguesAndreeCrepeau, James Campbell,Steve Lohnes,and DouglasRoss attheFortressof Louisbourg.Theircooperationandsupport in the past several yearshave beengreatlyappreciated.Special thanks aredueSteveLohneswho completed the photography,
Finally,for their encouragement and support of this thesis, Iwould like10thank Janet Maltbyand Randy Johnston.
lv
CONTENTS
Page ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TAB LES FIGURES PLATE S INTRODUCTI ON
iv
vii viii lx
Material Cultu re,Hist orical Arcl1aeologyandAnth ropolo gy
Research Design 10
HISTORICALBACKGROUND 12
DESCRIPTIV E, HISTORICALANDCOMPA RATIV ECERAMIC DAT A 27
Methodology 27
Stonewares 29
AlbanySlip Glaze 29
Black Basalt 30
Brist ol Glaze 31
Brown Salt Glaze 32
Yellow Wareand Rockingha mGlaze 33
Fino WhiteEart henw ares 36
Sponged/Stamped Decorated Wares 36
FlowBlueTransfer-Printed Wares 39
Transfer-Prin t ed Wares 41
EdgedDecorat ed Wares 50
Handpaint ed Wares 53
Plain andMouldedWares 57
Miscellaneousueccreuv eTypes 64
Gilded Decorati on Majolica SprigMould Design Slip DecoratedWares Lustr eDecorat ion ColouredGlaze TinGlaze
4 INTERPRETATI ON OF THEAREAG ASSEMBLAGE GeneralOverviewofthe Ceramics Chronology
Manufactu rers'Marksand Patterns OtherCeramic Dating Methods Trade andCommerce Soci ol andEconomicInterpretat ion Functional Analysis 5 CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES CITED APPENDICES
Abbreviations used in the Appendices 1.Descript ive CeramicInvent ory of Area G 2.Descripti ve Inventory of Plain and Moulded Vessels
vi
64 6S 67 67 71 73 74 7S 7S 77 77 83 88 93 99 10 8 111 124 124 12S 14 4
TABLES
1Stoneware:Area G,Red Bay,labrador 2 YeUow wareandRoc k ing ~"mGlaze
3 Fine Eart henware Decorat iveFrequencies and Percent ages 4Spongedand StampedVessels
5FlowBlueTransf erFine Earthenwa re 6Transfer-Print edFineEarth enw are 7Transfer-PrintedVesselsby Colourand Percentage 8EdgedDec orat edFineEart henw are 9Handpaint edFineEarthen w are 10Plain andMouldedDesign Fine Earthenwa re 11Miscellaneous Ceramic Types 12 VesselDecoration TotalsandPercentages 13Ceramic Tablew are Variety 14Vessel Form Total andPercentages 15Ceramic TypesUsedin Formula Ca1culc ulat ions 16Ceramic Tablew are andTeaw areSets
17ComparativeCeramicandTableware GroupFrequencies
vii
folIO 32 35
37 39 40
43 49
52 56
60 73 76 77 77 84 96 102
FIGURES
1RedBay' sLocat ionontheAtlantic Seaboard 2SaddleIsland andRed Bay in the Strait ofBelle Isle 3Ceram ic Classific ationFOfm at
4 RankofallTransfer. Print ed Vessels
5 InitialandTotalFact oryProd ucti on ofIronst on e 6 1895Advert isementforMochaMeasureCup s 7 Manu facturingDat eBrack et sforMarked Vessels B 19thCenturyCeramicDat eRanges
9 SummaryofArch aeologicalandHistoricalDateareck ets 10 Rank of allVessel For mTotals
11Comparative Ceramic Group Freq uenci es 12TheNewf ound land Cod Fisheries
viii
2B 44 63 69 B2 B6 67 100 101 106
PLATES
_ foJlo
1Miscellaneous Ceramicsfrom·EkBc·1 :Area G,SaddleIsland 153 2 YellowandRockingham Grazedware from AreaG,SaddleIsland 155 3 Sponged and StampedEart henw arefrom Area G, SaddleIsland 157 4 Sponged and StampedEarthenware fromAreaG,SaddleIsland 159 5 BrownTransfer- Printed CeramicsfromArea G,SaddleIsland 161 6 Blue Transfer-PrintedCeramicsfrom AreaG,SaddleIsland 163 7 Blue Printed Ceramics:Willow andAsiaticPheasants 16 5 8 Edged DecoratedCeramicsfromArea G,Saddle Island 167 9Hand·Paint ed CeramicsfromAreaG.SaddleIsland 169 10 MiscellaneousFineEarthenwaresfromAreaG. Saddle Island 171 11 ManufacturersMarksfromAreaG,SaddleIsland 173
ix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The mostrema rkableof...illusionsis the beliefthat ...surv ivingwrittenrecordsprovideus witha reasonably accuratefacsimile of past humanactivity(White1962:vl.
Recent excavat ionson SaddleIsland,atRedBay.Sout hern Labrador IFiguro 11 uncoveredmate rialevidence of severalhisto ric period occupations.The most widelyknownandreported of theseis the Basque whaling stationoccupied from the mid·sixteenth to the earlyseventeenthcentu ry (Tuck19 8 2:83·841.Forhalfa centuryafterthe 1713 Treat y ofUtrecht.French fishermenconducteda ship based codfishery along the"French snore"and likethe Basques berorethem, usedRed Bay as theirshorebase(Innis1954:231.Athirdperiod of occupationis representedbyartifactsandstructuralremainsofeighteenthor earlynineteent h centuryMsealing ovens"or tryw orks (Tuck19 84 :7 21.Followingthe demiseof this and after 1830,RedBaywas againoccupied,tbistime aresult of a New foundla nd-basedLabradorfishery.In thelocationdO'iignatedAreaG (Figure 21,excavationrevealedalargerect angularstonefoundat ionandassociatedpost moulds (Tuc k19 84:731.Thisfeature andseveral thousand artifac ts recovered duringthe excavationareassoci ated with the use ofSaddle Islandasaseasonal residenceinthe nineteent hcentury.
The majo rgoalof thisthesis isto describeandanalyzeoneclassofartifact s recoveredfromthe excavat ionofArea G.The primary subjectofthe thesisis a ceramicassemblageof7,283shardsthat were acquired,used. anddiscardedby occupantsofthe Area Gstruct ure.Theceramics areusedto inte rpretseveral aspect s of the nineteenthcenturyuse of SaddleIsland.Abasicpremiseof this researchisthat seasonal occupatio nofSaddle Islandwillbereflect edin specilic
FIGURE1.Red Bay ' sLocation ontheAtlanticSeaboard
) ~. '"''''
ISO
CWESTERN PASSAGE
STRAIT OF SELLEISLE
LABRADOR
FIGURE2. SdddleIsland andRed aev in the Strait ofBelleIsle
patterns ofceramic acquisition,use and discard.
Because the assemblageincl udes an almostcompleteinvent ory 01nineteenth century fine eart henwa retypes,forms. and decorations,the ceramic description will have applicabilityto othersites.Our knowledge ofninet eent h century ceramics from excavated sites in AtlanticCanada is derivedforthe mostpart, fromthose inmilitaryand urbencontexts.Therearefew sites ofcompa rable date or location. AnanalysisoftheAreaG ceramicsmay contributeto abroader underst anding 01nineteenth century artifact trade, availabili ty, and use throughoutAtlantic Canada.
The ceramic analysis is presentedinseveral sections.This chapter presents an overviewof materialcultureanalysis within historical archaeology.This is followed by theresearc h design.Chapte r2 presentsan out line of eventsrelating tothehist ory and materialculture ofRed Bay. Chapter 3includesdescripti v e and comparativeinf ormati on with int erpreted ceramicdate ranges.The interpretation ofArea G ceramicsis presented inchapter 4.
Material Culture. Historic alArchaeology and Anthropology
Archaeologistsmorethanotheracademicshavebeentradit ionally conce rned with art ifacts. Throug houtthe developmentof archaeology,inferenc e and explanation, whether orientedto descript ion,reconstr uct ion orexplanation of culturechange were derived primarily from arti facts .Althoug htheuse of artifacts has remainedconstant, theways in whicharchaeologis ts interpret these data have changed.In 19 55 .J.C.Harr ingtonwrotethatartifactsshouldbe recognized as historical dat a and limited to chronological interpret ation (1955;1127).Sincethenothershave suggestedthat archaeologyshould be the science of mate rialculture(Clark1968;Deetz 19 72;leone19 72 1.The changed
role of artifacts in archaeological interpretation is a consequence of developments in the professionover the past severaldecades.
Thefundamentalchangein historicalarchaeology in the past 40 years is reflectedin each decade'sanswer to "whatis historicalarchaecloqv."In 1952.
it was definedas"Colonial or restorationarchaeology;"excavation of a site with a specificvalueto the historicalrecord and significancein history(Harringt on 1952 ).By 1970. the "what " of btstodcel archaeology was thestudy of material remains from any historic periodISchuyler 1970;B41.In 19BB,KathleenOeagen responded to the question by assertingthat historicalarchaeologyis;
the study of theprocesses andint errelati onshipsby whichhuman socialand economic organization developedand evolvedin the modern world (1988:8).
These answersparalleltheshiftwit hinhistorical archaeoloDYfroma technique used in therecoveryof monu mentsandrelics of the Colonial past to a sub-crsclcnne of culturalanthropologythat iscommitt ed to the interpretationof broad culturalprocesses.This develop ment was init iated by change that occurredthroughoutthe socialsciences .
Between1900-1950,archaeology of historicperiod sites had littleor no regard for the excavatedmaterialculture.Datable artifacts broughtchronological authenticityto a site and intho serviceof reconstructionprograms ,historical archaeologydug for facts onwhich the reconst ructionswere based.
Underlying the particularistic biasa debateoccurred regarding the profession's identity.Harrington(1952;1955) and others(NoelHume 1964;Walker1967;
Dollar19681firmly believed that historica larchaeology belonged to American history.Anopposinggrouparguedthathistoricalarchaeologywas anthropo logy (South195 5; Griffin 19 58;Deetz19 63;19 65;Cleland and Fitting 19681.
Regardless ofview point however,archaeologywith few exceptions port rayed itself as a technique to fill "t he gaps left amidthe documentaryevidence"
(Schlereth 1980:16). Consequently, artifact reports generally presented descriptiveinformationor typologies.
Several developments In the 1960scombined tomove historica larchaeology beyondit s"crisisin identity"(ClelandandFitt ing 1968)and "handmaidento history"INoel Hume1964)role.The firstofthesewas theinfluence ofLew is Binlord and hisstudents. Thesecond involvedthe advent of state sponsored cultu ralrosourcemanagementpolicies. Thisbrought manyanthropologically trainedarchaeologists into the discipline at a timewhenthe publicboth sought and encouragedawareness of the Colonialpast .
As aprofession,historicalarchaeologybeganlookingfor acceptan ce when prehistorians werealigningthemselves wit hanthropology . Whilehistorical ercbeecrcatstsdebat edwhethertheydidhistoryoranthropology, prehisto rians debated culture history versuscult ure process.In both,however,thediscussion represented a single question:shouldarchaeologyconcern Itself withparticular or generalprocessesofcult ure"1Thelatt er view was championedby Binfordwho int roduced LeslieWhit e's concept of cultu re toarc haeology. The principle st atement arguedthat cultureis the extra-somaticmeansof adaptat ionforthe human organism(White 1959:8) .For Binford, this impliedthatcult ure was adaptive; acontinuously changing and modify ing system composed of inter-relatedparts{1962:219J.It followed that artifacts as elementsofa culture'ssub-systemcouldrevoalevidenceofsoci o-cult ural dynamics(Binford 19 72 :2 1-2 ).
Binford'spositionthat artifactsshould be usedinways beyondchronology was not original. Two decades earlier, Kluckholn (1940:84) admonished archaeologist stobewaryof the hungerfor facts andto explain culturechange throughthe discoveryof laws.In19 48,Taylor argued that sinceculturewas int egrated,artifactscouldonlybe explainedin the context ofthewhole system
ITayl Ol'194 8 ).Ideaslikethis,howeve r. had only a minorimpacton a pt'olession dominatedby toeintellectual stanc eofparticularism.Alt houghanoth er plea was madein 19 5 5 torejectthe"acasren shell of 'actgatheringRandacceptthe evolu tionary principlesof Taylorand MOl'gan(South 19 551.itwasnot until the 19 6 05that White'sconcept of culturebeganto haveanimpact on a new generationof prehistorians.
The underlyingassumption ofthe newarchaeologyinsistedthat the prima ry goal01archaeologywasthe explanation of culture process.That is,to demonstrat ehowitchanges.adapt s and modifiesitstechnologic al.ideological and socialenvironments<Binford19621.Binf ord put forth the ideathat the arc haeologica lrecordshouldberead as a by-productof cuh Ufepl'ocessand indivi dualfacetsof the recordmust be referredtocomponents inthesyst em (Binfo rd1962:24 1.Mostarchaeologistsaccept ed the concept thatartifactshad mult iple functions.but thenew archaeology stressedit as a matter 01 import ance.They arguedthat changes in one sub-systemof cult urewould be obsorv edin othercontext s.Thetraditionalinterpretationof tM archaeological record asa stat icsource ofdata could be understoodas arecordfromwhich dvnamic changebetweencult ural sul"o-<;ystemswouldbeobserved in the patt ern of artif acts(Binford1964:4251.JamesDeetz madeexplici t use of this concept inastudyof Arikara ceramics.In this analysis,Deetz(19 651sho wed that changein thestyle of pott erydesign wasadirectresultofsocial an deconomic change in ArikarasocietyastheymovedfromaIarm-besedto a trade brokerage economy.
Archaeological studiesliketheseimbuedthe professionwit ha sense 01 exccctencnforthe materialdata.Anew emphasisuponmalerialcultureand the accepta nceof materialcultu reas a sub-systemwithina continuou sl ychanging cult uralcont ext aidedtheprofe ssionin its shift 'rom an historical to an
anthropologica lmodel. This occurred during aperiod of expansion in thefieldsof preh istory and historical archaeology and many anthropologicaiiy trained archaeolog istsenteredthe professionatthattime.
Th e mostvocaladvocateof"new" ideasin hist oric al archaeologywas James Deet z.He wrote"cot s••.are productsof cult ure,notculture.but they arelinke d to culture ina systematic mannerland]thearchaeolog ist's taskisto discover cult uralbehavior... in itsprod ucts"(Dee tz19 67:71.
StanleySouth.wh odefendedthis kind ofapproac hin the previou s decade.
impo rt ed othermajor tenets ofthenew archaeology int o historicsitesanalysi s . He advocated quantifica t ion analys is of material culture f196 2:11an d dem onstrat edtherelati onshipbetween patternedhumanbehaviourandpatterned mat eri al rema ins(1977).Heimportedthescientificmodel ofhy pothesi s testing.
Inits applicat ion,Southurgedthe avoidance of particula rist ic probl ems and suggeste dthatarchaeologists concentrate onthe explana t ionof universa l cult u ralsystems. Histo ricalarchaeologyis not an extensionofhistory,it is:
a searchforbroadergoalsinvolv ingthe understand ingof the evolut io nofform s in time andspace as th isdevelopmentrelates to a broad range ofculturalandhis t oricaldata (South 1968b :101 Inpractice ,these concepts forced archaeolog ists toabandonatemp or ally an d spatiallystaticviewof art ifa cts.Inst ead,arc haeolog ists were admonis hed to comparedata forexample,froman eighteent hcent uryBritishsite todatafrom simila r sites. In this sit uation, materia l culture analysis within a non-par ticularizing framew orkhad the potenti alto disc overevidenceofBritain's exportof cult ure,capitalismandbehaviour during the Colo nialperiod.The transit ionfro man hist oricalto anan t hropological-baseddiscipline emphasized the ineffectual use of art ifacts in traditio nal research.As a resu lt,new approachesand met h ods ofmat erial cu lturean alysisdeve loped.
Hist orical archaeologywas aided initsgoa lto providecontax tual me aningto
artifactsby em bracingconcept ualmodels from otherdisciplines.These included interdisci plinary studies relativetofolkhousing {Kniffen19631.anexaminationof yeomanfoodways (Anderson 1962), tlrne . place relaticnshlpa (Kubler19621.the discover y of pa tt ernin folkart ifacts{Glassie 19681. studiesof art ifactsas symbols (Tract en burg 19651.social historytnerncs 1970; Braudel19731and technol o gical andsocialanalysisof artifacts(White19 64 1.
In1972,MarkLeone add ressedthe archaeologicalcommu nity withthe statement:
Werearchaeologyto becomethe sc ienceofmaterialculture...the ent irefieldwould be revolutionized.At themoment .material cultureas a categoryofphe nomena isunacc ounted lor...But when one conside rshowlitt le we knowabouthow materialcultu re art iculateswithothe rcult ura lsubsystems.one beginsto see the potential.There existsacompletely empty niche and it isneit her smal lnor irrelevant (1972:18).
Thatnicheis current lyfilled,at least ideally.In thelast two decades,material culturestudy inhistoricalalchaeolQ1lY has attemptedto meet Leone'srequest.
Tha trad itional use of artifac tsas temporalindic ators isnolongeraccep tableon it s own. Thisbroader contextual approac h toarchaaologicalarti factsisreflect ed in a numberofspecializedbooks (Quimby1978;Cantwa ll.Griffin andRot hschild 19 81;GouldandSchiffe r 1981;Scheleret h19 82;Hodder 1987 ).
Thelit eratureof historicalarc haeologyhas broadened to includenewresearch st rategiesas well.The socioeconomicin terpreta tionofartifactsisillustratedin severalstudies01 statusdifferences (Ott o 1977;Miller1980 ;Bragdon1981;
Spencer-Wood 19871.Archaeologi stshav e reconstructederniecategorizationsof artifacts fromwills.probatein v entorie s and paintings (stone1970; Carson 19 78;Beaudry1980).The analys isofexcavatedmaterial Iromdisenfran chised groups has providedinfurrnatio nthat is frequent lynotavailablein documents {Fairbank s1972; Deetz 1977;Schuyler 19801.Artifact shavebeen usedas well to test and verify relationsh ip s between cultural phenomena andthe
10
archaeologicalrecord {Deetz and Dethlef s on 1967;South1972; 19771and in cognitiveor struc turalorientations(Deetz 19 771.
Althoughanalytical approachesto materialcultu re continueto improve.most historical archaeo logyis~tillconcernedwithhist oric alquestions.For researchon undocumented sites,Osagen sees this kindof applica tionas:
a validendim portan t focus inthefjeld.end one that boasts the most successfulcont ributionsofhistoricalarc haeologyto date 11988:91.
Re searchDesign
Thehist orical research for thisthesiswas primarilyconc erned withdeveloping anorganizational framew or kforthe interpretationofthe ceramicdat a. Althoug h more timewas committedto archaeologicalresearch,thehistorica lcontext,that is,"thehistoric social and econom icmil ieuin whic hmat erials wereprod uced, used, and discarded"l:~le in1991:77 ) is centralto theinterpretationof the Area G materia l.Exceptingtheir mentionin wittsorprobate invento ries,ceram ic tablewares arera relydiscussedin historicaldocuments.As aresult,mosl research in thisthesiswasaimed at locatingspecif icorinf erentialreferences to ceramics inLabrador;how they were acqu ired,used, display ed,and disposed of.
Thohist orical outlinepresent edin Cha pter2is based for themostparton secondary documents. These include nineteen th and tw ent iet h century commentariesonthe residentsandcommunities ofSouthernLabradorandmore recent academicstudies.Therecordsofth e Wesleyan Miss ionto RedBay cover the periodallnr 1878 and couldnot be used to dete rmine the mid-century use of SaddleIsl and.If\; ',ll:arnsennev's merchantaccoun t book s wereavailablethe inf ormat i o nwouldbe most usefu l in this research.Penney operated a store in Red Bay from 1~41l tothetw entieth centu ry.The mostthorough and
11
comprehensivestudy of the area is Thornton's11979) doctoral dissertation0;\
settlement inthe StraitofBelleIsle.This document however,containsvary few specificreferences to RedBay or SaddleIsland.
Althoughthenumber of document sconsu ltedfor this research wasnot exte nsive,itis apparentthatsevererquestionsrelating 10the settlementand use of SaddleIsland may bereadily addressedthroughthe archaeologicalrecord. The primarygoarofthis thesis isto describeand analyze the ceramics excavated on Saddle Island in Red Bay,Labrador.Theevidence obtained from the assemblageof 7,283sherds will beusedtointerpre tseveralaspects ofthe nineteenthcenturyuse of SaddleIsland.This evidencewillbe used to:
III Identify whetherSaddle Islandwasoccupied bymigratorysummer fishermen(stationers)or yeer roundsettl ers (liveyefesl who movedtothe islandfrom a winterhomeon the inner harbour.
121 Ident if y whether the occupants of Saddle Islandacquired ceramics and othergoodsfrom overlapping trading zones orwhether they weresupplied exclusively from merchantsin theregionalmarketsofHalifax end Quebec.
or by England'sWest CountrymerchantsandtheirNewfoundlandagents.
131 Determinewhetherthe assemblagecan beused toestablish toodways associatedwiththeseasonaloccupationof Saddle Island.
14 1Identifythe datesof occupationofAreaG.
151Determinewhetherthe assemblage "fit s"the profileof ceramicgoods manufac turedand distributedto the Colonialmarketand if RedBa y ' s frontierlocation wasa factorin the type and kind ofceramics the occupant s acquired?
"
CHA PTER2
Histori cal Back g round There was nothing splendid in theCoastsofLabrad or ...
nothingto temptevesce •aland of rocksand icedid notinvitesettlement ·the onlyobject01 pu rsuitwas eitherfishoroil, andthese couldonly bepr ocured by la borIRobenson1841:311.
Red Bay is a sma llcommunity.Whenthe eventsof thisthesisoccurred.Red Bay was theprimaryla brador·basedlo c ation 01 a fisheryoperated by New foundla ndfirm s.This fisheryest ablishe d a base lorthe initialsettlement, possibly in18 25 but for cert ain by 1837 (Thornt on19 77:174 1.A travelerto Red Bayin 1884 spoketoA.M.Pike.a full timeresidentof Red Bay since1852 (Stearn s18 8 4:242 1.Inthe 1880s.twenty -onefamiliesoccupied Red Bayyear roundand A.M.Pik e said it was neverlarger exceptduringthe summercod season(Ste a rns18 8 4;242).
Ste arns,likeothe r nineteen thcenturyvisitors to Labrador.describedrustic.
hardw orkingresidentssett led withinabenev o lentla ndscape.Hisdescr iptionof
"havingrea c hed theouterm ostcircle of heaven'shorizon"(Stearns 1884:245) beliedthe extremeconditions through whichsettlementbecame a possibility.
Red Bayis locat e don theeasternendof theLabr ador side of theStrait of Belle Isle(Fig.21.At the narrowest pointbetween Newfoundlandand Labrado r the Straitis14.5km. wide.In thisfunnel,a combinationof oxygenatednorthe rn water with food-ric h sout hern water createsanenvironm ent in whichan extensiveoc eanfoo d chainoriginates.Throu ghoutthe nineteenth centuryth e seasonal aquaticresourcesofthe Straitwereabundant.cacenn.cod,herring, salmon ,sealand whale were pursued.TheLa bradorcoastis adjacentto halfa million squarekilometersof offshorefishingbanks ICandow1983:5) andwith its many bays.islandsand fiords.is in aconvenien tposit ion toprosecut e a fishery . Red Bay iswell situatedinthis regard.In 1884,Stearns rec orded th e
13
foll owing:
Thepa ssagetothe harborof Red Bay isbet ween SaddleIsland and the mainland.Itis very...narrow and scarce lyperceived unt il youare close to thewestof it .Theisland appears likepart ofthemain land.Itis proba b lyone ofthemost secludedharb ors of the coast.Close tothe edge ofthewaternestled thehouseswiththe stagesandworkshops01some twenty-fi veorthirtyfamilies. When once in the harbo rwe were shut in complete ly (Stearns1884:242-2431.
Nineteenth cent urysettlersin RedBayprovided thenomenclat ure to distinct geographicareaswithin thebay.First , there is Saddle Island .Bound ed oneit h er endbvrock y hillsthat slopeto a centretfreshwe ter pond,itroughly conforms to the shape of a saddle.Tw inIsland , situatedbetweenSaddle Islandand the eastern extentof the harbourrest ric tsthat pa ssageto small vessels.Onceinsid e theeaster norwest ernpassages youare wit hin the outer harbour.It ishere,in theninete e nt h centu ry, thatthe summer homes ofthenveveres werebuil t.
These are the struc t uresrecordedby Stearns on his arrival atRedBayin 1884 .It is alsothelocationofthe church.Theouter harbourgraduallyconst rict s in width asitproceeds westerly and beyondits narrowest point lies the inner harbouror the basin .Within the basin arethewinter hom es01the liveveres.Atthi s locat ion,re sident savoidedthewint er galesand were nearer the wood andwater supply.Fromthe sea. thecrests ofSaddleIs land and the highgranite hills01the westernsideobscu rea view01RedBay.
The uveveresan dstatio ners ofnineteenth century Red Bayandof thewhole Labr ador coast werethelast in aline of fish ermanstre tchingback tcprehistori c times.
Inthesixt eenth century ,the Newf oundl and fisherieswereaninternatio na l ente rprise. French and SpanishBasques com petedwithEnglish and Bret on ships for cod onthe Labrador. By 1540 , the Basqu espursued onlywhales.Belween the 1530 5 andearly 1600s,theBasques est ablishada baseinRedBav(Barkha m
14
197 8;Tuck&.Grenier198 11.Nearthe end of the cent urythe whaleresource dwindled.Concu rrently,the Spanish fishery wasin anot iceable decline,a consequenceof theArmada'sdefeat in1588.Finally,international development oftheDulch whalefisheries contribut edtothe eventualdeclineofBasque whalingin the Strait of BelleIsle.Tod ay,RedBay,particularlySaddleIsland. is richin archaeol ogicalresources ofthis Basqueoccupation(Tuck 1981;1982;
198 31.
Marine expl oita tion in IheStraitarea continued throu ghoutthe seventeenth and eighteent hcenturiesbyFrench.NovaSc oti an.Low er Canadian,Brit ish, Americanand Newf oundl and concerns. Inthe firsthalf oftheseventeenth centu ry,French ships dominat ed in the Strait ofBelle Isle conduct ingboth a
"green-andashore-ba sed"dry fishery ." In17 17,forexample,threeFrench shipsoperate dfrom shorestat ionsinRedBay(Innis1954: 169 ).Betw eenthen and 1743,RedBay continuedasone of several basesintheStrait ofBelleIsle Hhcmt on197 7:1551.
Althoughgua ranteedtheright to fish on la bradorby the 17 13 Treat y of Utrec ht,French involvementon the coastdeclinedaller the 1763 Treaty of Paris andespeciallyafterNewfoundlandGovernorHugh Pallise r's 1765 "regulat ions forthe coastof labrador "(Candow 1983 :181.
At that poin t.shipsfromBritain. Newfound land and Americaenteredthe Strait. ForBrit ain,entry to thearea was anat ural expansion01mercantile commercebeyond the Gull of St.Lawrence. Alt hough British merchants establishedsh orestationswit htransient labourer s,RedBayremained outside their direct sph ereofoperation.A1767 reportdoes sho w howev erthat 101 menfished from shorebases at RedBay andSt. Modeste(Head1976 :181 1.
Itappears that Red Bayfell within therangeof QuebecandJersey sealersas well.This ente rprise reacheda peakaft er1775 and last edintotheninete enth
15
cnntury. Quebecfirms primarily fishedthe coastwestof BlancSablan butin 1784 they wereasclo se 10 RedBay 85L'Anse au Loup (Gosling190 3:38 5).The excavat ionof a sealingovenonSaddleIslanddating to thisperiodfluck 1984:72)mayreflect the encroachmentofQuebec orJersey-based sealers into Red Bay.
Amer icansarr ivedonthe coast 85 well; first in pursuitof whales and then for cod.One hundredNewEngland vesselssailedfor the Gulfof St.Lawrenceand the St raitofBelleIsle in 17 65(Gosling 1903:3291.In thofollowing year, Governor Palliser wrote that 200-300 NewEngland shipspursued codin labrado rliIllil J. American fis hing in the Strait continuadand by 1802 they occupiedfishingroomsin Red Bay,tothe obvioussurpriseandexclusionof a St.
John's merchantarrivingfor thesummer(Gosling1903:339).
Between Jacques Cartier'sarrivalinthe harbourandthe180 2 discov{iryof Americansens c onced there,Red Bay witnessedmany excursions.For themost part, these activ itieswereshortlived.There was aQuebec-based year-round occupati onsometime between 1715and174 0and there is archaeological evidenceforlat ereighteenth-centurywinter houses (JamesTuck, Personal Communication).In eachcase landuseresul t edfrom aneed to exploit a seasonalresource.Ro bertsonnoted thattwo obstacles,resources and geogrephy preventedsettle ment in Labrador: "theonly objec tof pursuitwas fish or oiland theland did not invitesettlement" (Robertson 1841:31).Whenresident s exploitedresou rcesot he r thanfish and oil andacq uired goodsin exchange,thev establis hedameans of settlementby suppleme nt ing the summe rcodfishery.
Thisoccurred in the second quarterofthe ninetee nthcentury.
Tw o developmen tscontributedtothe initialpermanen tBritishNewf oundland settleme ntof RedBay , The firstwas an outcome ofincreasedpopulation pressure inNewfound land.Settlers in sevent e enthandeighteenthcentury
16
Newfoundlandccntmed themselves tothe Avalon Peninsulaand gradually expanded fromthe AvalontoPlacent ia andBona vist aBays.By18 30 ,populati on pressureexertedsucha dema ndonresourcesthat thefisheryexpande dtothe Labrador coast.The second factorwasthedevelopment in the finaldecades of theeighteent hcenturyofaBrit ish shipfisheryonthe Labrador side of theStrait of BelleIsle (Thornto n 1977 :16 1).
Mercantile commercein the Stra itof Belle Isleemerged asBriti sh West Count ry merchant activity expanded outward from the settled core of Newf oundla nd. Devon,Jersey and Dorsetmerc hant s sooncontrolledthesummer cod fisheryinthe Strait.Eachyear they transportedathousand menfrom Engl and to work.as fisherme n (Thornt on19 77 :161 )in anenterpriseaimed excl usivel ~-at the summercodresource. Fortheirpart. merca ntile firms were content.MWintering" involvedonly a smallnumber of personsnecessary to maint ain the establishments.As aresul t,theindustr y thwarte danyatte mptto establishpermanent settlem ent(Thornton 1977:168 ).As Mannion point s out, permanent settlement requiredexptcltable resources veerround and not just during the summercodfishery(19 77 a :21.Essenti ally, a diversifiedresourcebase ofseal,salmon,fur andcodwasnecessary to supportapermanent settle ment.
By1830 ,English mercha nt firmswarewell establishedin the Straitarea.
Some menremained to"wint er"onthe coast. Their summerincome assured, theypursued seals, salmonandfur.In theprocesstheybecame "em bryonic pioneer"sett lers(Tho rnton 1977 :161 1, acquiringa suff ic ient range ofgoodsin exchangeforthese product s to suppo rta year round occupation.Therole of merchant firms thenbegan to change. Increasingly , merchants supplied provisions to 'uveveres"in exchange forproduct s.More and moreof the workers broughtfromEngland eachspringremained intheemployofloc al
17
plant ers eit heras furriersor sealfishermen.Thornt on (19771.in anexcellent discussionof mercanti lefirms in theStra it ofBelJeIsle,makestwopoints important to this thesis.Asthe opportunity lor settlement increasedin the ninet eent h century,the relat ionship of merchantfirmstosettl ers changed from one of owner/operator to supplier(Thorn ton 1977:169 1.This led to the eventual declineofdirect Brit isheconomiccont roland theabsorption ofBritishturns into the St.John 'scommercialstructu reby1870.
Although a minorNewfoundland·basedstationer fishery operatedin the Strait ofBelle before 1830 themajor impactof this fishery occurredinthe post· 183 0 period. In the severaldecades before1830 .adramat icpopulat ionincreaseon New f oundland' s eastcoast exerted new pressure onthe areas'resources (Mannion1977a:61.Forhundredsoffamil ies inthe Conception Bay area,the alternative to povertywasa summermigrationto theLabredor coast ts tevetev 1977:69).Althoughinitial out-movementwas seasonal"summering- becamea facto r in permanentmigration.
RedBay , outside thesphereof British firms,became the base for a stationer fishery operatedbyCarbonearfisherme nas earlyas 1825 (Tho rn ton 197 7:170 ).
Between1837-46thefirst famil y units from Carbonear arrivedinRedBay and a second phase of married settlers arrived between 1865 -70 (Tho rn ton 1977:174).In1848,onehundred Carbo nearstationers-freight ed" toRedBay.
Thirt een were independents,carried toLabrador on amerchant 's ship,yet opera tingtheirown fish ing room s.Sixtyof this group staye dfor thewint erseal fishery (Thornto n 1977:170 ). The merchant providing passage for the independents wasWilliam Penney ofCarbonear.In184 8he emp loyod lort yto fifty men,operated 25 boats andproduced3,500Quint als ofcod(Gosling 190 3:409 ). CaptainDeCourcyof~visited RedBay in 1852 and providedthe follow ingaccount :
18
At RedBay there are 20·25fishing boats.•.employing2 to 3 men each . Ten families residehereduring thewint er and about100 persons... come here annuallyfrom Carbonear.••to fish duringthe summer.These are called freightersand are brought here in avessel belongingto MrPenney of ConceptionBay. Thepeople from ConceptionBay generallycarry their fish home ..•.The residentsettl ers generally sell theirfish to traders from Halifaxand St. John'sforwhichtheyreceivepaymentin truck or by bills on merchantsat St.John's1185 1:141-153 1.
TheNewfo undland-basedLabrador fisher yconsist edof threestrategies.Of directim porta nceto the settlement ofRed Bay is thestationerfishery.As the name implies.thefishery operatedfrom shorest ationsor"rooms."Fishermen
"signed" toa merchantwere"freighted"to a station on thelabrador. Once there,themenfishedfromsmall boatsandret urned dailyto processthe catch. When aseason ended the merchant returnedstationersto their homes.Those whoremained in port ssuch asRed Bay,pursuing a winter livelihood wereknow n 8S"liveveres,"a corruption of the term"livehere.~Theytooparticipat edin the shore-basedfisherybutretained some independencefromthemerchants .The thirdfisherypracticedon thelabrador isknownasthe floater fishery.In the nineteent hcentury it drew thousands of men andships to thelabradorcoasts.
In a float erfishery the codf ish werecaught insmall boat sand thensalted and stor ed aboardtheschooner. The~green"fishwere processed in the schooners' homeports.
The stationer fishery however.was the main supplier of settlerstolabrador and particularlyto Red Bay after 18 50.Most of Redaev'sliveyere soriginatedin Concepti onBaycommunities,nota bly, cerboneer.As late as 1884,44%of the Carbonearpopulationwere st ill summering on the labradorcoast tstaverev 1977:691. However, the peak years of New foundland-derived labrador settlementwere between18 60-6 5. After1880,the stationerfisher ywas no longer a factorin bringingsettlers to places like RedBay(Thorn t on19 77 :177) .
In the1880s. Red Bay. like otherStraitareacommunit ies, had movedbeyond
19
a frontie rstage of development(Thornton 1977:1801.Twent y-one resident families,atot al of 131 personsJivedthere(Dyke 19691.Coastaltransportation andpostal facil iti es connectedRed Bay totheworld.The communityworshiped in8MethodistChurch,0011 in 1878(Mannion1977:27 81.WiUiamPenney's businesshad grown.As Thornton saysof thisperiod.thesettlers~livBd se pa rat e ly and inde pend ently with an ident ity of th eir own~ (Thornton 1977:1801.
Threeforms of residenceoccurredinRedBay inthe nineteenth century.
These werethe winterand summ erhomesofIiveyeres andtheseasonally occupiedstruct ures ofstationer families.RedBayhveverc shadoccupiedthe basin ofRedBay harbourin thefirstquarte rof thenineteent hcentury. This practicewas consistentthroughoutlabradorwheresettlers occupied interior locations during the wintermonths(Hallock18 61:745:Stearns 1884:243;
Browne1909 :226:Tuck 1984:731.In sP'"ing. Red Bay liveyeres movedtothe outerharbour and Saddle Island. Alongthecoastother liveyeresandarriving stationersestab lisheddwellingsonthe headlandsand islands nearthe fishing grounds .This transhumance was notuniquetoLabrador;it was a standard adaptiveresponseinthe marginalenvironmentsof NewfourldlandarMl'Cape Breton(Smith19871.The practicehowever does confusetheissueatRedBay.
Are we toattributethe occupationof SaddleIsland toresident uveveree moving out ofthebasinorto arrivi ngstationersfrom ConceptionBay?
For a st ationer,employme ntwith a merchantguaranteed theabilit y to subsist throughasummer;itrarelyofferedcash. Hiredtoaplanter,afisherman and his family shipped tothe coastanddeliveredtheproducts oftheirlabour.fishand oil, to the merch ant.In exchange,a statio nerfamilyreceived passage andcredit againstthesuppliesthey used(Moyles1975:1231.
20
Stationers leaving Conception Bay in June.arrivedin Labrador ports after a ten day voyage ICandow1983:531.During the passage to Labradorthequantity and choiceof familycargowas greatly restricted. In 1864,a visitor recordedthe arrival of a stationer ship with eleven families from Carbonear:
numbering 130 souls,men . women. and children,with goats,dogs. cats. and provisions for the whole party•.. to land at some harbour onthe coast north of the Strait ltolspend the fishing season in theirrudesummer houses.called tilts(Moyles19 75:123 ).
Accordingto Browne,conditionswereappalling.Overcrowdingand hygiene were particularproblems.He wrote:
on avessel of fifty tons more than one hundred people were herded below decks. wit h hardly space enough tomovein.The holds...werestackedto within fouror five feetof the deckwith barrels,boxes, fishinggear and the variousetcet era whichfamiliosrequire.The decks...werelittered withboat s, oars,moorings,domestic animalsand other paraphernaliA (Brow ne1909:651.
In theseconditions it is unlikely that stationersbrought a full ccmpreraem of it ems to cuttlt a summer residenca.Through experience,stationerslikely knew what itemswereessent ialand regulatedtheir cargo accordingly .
Red Bayliveyereson the other hand made a short journey from awinter home in the basin to the outer harbourand possiblytoSaddleIsland.For them,a move likelyincludedallport ableobjec t s. Itwould be reckless to abandon household property for any lengthof time on a coast withalarge transient population.
A.rrivingon Saddle Islandor at other locat ions,theoccupants began therepair of steges,tlekecand dwellings .The housetypeassociat ed wit h seasoner occupation of Labrador and Newfoundlandis the"ti lt." Often,itwas filled with snow at the start of a cod season(Smith1936:112). The~ti l t·was generally square,builtofverticallogs andcovered with a sod or fir bough roof. Typically thefloorswere uncovered .Stearns reportedin the 1880s that windows were
I !
1 ~
121
fewand Ierbetw een and thenofthesmallest size (Moyles1975:1291.Many nineteenth centuryobserversref erredto the summer homes of Labrador fisherm en 85"rudetilts."The inte riorwas understandablyspare.A typical descript ionrecord s afloorfull ofhole s.a rOlogh woodenpart ition separating the sleepingquarter s. acrude chairand table occupyinganarea opposit ethe stove
and"toiletappliancesnil:amuchbatteredtinpanand•••soap••• theonly
ablutionarylitemsl insight" (Browne 190 9:6 31.Inthe1880s.Stearns recorded8 morelaudablestruct urethatincluded openshelving"holdingthe plates. cups.
andsaucers. a platter,abowland oneortw o pitchers"lMoyles1975:130).
Regardlessof whichgroupoccupiedAreaG.itisclearthata st ruc tu rewas built and maintained .Atthislocation,theoccupantspreparedand consumed food,slept. worke d, passedleisurehours and provided the necessaryameni t ies.
Over time ,dailyandseasonal deposit sof refuseacc ruedin sheetfashionnext to the house.Developi ng throug h cyc les of abandonment,theaccumu lation was likelymodif iedthrough scavenging and curetic nprocesses.To understa nd the connectionbetweenartifactsandoccupantsitisnecessaryto considerthese fact s.
Settlementin labrador depended upon theresource end perhaps more import antly upontheabilityof settlers to acquire goods.Thebartersystem and theinability01 fishermen to cont rol any ofthemeansofprodu cti onwere at the core of thisarrangement.
To understandtherelationship betweensettlersand thogood sthey acqu ired it is wort hexamining the economicsystem.In Atlan ticcurpcrts and on the Labrador coast merchant s controlledthe industry through planters,In effect, beyondthecomme rcialcent res of Englandor St.John's planters became merchantagents .
PhilipHenry Gosse,aclerk inthe EnglishfirmSlade,Elson and Co.,
22
Carbonea r. recorded themechanics ofthe system in18 28 (Gosse 1890:47-511.
In the Carbonear populationof 2.800.seventyplanters owned orrented vessels.
The merchant advanced all equipmentto outfit the planter'sschooner. The planter then hired his crew.Themerchantadvancedcreditto each crewman equivalenttohallhisproject ed earningsand thestationer, now on 6half his hand"drew a season'ssupplyoffishery items.food. clothi ngandessentia l articles. Upon 8 stat ioner's ret urnin Octoberhis account was balanced.Ifhe acquireda surplusthe creditvouchersentitled him to drawwinter supplies.
A simila rsystem operated inRedBay and other locat ions on thelabrador where merchantsmaintainedpremises.Lam bertDeBoilieu, managerof a Jersey firminLabradorbetween 1850-1855describedthe bartersystemthis way:
The Labrador fishingestablishmentis also a generalstoreand whenanyone requires suppliesthemode ofdealingis enthelv by barter.•• IItlis as follows.A man comes to the office...and deliversa "weight note"or a"quantit y note"-the forme rforfish,the latter foroil.The price of thisis filled into his credit and away he takes itto the warehouseman..
and exchanges it for food toeacmeu1969:17-181 .
Thirt y years later,the barteror "truck system"still flouris hed.
The general mediumof exchange allthrough thisregi on is trade.Money is seldomused and its value still less seldom known. Nearly allthetrad ing onthecoast is done onthe creditsystem (Stearns 18B4 :73-4 ).
Thesereferences implya directrelati onship existed betweenmerchant s and fishermenfor goods and products.Merchants presumably acquiredproducts in Britainor indirec tly fromthere throughregionalports.How ever the Straitof Belle Isle attractedmany trade-sin searchof fish and, through them,goods circu late d into thelocal economy.Barterremained themode of exchange but the type and provenanceofgoods may have beendifferent.
Legally,liveyeres orstationerswerenot bound to disposeofa catchto the merc hantthey owed.In pract ic ehow ever the situationwas binding,Whena fishermansoldcodto another merchant or trader,he risked losing aline ofcredit
23
for the following year.The bondagethiscreated was evidentinthe medical and socialpro blemsoftheLabrador settlers; problems Sir WilfredGrenf ell blamed on the"truc k system.~Ouot ingAdmiralSirW.8.Kennedyon a visitto thecoast in 1881,Grenf ellwrites:
Onpart of the Labradorthe peoplewereactuallystarving last winter.
Thesepoor people. grounddown asthey areby the detestab le"truck system,"live anddie hopelesslyindebt.livingfromhand to mouth withouta shillingto call theirown (Grenfell 191 3:244 ·5),
Fisher menhow ever, alwaysen intelligen t lot.found ways aroundtheir debt through conspiracyor wiliness: theyfrequent ly avoidedthe merchantand dealt withothers.For example, the law precluded merchants from using income earned outside cod fishing to cancol a fishe rman's codfishing debt.Inthisway, the cod fishery debt increased annually prompting Grenfell to note that merchants never expect to collect infullandfishermensoon conside red their debt as nil (Grenfell 1913:3091. A fishery officer discussing similar merchan t /f isherm en debttransactionsin theGaspe of167 2 wrote:
the(fishermen) are so usedto being indebtthat it becomes almos t naturalforthem...Theydon'teven believeit'spossible tolive anyotherway; theirfatherslived likethisandthey've kept the habitlike a tradition(Samson 1984:84j.
During a cod seasonafisherm an employe dseveralrusesto holdback cod.He might deliver part01a catchrepresent ed as a whole or deliver a portio nof his catch to afriend withcredit.Inthelatter case his fish werenot used inpayment eqalnsthis debt. Hidingfish fromthe merc hantenabledfishermento barte rwith traders for goods andluxuries: itemsthey wouldnot obtain froma merchant on credit (Grenfen1913:310).
After 18 !jO, tr aders coasted freely throughou t theStrait,Newfo undl and tradersoperate da "lucrat ivebusiness" in the Stra itofBelle Islebut"thequality ofgoods and theprices ... obtained for theirwares were not alwaysin
24
accordancewith strictbusiness methods"(Brow ne 1909:8 0- ' ).TheFishery ProtectionServicereport ed thata sizable volumeofsmugglingensuedbetween Americanand Newfoundland vesselsin1840 (Gosling1903:3 751.10 18 5 2,they reporte dthat thedealings ofAmericanson thela bradorwere immense.
Theresident populationon these coastsdrawtheirsuppliesprincipally fromthese (American ]traders,whils t tho transientfisherme nhavean opportunityto dispose oftheirproducewithgreat advantage tothemse lves (Gosling1903:3751.
Americaninvolvement onthe coast peaked in1840. Howe verwith the development of the NewEngland banksfisheryand the end ofrecipr oci tyin 1866. the Americanfisherydeclined,ending completely by 1870(Candow 1983:271.
Besides merchants andtradersfrom Newfoundland.Britain and America.Nova ScotianandQuebec- basedfirms carriedona steadytradeas well.Jersey and Poole- based merchantscomplained in18 58 that upwardsofninety tradingships from NovaScotiaandthe Magdalene Islands visited the Labrador {Innis 1954:4071.Nearby , on the westcoast of Newfoundland,they dominatedthe trade sphere(Mannion 1977b:260l . On Jul y21st, 1859, Pierre Fort in, CommissioneroftheLower CanadaFisheriesProtecti on Service encountered8 Hali fax schoo ner illegallydischarginggoodsat Bonn e Esperance; a typical incident (Fort in1858:1161.Daniel Cronyn,aHalifax trader,"emessed a large fort una [inLabr ador) tradinggeneralmerchandiselorseal skinsand oil.salmon, codliveroiland fursICandow 1983:321.Anot hergroupofent erprising traders inducedacomment from DeBoilieuthat:
Inst ead ofbeershops as inEnglandwe had floatinghotels wherewines and spirit s ofallsortscouldbe procured[aboardschooners)from Quebec and HalifaxIDeBoilieu 1969:181.
The trade between NovaScotiaandthe Strait ofBelle Isle was enormous;
25
many ofthe province'sbusinessfirms owedtheir beginnings to itta rcwne 1909:781.Quebec-basedtraders carried outa simila rbusinessand"many accumu latedlarge fortunes indealingwithsettle rs"(Browne:1909:8 11.
The Area Gart ifactsclearlyshow levelsof access, butdid occupants have 8 choice ofgoods to choose from? ConsideringRedBay'sfrontierlocation we might assumethat settlers had access to tablewaresbutlimited openshell choice.An 1884 descriptionof anunnamed merchant'sstoreinBonne Esperance suggeststhis:
Here ere kepta venetvof hardware.groceries,drygoods•.•clothing, boots,shoes, hats,caps andoilskin suits.Theassortment of nicknac ks ... is always more or less limited.It isratherastoreof necessity than one of choice or amusement[Stearns 1884: 71 1.
Ina vear-andinventoryof1840,the Sladefirmat BattleHarbour listed as unsold goods,beaverhats and silkhandkerchiefs(Brow ne190 9:24 11.For Slade and other merchants,unsoldluxury itemsremained a consequenceof pricing goods100%ebcvecashvalue.
Red Bay,like otherStraitAreacommunit ies,functionedas anoutpostof a merchant 'sdomain. Inthiscase, a merchantoperated in the communitysince 184 2.In18 9 6,theMariners DeepSeaMission toLabrador,underthe direction ofSirWilfred Grenfell,organized the firstlabradorcooperativestorein Red f:iay.
Itspurpose: to allow the settlers ofRedBay to"escape the trucksystem01 trade andtheconsequent loss ofindependence"(Browne 1909:3491.
In1891,Red Bay's populationstoodat152, one of thelargest communities onthelabradorcoast (Prowse1895:617).Thatsame year,Rupert Baxt er,an Americanvisiting labrador,describedRedBay as a"litt lefishing village 01 tw ent y or thirtyhouses"not quite as comfortableorclean as the homes ofBatt le Harbour (Jac kson 19 82:21-23 ). Baxterandother membersof theexpedition traded"cheap tobacco"to RedBaysettlersat a rate ofone pound for twenty
26
pounds of salmon,commenting"itis veryseldom...aLabradorian hasready money inhis possession and often he is in debtto thecompanv"(Jackson 19 8 2:21-2 2 ).
Between1829 and 18 80 the annualexport of codfrom Labradorincreased from70,000to400,000quintals (Gosling1903;477-791.During that time a stream ofcod. salmon.herring. mackerel,whale,seal fur and oil,animal furs.
eggs and feathersleft Red Bay and othercommunitiesfor marketsthroughout the BritishDominion,theMedit erranean,Denmar k, theUnit ed States and the WestIndies.InRed Bay, along the Labradorcoast , in communities onthe Gulfof St.Law renceandin outportNewfoundland, millionsof dollars were generatedby the exportof these resources.
The primary focus of this thesisis an interpretationof ceramicsdiscarded after1838 andprobably belore1884 on Saddle IslandinRedBay, Southern Labrador.The challengingquestion is to identifythe settlement agency through which the ceramicswere deposited.Theprecedingoutlineprovidesexamples of the processes leading to the ecqursrtrcn of goods.In thefollow ing chapters, ceramicsareused to interpretvarious aspects of the nineteenthcenturyuseof Saddle Island.
27
CHAPTER 3
Descript ive,Historical and Comparativ eCeramicData
CROCKERY BY WHOLESALE THEsubscribe rs hav enow on hand afull assortmentofGoods suttabte
fortheCountrytrade.
Painted,Sponge dandPrintedTeas . Dipped and Sponged Jugs.Bowls. for salebythe crateordozen.
(Oct .4 ,1862.Montre alCgmm ercialAdyertise r)
Methodology
Inrecen t years,ceramicsfrom nineteenthandearlytwent iethcenturv contexts have beenusedinvariousways to date assemblages,establish socioe conomic status . anddelineate pattern in the arc hae ologicalrecord.
Generallythough,researchhasproceededwit hout providing the basic descriptive and quantitativedatathatare requiredforcomparative ereivsls.Despito 8 numberof articlesthat address"the use andmisuseofninet eenth-cent ury"
ceramics(Price19 79;Miller 1980;Worthy198 2;Majewski and O'Srien 1987) a wide rangeof inte rchangabletype,form,attribute,and ware namescontinue to appearin thenteretu re.
The ceramicclassif icationused inthisst udyisdesigned toprovide arever01 detail for comparative use.Although Miller (198 0:18) suggests that a ware-based systemhaslittl evalue"beyondchronology"fornineteent hcent ury ceramics.others note that forccet-taacceramic sit isnecessary to categorize byware ty pe even in Miller 'sdecoratio n-based syste m (Wort hy1982:330 ).Even thoughwaret vpeistheprimary categoryin the Area Gceramicclassific at ion.the entirecollect ionof sherdsorvesselsmay beintegrat edatthesub-levels of decorationorform(Figure3).
29
Sincea minimum vesselcount is more reliable than ashardtotalfor evaluatingsite use.all matchingshardswere mended and vesselsrepresented by uniquepatterns,shapesordesignswerecounted. All plainor undeco rated sherds thatmended to decoratedobjectswere counted in thelattergroup.
To establish a minimumvesselcount for the highnumber ofsimilarl y decorated wares(plain, mouldedandtransfer-printed). allrimsand baseswere measured on a template and groupedby vesseldiamet er. Within eechsize group, rims and basalfaotrim arcswere measured ona template;the summed product was divided bytho circum ference ofone vessel.This "vessel equivalencyft method (DeBoer 1974:340 ;Orton 1980 :16 61 proved usefulforestablishing minimumvesselnumbersin collections ofldenttc env decorated sherds (M. blue willow).Theminimumnumberof vesselsin the AreaG collectionis388.
The remainderofthischapter presentsa descriptionofthe Area G ceramic assemblage.Each sectionconcludes with a discussionof thesocialand temporal contexts01each type.Other analyticalormethodolog icalaspectsoftheceramic analysis areincluded throughoutthe text.
STONEWARES
Alba nySlipGlaze
Thereis one Albany Sliptype glaze hollow warebodyfragmentinthe Area G collect ion(Table11.Bot h theint erior and exteriorsurfacesareglazed.
The termAlbany Slipis appliedto a naturalclay slip"w ash" produced throughout NorthAmericainthe nineteenthcentury.A precisedefinition refers to the slipfirst madefrom a fineclaydepositfoundnear Albany,New York.Itis
28
FI NE EARTHENWARE PEARLWAR£
REFINEDWHITE E!W VI TR IF I ED WHIT E E/W
TRANSFER-PRINTED HANO PAINTED EDGED SLIPPED STAMPED MOULDED ETC.
MOUL DED
PLATE SAUCER C"' TUREEN ETC.
FIGURE 3. CeramicClassification:Area G.Red Bay.Labrador.
The hierarchicalinvento rycomprisesfourrevels oforderingthat equateto analy ticalunits(Fig ure 3illustr ates a sectionof the classif ication).Classis dist inguishedby differencesin vesselfabric.Group isdisti nguished by variation in fabric,glazeorstyle.Typeisdefined by decorativeordesign techn iques and formis interpreted from vesselshape.Thefabr ic and decorat ionceteccees provide useful data for the int erpret at ion of chronology, status. and manufacturin g techni ques.Theform categoryall ows themateri al to be grouped by functiona lassociation.
Standard methods and techniques ofart ifactanalysiswere usedthroughout theresearc hto identi fytheceramic material. AUsherdswere sortedintofabric categories based on materialandglaze attri butes, past e.temper,degreeof Vit rif icat ion,andcolour.
By separat ing thecaramicdecorati ve typesduringthe groupanalysis,the collectionwasreducedtomut ually exclusivecat egories .Atthatpoint,ceramics in each decorative type wereseparatedinto disc retepatt erns, styles, colours.or motifsand sub-dividedintoholloworflatwa resberds.There are7,283sherds in theassemblage.
30
recogniz ed bya smoothandim pervious surf acetfl xtureanditrichbrowncolour.
Introducedin180 3(Ketchum1970:12),Albany Slipprovide damor estable and impervi ous vessel~ningthan salt-glazeandsubsequently dominatedthe stone waretradelot a century(Webster1971:401.Beforethe introducti on of Alba ny Slip, liquids often see ped through container waUs.Thereweretwo reasons forthis.First. many manufac,tur ersusednon-v;tr ifiable stonew a reclays.
Secon d.kilnfiringtechnologyreQuiredthestacking ofvesselsinsuchawaythat thein teriorsweresealedandnotsubjected tothesalt-glaze.By1850,theuse of an Albanyslipinteriorglneandan exteriorsalt-glaze was conside red a"teetof thebusiness"(Greer1981:1 9 71. How eve r,inthe last quarterofthenineteenth centu ry.potters applied AlbanySli p to bot hsurfaces of containers,a developme nt that becameverypopular(Greer1981:197).
AlbanySlipis found primarilyonlarg e Clocks ,jarsandstorage containers.The decli neof the stonewareindustryin19 10,the exhaus tio n of claydeposits for Albany Slipby1920andthemarketdom inance of glass andtincontainersended theAlbanySlipperiod(Blair1965:111.
The180 3·1910production date is dividedint odist inctphases.The first, charac terized byinterior glazeonly is1803·18 75 and the second phase, 1875-19 10.represents itsuse onbot hsurfaces.A formuladateof1892.5is sugg este d.{Note:The method ologyusedtoderive thisand othe rformula dates isexplainedinChapter41
Th e rearefourshe rdsfromatwoinchdiameterteapotlid in the AreaG collec tion (Table 11.Thevessel designincludes8moolded embossedfloral decoration (Plate11.
31
BlackBasaltis the nameJosiahWedgw oodgaveto avariet yof~d r vbody stonew are"(Noel Hume 19 76:121) that Canadians purchased as~Eg Y Pti an black " (Collard 1984:109 ).Thesewereveryfine grained,unglazedstone-wares made throughouttheeighteenth and nineteent h cent uries. After1850,black basaltformsimita tedsilver shapes. copyingsuch luxuryobjectsas teaand colfeeservices.vases and lamps.The decorationofbasaltand finerefl stonew are(fossa anticol usually consistedof engine turned rouletting and mould ed orcast designs of spriggedmotifs.
Basalt swereintrodu cedin the t 7505 and manufactur eduntil1820(South 1977 :2 111.Arevivalof blackbasaltlorexporttotheColonialmarkets occ urred between1850-7 5(Gusset 1980:220).
By1846,blackbasalt bow ls costsix timesmorethanthe cheapest cream colouredbowl(Miller 1980:33).This expense may explain thelowffequen cyof excavat edbasaltsin NorthAmerican contex ts.
Forsitesocc upied in thesecondhalf ofthenineteent hcentu ry, an1850 · 1875 date is usedwithaformuladate of 1862.5.
This categoryisrepresentedby twohollow waresherdsof an unknownvessel form (undiagnosti c) (Table 1,Plate1).
The feldspathic Bristo l glaze, alsoknown as the "new improved glaze/
leadless glaze, or-Brist ol Slip" was introducedbya Bristolpotter in 1835 (Gusset1984:21.Becau seof its opaqueto white colourandgloss y even surface, itquicklysupplan t edthe productionofleadand salt-glazes.Generally,Brist~1 glazewas usedon beveragebottle sandcommercialconta iners.A common decorativetech niqueincludedbeadedor roulettedbands.The characteristic
32
brown and white containerswere produced by firstdipping halfthe vesselin1:I darkslip.In North America.pottersused AlbanySlip,
Despit e an183 5 introduction.Brist ol glaze only became popula rinBrit ain after186 0(Greer1981: 24 1). The preferenceinVictorianEnglandforwhiter wares.quick lyendedthe salt-glazetradition ofdrab.darke rvessels. In North America. thetrend toward a feldspathic glaze developed more slowly.TheNew BrunswickpoUery ofJosephWhite and Sons advertisedBrist ol glazeware inen 18 6 7·68 directo ry(Collard 198 4 :25 4 ). Americanpotters displayedtheirBrist ol glazeat the 1884 New Orleans Exhibit ion. By 1890,the newgrazedominated the industryrnreer1981 :241).
Althoughmanufacturedin1B35,Bristol glazeis closelyassociated with the lat e Victorianera,18 60·190 0.The London CrockeryManufacturingCompany was still exportinglarge quantities of Bristo lglaze in1900(Newlands1979:4 2 ).
On Canadia nsites, Bristo lglaze vesselsarerecovereein1840- 18 90 contexts.
The suggested formula dat e is1867.5.
TABLE1.
Stoneware:Area G,Red Bay, Labrador VESSELS ALBANY SLIP
BLACK BASALT BRISTOL GLAZE BROWN SALT-GLAZE
COARSE FABRIC UNO.BURNED
Brown sart.glaza
UND,H/W TEAPOT UND.H/W JARS COLANDERS UNO.H/W STORAGE JARS UNO.H/W
1 4 2 1 3 3 15 1
33
Threevesselswere identifiedfrom seven sherds (Table1).Thera arethroe sherds of one hollow warecontai ner.and threeshardsfrom an eightinch colander (Plate1).Theremaining vessel is a three inch jarwith a moulded band on the exteriorrim.
As a descriptive type,"brow n salt-glaze"includes"Derbyshire" and British brown salt-glaze.aenerauv,it consists ofa unifo rmbrownextarlcrg18Z8ona buff to graycolouredfabric. This was achievedby mixing salt withiron based agentsbefore the glazing process (Gusset 19 84: 11.The interio rof brown salt-gla zevessels were rarelyglazed andmost vesselswere undecorated.
Frequently.manufacturers'namesor tradema rksare stamped int o the vessel.
The typicalbrown salt-glazeformsinclude preserve jars, inkand blacking bottles and commercial containers usedin the food industry.
AlthoughJ.Bourneand Son of Denby. England.manufactu red brow n salt-glaze vessels in1809 (Sussman1979 :164 1,their greatestuse andpopularity occurred after1850. Thisis inferredfrom the frequency of brown salt-glazeobjects in post 1840archaeologic alcontexts across North America.
Archaeologicalresearch places brow nsalt-glazeinthe 1840-1890 period {NoelHume 1976:79:South1977:210;Sussman 1979:15 9 : Jacobs 1982:241.
The formuladate is 1865.
YeLLOW WAREandROCKINGHAMGLAZE
From ananalysisof 647 sherds,31 yellow ware vesselswereident if ied.
Three decorative styles are present.They areRoc kingham glazed.mocha motif andslip trailed or~di pped "(Table 2,Plate 21.
The minimumvesselcount establishedthepresenceoffourteen Rockingha m
34
glazed teapots. One open-mout hjar (Plat e 2) and three undiagnostichollow ware vessels were alsoidenti fied
rrebte
2J.There arefour mocha decorated hollow ware vessels of unknown form and one slip trailedpitcher (Plate2).Inthe undecorated category,two serving bowls, two undiagnos ticflatwaresand four undiagnosti chollow wares are ident ifi ed . Make r'smarkswere not found.
Yellow wareandRockinghamglazed ware are ubiquit ous cerami csof the nineteenth centc rv.Manufactu red andsold as cenewere. yellow ironst o ne, buffwa re. brow nw are andyellow Queenswa re. the vesselsarrivedinCanada from theUnit ed States and Britain in large quantities after1850(Col lard 1984: 14 1).
The original-Rockingham- was afine earthenwaremade in Yorkshire after 1806andknow nasRoc kingham since1826(Goddin1966:280).While true Rockingham is rarely found on archaeo logicalsites.Rockingham glazedwares are widespread.InNorth America.Rockinghamis oftentermed "Benninqtcn,"
afterthe BenningtonPottery of Vermontwhichproduced it in largeQuantities.
It is possibleas wellto confuse yellow ware with eithercanewareor yellow-glazedearthenware.Canewa re is adry-body fine stoneware intr oduced by Wedgwood inthe eightee nth centu ry (Collard1984: 141)and yellow-glazed earthenwa reis a creamwareor pearlwarefabricdist inguishedby a yellowglaze (Miller 1974 :1).
Yellowware isabuff to yellow colouredfabriccovered witha clear alkal ine glaze.The mottled anduneven surfaceofaRock ingham vesselisproducedby the applicat ionoflayers ofmanganese oriron oxide glazes. Throughout the nineteen thcent urythe same clay was used tofashion both products.Frequentl y the samemouldswereused to manufac ture bothRockingham andyellow ware vessels.Yellowware decorationconsistedofslip-bandsand mocha motifs.
35
TABLE2.
'tellow Wate and Ro<::lr.inqhamGlue
ATTR IBUTE FORM
MOCHA UND . II/W 19 4
PLAI NUNDEC. SERVINGBOWLS 13 2 UND.II/W 11 4
UND.F /W 31 2
TEAPOt'S 117 14
JAR S 28
,
UND. H/W
m
JSLIPDECORATED PITCHERS 13
,
31
British potters made yellowwarein the earlynineteenthcentury(Gallo 1985:10 ).In Nort h Ameri ca, Unite dSlat esproductio n began inthe18309 (Ramsey 1986:61 ) and canae'en manufac t urein1860 twebeter 19 71:177).
According to newspaper advertise ments Canadian merchants beganselling yellowwaresinthe 18405(Collard1984 : 14 1). Fromthento the end of the centu ry.yellowwareand Rockinghamsat is f ied a marketdemandforutilitari an
Althoughavailablein1840.yellowwareweemost popular after 1850IBlair 1965:13;Spargo19 72:171; Ramsey 197 6 :2 2;Sussman 1979:150,Lelbowl t z 1985:9). Rockingha m production in the United States occurred betwe en 1835·85 (Spargo1972:17 1) butthe peak wasreached after 1850(Rams ey 193 3:22;Sussman1979:148).
Yellow ware andRocki nghamweremanufactured in Canada until1929 (Ne wl ands1979:1561 but the peakveers of producti on occurred inthe1890s (W ebst er 197 1:17 7 ).Both wares areco mmonin archaeologica l contexts bet w een1850·1900. Canadians impor tedmillionsof Rockinghamtea and coffe e pots after 1840 (Collard: 1984:14 2 1.In the187 0 s,for example, 26,0 0 0 Rocki ngham teapotswere made weeklyatthe AliDaPottery in Stirling , Scot lan d
36
(Goddin1972:147l.
Yellow ware andRocking ham glaze objectsoccurin Canadiancontexts between 1840·1900 .A formuladate of 1870 is suggested.Specific decorative attributesmayrefine thisdate.
WHITE EARTHENWARES
SpongedlStampedpecQration
The sponged and stamped vesselsof AreaG accountfOI 12.3 %ofthe fine earthe nwaretotal (Table3,Plates 3.41.Comparedto othernineteenth century assemblages thefigure is very high.Thefrequencyofsponged or stamped vess els obtained frompublishedreportsis usuallylower.Forexample.2.8%at an18 29·57 periodsitein Michigan {Linebaugh1983:267 1;2%fromthe 1875-83depositsat FortWalsh.in Saskatchewan(Hami lton 19 7 9:18) and 2%
at SignalHill.Newfoundland(J elks 1973:101-123).
Forty-threevessels wereidentifiedfrom344 sherds, Thewares repre s ent six diagnosticfor ms andhollow ware vesselsacc ount for 70%ofthetota l(Table 4).Thefrequenciesof sponged/stampedcoloursare: bl ue-30%; green· 19% ; bluerb rown-16%;red /g reen .12%;pur ple - 12 % ; black·9%;andred-2%.
Th irteancu pswith rimdiam eters of threeto fourinches arerepresented . Other tablewa resincludefourbowls,two probable food serving dishes with six andeight inchdiameters,twosix inchsaucers,oneteapot and onecreamer, Altho ughsponged/stampeddecoration generallyappearson cups andsaucers
and ra rel y upon uetweree (Price 197 9:20 , Miller 19 80:28 ), theAreaG
assemblageincludeselevenplatesor 26%ofthegrouptotal. The remaining objects are ident ified from elevenhollowware andtwoflatwareforms(Ta ble 4).
37
Of specia lnoteare the presenc e oftour discrete tablew are "sets"ITable 171. In sat5.a plate,cup andsaucerarestam ped withblackrosettesona blue ground(Pla te 4).Set6 incl udesa plate andcupdecorate dwithstamped blue sn owflakes(Plate 3).Set 7 includes a plateand cupwithgreengeome tric mot ifs. Set8includesa plateandcup withpurple stylizedmaple leafs.These vessels conform to the styleof"PortneutWares".a variety of Scottish sta m ped po tterymistakenly attribute dto Quebecmanufac ture earlierin the centu ry.
Ad ditio naldecorati on on spongedorstamp edceramics may includehand-pa inted flor al motifsorpai n tedrimbands.
TABLE 3.
Fine Ea rthenware Decor a tiveFre quenci e s andPercentages
Decorati on Type Shar d
,
Shard,
Vasssl,
Vas,
ssl UNDIAGNOSTICWHITEE/W 3365 47 . 0\TRANSFER 1575 22.4\ 124 35.5\
PLA IN/MOULDED 1177 16.4\ 10' 30.0\
SPONGE/STAMP
, . .
4.S\ 43 12.3\PAINTED
'0'
4. 2\ 22 6. 3\SLIPDECORATED 178 2.4 \ 19 5.4 \
EDGED 83 1.1\ 18 5.1\
FLO W BLUB 3. .S\ 4 1.1\
COLOURED GLAZE 37 .S\ a .sv
GILDED 32
."
1."
LUSTER
•
.05\, ."
MAJOLICA 3 .04\ 2
."
SP R I G MOULDED
·
.0 5\ 2."
TI N-GLAZE 7146
·
.0 5\ 3 ••1 .nAn historianoftheScott ish pott ery industr y describe dthetechnique of spo nging as :
an inte restin g process ofdeco ra tion .,.by meansof por ti ons cu toutof the smoothrootof a sponge, which aredipped in...colouran d then brough t intocontac twiththe ware,lea v ingastampofthe patt ern,..
