FORGING AN ATLANTIC WORLD: AN HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF
AFRICAN-EUROPEAN TRADE IN
METALWARES
by
Nicole Lea Hamann
BA., The College of William and Mary, 2003
A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
2007 @ 2007 Nicole Lea Hamann The thesis of Nicole Lea Hamann is approved:
______Gregory D. Cook, M.A., Committee Member Date
______Matthew J. Clavin, Ph.D., Committee Member Date
______John R. Bratten, Ph.D., Committee Chair Date
Accepted for the Department/Division:
______Judith A. Bense, Ph.D., Chair Date
Accepted for the College:
______Jane S. Halonen, Ph.D., Dean Date
Accepted for the University:
______Richard S. Podemski, Ph.D., Dean of Graduate Studies Date
iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Saying that this thesis would not have been possible without the support of a large number of people is an understatement. I am indebted and grateful to Dr. Christopher
DeCorse from Syracuse University and Mr. Gregory Cook for the opportunity to experience Ghana, the Elmina wreck, and archaeology in an international setting. The skills and knowledge I gained, while diving and beyond, are immeasurable. Also, I’d like to thank the whole gang for making the trip such a rewarding experience.
Work on this thesis truly began in the conservation lab and a new set of people deserves my deepest gratitude. Dr. Bratten, not only did you teach me so much during my coursework at UWF, but you let me loose in your lab and remained ever so patient with my questions and with the unimaginable levels of noise! Mav and Wayne, I cannot thank you enough for making the lab such an enjoyable place in which to work, hang-out, and generally “live.” Thanks also to the various conservation students who helped turn concreted basins into beautiful, shining vessels. Special thanks to Cameron and Josh for such amazing artistic abilities and for bringing my own small amounts up to new heights.
Although I basically lived in the lab, thanks to Keith, Kristin, the dinner crew - Kendra,
Siska, Carrie, Nic, the guys at MSC, especially Steve, and everyone else that I have met since my time at UWF began for providing support, laughs, great food, and good times.
Paul, you were the first person I met in the department and I cannot thank you enough for
iv all of our chats, the advice, the help (thanks also to Sarah White), and the mylar!
Then there are the non-UWFers, especially my parents, Kimber and Jon, Megs, Ry,
Steph, and Carson. It has been a rougher road than any of us could have imagined, but despite the sorrow and heartbreak, you have given me the support and strength to see this through.
Carson, there is so much to say and so much I have to thank you for that the confines of this page just will not do. For now, I will thank you for all the help, for improving my writing style with your editing, for listening to my ideas, for offering new perspectives, and for being my light. The distance ends, the dreams begin.
My committee has been more than patient, understanding, and helpful throughout this process. I cannot thank you enough, Dr. Bratten, Greg Cook, and Dr. Clavin, for your unique contributions to this work. And, I truly appreciate all of the behind-the-scenes help that I received from Karen, Cindi, and Lee.
Finally, I am appreciative to the Pat and Hal Marcus Fellowship in Historical
Archaeology presented through The University of West Florida’s Anthropology
Department and Archaeology Institute for the financial support. I am so honored to have received the Marcus Fellowship. I hope this thesis perpetuates that honor.
v DEDICATION
In memory of Jennifer Lynn Hamann and the love, laughter, music, and magic she brought to all she knew. She always believed and I will always remember.
vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... iv
DEDICATION ...... vi
LIST OF TABLES ...... x
LIST OF FIGURES...... xi
ABSTRACT ...... xiii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
CHAPTER II. RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 6 A. Methodology ...... 7 1. Historical Methods ...... 8 a. Primary Sources ...... 9 b. Secondary Sources ...... 15 2. Archaeological Methods ...... 18
CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND...... 23 A. Europeans in West Africa ...... 24 B. Control of Elmina ...... 30 C. African-European Interaction and Identity ...... 31 D. Control of West African Trade ...... 36 E. World Systems Theory in the West African Context ...... 40 F. Exchanging European Trade Goods ...... 44 G. Ties to the Industrial Revolution ...... 49 H. Summary ...... 51
CHAPTER IV. ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT ...... 52 A. Previous Research ...... 52 B. Nautical Archaeology ...... 59
vii C. The Elmina Wreck ...... 60 1. General Artifact Information ...... 66 D. Summary ...... 67
CHAPTER V. THE MANUFACTURE, SUPPLY, AND DEMAND OF METALWARES IN WEST AFRICAN TRADE ...... 69 A. Introduction ...... 69 B. West African Metallurgy ...... 70 1. Archaeological Evidence for West African Metallurgy ...... 70 C. Brass ...... 76 1. Symbolic Power and Cultural Value ...... 76 2. Physical Properties ...... 77 3. Brass in European Society ...... 78 D. Pewter ...... 87 1. Physical Properties ...... 88 2. Pewter in the Archaeological Record ...... 89 3. Pewter in the Historical Record ...... 90 4. Manufacture of Pewter ...... 92 E. Summary ...... 98
CHAPTER VI. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ...... 100 A. Introduction ...... 100 B. Archaeological Typology ...... 101 C. Pewter and Brass in the Documentary Record ...... 104 1. Neptunes ...... 107 2. Bowls, Cups, and Pots ...... 108 3. Pans ...... 109 4. Kettles ...... 110 5. Basins/Basons ...... 111 6. Dishes and Plates ...... 112 D. Elmina Wreck Metalwares ...... 113 1. Catalogue ...... 116 2. Brass ...... 119 a. Artifact #304a-c and Artifact #305a-f ...... 120 b. Artifact #316 ...... 123 c. Artifact #317a-k ...... 125 d. Artifact #330 ...... 125 e. Artifact #332a-m ...... 125 f. Artifact #350a-c ...... 127 g. Artifact #358a-h ...... 127 h. Artifact #386a-e ...... 130 i. Artifact #409 (redeposited) ...... 130
viii j. 2003a-e ...... 130 3. Pewter ...... 130 a. Artifact #319a-r ...... 130 b. Artifact #357 ...... 131 c. Artifact #365 ...... 131 d. Artifact #379 ...... 135 e. Artifact #408 ...... 135 4. Other Metalwares ...... 135 a. Artifact #370 ...... 135 E. Elmina Wreck Site Typology ...... 135 1. Type #1 ...... 138 2. Type #2 ...... 140 3. Type #3 ...... 140 4. Type #4 ...... 143 5. Type #5 ...... 143 6. Type #6 ...... 146 7. Type #7 ...... 148 F. Diagnostic Features ...... 150 1. Metallurgical Results ...... 150 2. Styles and Features ...... 154 3. Marking Systems ...... 156 4. Elmina Wreck Makers’ Marks ...... 161 G. Summary ...... 162
CHAPTER VI. COMPARISONS AND DISCUSSION ...... 164 A. Introduction ...... 164 B. Metalwares in Europe ...... 165 C. Mealwares as Cargo ...... 166 D. The Functions of Cuprous Metals in West African Society ...... 169 E. Functions of Metal Commodities throughout the Atlantic World ...... 172 F. West Africa’s Role in the Modern World Economy ...... 179 G. Future Research ...... 184 H. Conclusions ...... 189
REFERENCES ...... 191
APPENDIXES ...... 225 A. Elmina Wreck Metalware Catalogue ...... 226 B. Metallurgical Results ...... 299 C. Artifact Assemblage Photographs ...... 302
ix LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. General Dimensions of Metalware ...... 114
A. Elmina Wreck Metalware Types ...... 227
B. Metallurgical Results Showing Composition by % of Element ...... 300
x LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. Project area location in Ghana ...... 2
2. Elmina wreck 2003 brass sample ...... 4
3. Elmina wreck metalware assemblage ...... 22
4. Elmina wreck site plan map ...... 64
5. Artifact #304/#305 (top and side view) ...... 121
6. Detailed illustration of handle ...... 122
7. Maker’s marks on Elmina wreck brassware ...... 124
8. Artifact #317, #332, #386 (top and side view) ...... 126
9. Artifact #350 (top and side view) ...... 128
10. Artifact #358 (top and side view) ...... 129
11. Artifact #319 (top and side view) ...... 132
12. Maker’s mark on Elmina wreck pewterware ...... 133
13. Artifact #357 (top and side view) ...... 134
14. Artifact #370 (top and side view) ...... 136
15. Illustration of Type #1 ...... 139
16. Illustration of Type #2 ...... 141
17. Illustration of Type #3 ...... 142
xi 18. Illustration of Type #4 ...... 144
19. Illustration of Type #5 ...... 145
20. Illustration of Type #6 ...... 147
21. Illustration of Type #7 ...... 149
C1. Type #1 assemblage ...... 303
C2. Type #2 assemblage ...... 304
C3. Type #3 assemblage ...... 305
C4. Type #4 assemblage ...... 306
C5. Type #5 assemblage ...... 307
xii ABSTRACT
FORGING AN ATLANTIC WORLD: AN HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF AFRICAN-EUROPEAN TRADE IN METALWARES
Nicole Lea Hamann
Archaeological investigations of a shipwreck site in the coastal waters of Elmina,
Ghana, a major trade entrepôt on the Gold Coast, illuminate evolving African-European trade relationships and their role in the world market of the nineteenth century. The
Elmina wreck yields an unmatched assemblage of 73 aluminum, brass, and pewter goods preserved due to the vessel’s loss offshore of West Africa that has been catalogued and typed. These metalwares represent tangible examples of the array of goods entering the region, provide comparative material for historical descriptions of the trade, and reflect the importance of exchange in African-European interaction.
xiii CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In 2003, archaeologists with Syracuse University laid the initial groundwork for
the study of vessels involved in African-European interactions along the west coast of
Africa. With support from the National Geographic Society and working in conjunction
with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), archaeologists conducted an
initial systematic survey of submerged cultural resources in Ghana. Before the 2003 field
investigations ended, divers verified the presence of an intact wreck off Elmina, the oldest
trading entrepôt on West Africa’s Gold Coast (Figure 1). The team determined that the vessel likely sank on the inbound leg of its voyage with an intact cargo of goods destined for trade along the West African littoral. While the nationality and identification of the wreck remained undetermined, the vessel’s location and cargo suggested its intended participation in trade for enslaved Africans, palm oil, ivory, or other African products
during the eighteenth- or nineteenth-centuries. The wreck site offered an unmatched
assemblage of commodities fortuitously extracted from West African trade processes and preserved due to the catastrophic loss of the vessel. Thus, the assortment of commodities provided an excellent opportunity for archaeologists to return to Ghana to examine a cargo directly involved in the West African trade.
1
3
Researchers observed a large number of basins, recognizing them as a major cargo item, while diving on the Elmina wreck in 2003. Archaeologists recorded and conserved a sample of five small brass basins at The University of West Florida’s (UWF) conservation laboratory (Figure 2). Such metalwares represent a standard item comprising cargoes on European vessels entering West African trade. Contemporary cargo
inventories and manifests of vessels plying West African waters, in addition to numerous
travelers’ accounts, list a wide variety of copper, brass, pewter, and lead manufactures.
For example, Pieter de Marees’ Description and Historical Account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602) includes a lengthy passage on the types of basins “such as small and large Neptunes, Barbers’ Basins, cooking Basins, fater-Basins, chased basins…,” and
notes on their value as trade goods (de Marees 1987 [1602]:51-52). Other documents like
the “Invoice of Sundry Goods & Merchandise shipped on board the snow1 Africa,” which
is housed in the City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol, inventories the cargoes,
supplies, costs and letters concerning her voyages to Africa departing from Bristol,
England in 1774 to 1776 (Giles ca. 1830-40). The document contains a meticulous record
of goods taken to the coast of Africa, including brass manillas transported in casks, iron
bars, various beads, brass and copper rods, pewter, and liquors. The manifest of goods
also lists “200 Brass Neptunes (pans) 38-44 inches”(96.50-111.80 cm) their desired cost
of ^256, and the actual price garnered at ^230 (Giles ca. 1830-40:14). Pewter recorded in
the manifest appears as “150 3-pound fine Common Pewter Basons Wt 3.3.21” (Giles ca.
1830-40:40). This level of detail provides great comparative information for metalwares
that comprise a large portion of remaining cargo found on the Elmina wreck.
1 Snows are two-masted, eighteenth century vessels. Photograph by author. Figure 2. Elmina wreck 2003 brass sample. 5
Numerous references to metalwares in cargoes destined for West African trade
exist, yet historical documents and the archaeological record often offer vague, non-
standardized descriptions, quantities, and functions of the commodity. Trade and trade
network studies, by nature, must address complex relations between multiple cultures and
societies. Thus, scholars started situating West African trade networks, entrepôts, and
participants within broader perspectives like the “Atlantic world,” an intercontinental
history integrated by the Atlantic Ocean fashioned after Fernand Braudel’s The
Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World (Braudel 1973 [1949]; Thornton 1998).
Despite the growing emphasis on the “Atlantic world” and African diaspora, a dearth of concrete information exists concerning the types and category of metalwares used in exploration, colonization, and subsequent interpersonal interactions in West Africa.
Terrestrial archaeological studies conducted throughout West Africa have only recovered
fragmentary and reworked metal trade goods from sites that represent the end of distribution along trade networks. Historical records of the West African trade often contain general categories or gross descriptions of metalwares, such as “hardware,” rather than detailed inventories and discriminating typesets. Additionally, few of the main
secondary sources, with the exception of Eugenia Herberts’ Red Gold of Africa (1984),
extend their studies of copper and copper alloys, particularly brass, into the nineteenth-
century. No true typology exists to distinguish the types and kinds of metalwares and their
functions. Thus, this thesis illustrates the role of material culture, specifically metalwares
recovered from the Elmina wreck site, in the development of trade networks and African-
European interactions on the Ghanaian coast from the fifteenth centuries to the present. CHAPTER II
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research within this thesis illuminates the function of the metalwares as an
imported cargo to West Africa, while also reflecting their role in West African cultures.
Indeed, these metalwares represent tangible examples of the array of goods entering the region, provide comparative material for historical descriptions of the trade, and reflect the importance of exchange in African-European interaction. Specifically, this study sets out to answer questions concerning: 1) the resemblance of the pewter and brass basins recovered during 2005 archaeological investigations of the Elmina wreck to the various descriptions offered in historical documents; 2) the ability of these basins to reflect
“flow” of goods and ideas in the nineteenth-century Atlantic world; 3) the transformation in trade and exchange over time; and, 4) the importance of brass and pewter wares in
African-European interaction.
Underwater archaeological investigations in 2003 and 2005, in addition to complementary historical research concerning the metalwares of the trading vessel wrecked offshore of Elmina, Ghana, illustrate trade and interaction on the West African coast through the material manifestations of cultural practices found within the structures of trade and the role of trade goods. A melding of historical and archaeological theory, which occurs throughout this thesis, allows for a more complete understanding of the
6 7 metalwares involved in West African trade. One of the components of the thesis includes the development of a typology for the Elmina wreck metalwares. The data is gathered and analyzed to determine the types of wares present in the assemblage, while addressing concerns of James Deetz (1977), James Ford (1952), Alex Krieger (1944), Albert
Spaulding (1953), and Gordon Willey (1998 [1949]) in properly forming a useful typology. The thesis also considers the life histories of metalwares disseminated through
West African trade, while commenting on the effects and implications of burgeoning global trade networks. Michael Schiffer’s (1972) behavioral archaeology and artifact life history approach and Laurier Turgeon’s work (1997) on “intercultural objects” provide a unique perspective on the interaction between people and artifacts, cultural transfer and exchange through material goods. Finally, comparison and discussion of the results of the above components clarify the role of brass- and pewterware within African-European exchange networks, illuminating facets of trade rarely considered collectively.
Methodology
In addition to a melding of theory, this thesis also incorporates several different methods. First, the analysis of metal wares from the Elmina wreck site includes descriptive, quantitative, typological, and metallurgical examinations. Next, the thesis examines the primary and secondary historical documents and records and compares the
Elmina material to these sources. Finally, an additional research component consists of a comparison of the Elmina metalwares to metalwares found in other terrestrial (African and French North American) and nautical archaeological endeavors. This research not only provides the historical context for the sites and artifacts examined, but also offers a 8
further sample by which to clarify the types and functions of the metalwares recovered
from an archaeological context.
Properly recording and conserving the metalwares remained the foremost
consideration throughout this investigation. During the process, studies of the assemblage
included the creation of a suitable typology based on morphology and chemical composition analysis. Additionally, scale drawings served to reconstruct the artifacts.
Analysis of inventories, cargo lists, ships’ manifests, trader narratives, industrial manufacturing techniques and processes, and other documentary evidence supplements the artifacts found in the underwater archaeological record. Comparing these sources to the reconstructions and morphology of the artifacts helps in establishing the basis for the typology. The typology attempts to consider broad implications such as function, rather than solely focusing on site-specific qualities of the metalwares. Indeed, research reveals the function of the metalwares while also reflecting their social, political, economic and ideological roles. Thus, the thesis melds the archaeological context of the artifacts with the history of West African trade, creating a broader anthropological framework that encompasses concepts like John Thornton’s (1998) Atlantic world, Immanuel
Wallerstein’s (1989, 2004) core-periphery models and modern world systems, and
Annales-informed approaches (Braudel 1973 [1949], 1981; Hodder 1987; Staniforth
2003).
Historical Methods
Because the exact identity of the Elmina wreck remains unknown, the author consulted numerous primary and secondary historical sources to place the vessel in a 9 proper historical context. The author took every opportunity to consult primary sources, original documents, and the widest range of research materials available. Indeed, research considered nineteenth-century sources, in addition to sources spanning the beginning of contact with Europeans in present-day Ghana (including indirect contact through early trans-Saharan trade networks), to the occupations of the Portuguese and Dutch at Elmina, ending with the transfer of Elmina to the British. However, the heavy reliance on British sources comprises one of the major biases of the study. Much of the literature dedicated to West African trade focuses on goods and networks related to the African slave trade.
Additionally, many of the relevant documents received publication prior to the early
1800s when the British and Americans abolished slavery and cultivated a period of
“legitimate” trade.
Primary Sources. To date, there have been no other trading vessels documented archaeologically in West Africa. In addition, there exists a dearth of archaeological literature pertaining directly to cargoes arranged for West African markets found on shipwreck sites. However, a large number of primary accounts, ship manifests, cargo inventories and secondary sources that discuss items traded on the West African coast survived in archives, private collections, and museums. Yet, primary accounts need to be evaluated critically to overcome inherent dangers such as their limitations and appropriateness (Thomas 1995:149). For example, Adam Jones examines the dangers and pitfalls in using of European records to study African material culture in his article,
“Drink Deep, or Taste Not.” Reports of English, Dutch and French sailors and officials, unlike the Portuguese who went to Africa on behalf of their King, represented companies
(Jones 1994). Their writings tended to report on trends and circumstances that would be 10 important to investors (Jones 1986:218). Not only do such reports concentrate on political and economic information in an attempt to excite investors, the mostly non-African men writing such reports never familiarized themselves with and had difficulties understanding African languages and cultures. Sources are often limited in their geographical and chronological scope in addition to their descriptions and details (Jones
1994:351). Additionally, a trend exists whereby historians and archaeologists lump all of
West Africa into “a single corporate identity,” although this trend is slowly being reversed (Thomas 1995:153). The whole of West Africa consists of a vast geographic, ethnic, and linguistic variety that precludes generalization without critical assessment.
Thus, the primary accounts of John Adams (1970 [1822]), Willem Bosman (1967
[1705]), T. Edward Bowdich (1966 [1819]), Brodie Cruickshank (1966 [1853]), Wilhelm
Johann Müller (1983 [1669]), and Ludewig Ferdinand Rømer (2000 [1760]) cover a wide range of temporal, geographical, and cultural milieus to develop a well-rounded perspective. Brian Thomas argues in “Source Criticism and the Interpretation of African-
American Sites,” that any historical and/or archaeological work should include “multiple lines of evidence to support insights provided by source material” (Thomas 1995:154).
While many of the authors of primary accounts relied on other travelers’ descriptions to fill in gaps left in their own observations, consulting descriptions from the late seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries acts as a system of checks and balances for viewing late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century material goods in the myriad networks within West African and European trade.
Bosman and Müller, who wrote in the seventeenth century, address the establishment of trade networks in the early period of African-European interaction and 11
the expansion of supply and demand within such trade networks. Müller’s account also
provides a fascinating description of wealth, marketplaces, and the houses of African
traders, a topic rarely addressed by other travelers. Bosman examines a slightly later
period and stresses the variety of goods traded; including brasswares, forms of payment,
and the changes within trade networks after the Dutch overtook control of Elmina from
the Portuguese. Rømer challenges some of Bosman’s observations and interpretations in
his late eighteenth-century examination of the Gold Coast. Rømer’s account adds a unique perspective on trade networks and material culture through his experience at
Danish, Dutch and English entrepôts. Additionally, he learned a number of African languages and, thus, provided a sensitive look at the power and agency of Ghanaians in their interactions with non-Africans.
Adams and Bowdich provide reports that are contemporaneous (late eighteenth/early nineteenth century) with the tentative date range of the Elmina shipwreck. Bowdich’s account examines inter-European relations, provides a view of interior Ghana’s political, social, and economic systems, and details the supplies, demands, and prices of goods between the coast and interior. However, Bowdich clearly engages in writing propaganda indicative of the dominant philosophy of the early colonial period as he tries to persuade his English readers of their duty to raise African
“barbarians” to a level of civilization. Adams, much like Rømer, is more pro-African in his consideration of the Gold Coast. He discusses the early British occupation at Elmina and the subsequent changes in political, economic, and social relations, especially for trade. Adams’ account considers a period of trade in which gold and slaves are low in demand. Yet, his observations, in addition to those by Cruickshank for early to mid- 12
nineteenth century, provide a clear political, economic, and social context through which
to consider the Elmina wreck. Additionally, Cruickshank’s account provides an intensive
examination of Elmina, her trade and her marketplaces.
Elizabeth Donnan’s (1965) compilation of documents relating to the Atlantic
slave trade and the account books (ca. 1830-1840) of the snow Africa, present
contemporaneous material culture and international perspectives for comparison. Indeed, the primary sources found within Donnan’s volumes and the account books and letters for the Africa detail the cargoes, inventories, wages, and even crews of vessels plying West
African waters to engage in trade. These accounts, while heavily Eurocentric, address the
global nature of the West African trade, including American investors and vessels.
Additionally, Donnan’s work comprises letters from dealers in metalwares and the
accounts include detailed descriptions of metal wares (especially brass basins), their weights, costs and proportion to other trade goods. Each of these documents addresses unique aspects of global trade networks, the agency of African participants, and the particular importance of brass and other metalwares.
The primary documents certainly provide an important long-term perspective on trade goods, networks, and African-European relations on the Gold Coast, particularly
Elmina. Yet, the archaeological works of James Anquandah (1993), Gregory Cook and
Sam Spiers (2004), Christopher DeCorse (2001), Timothy Garrard (1980b), David Moore
(1989), Keith Muckelroy (1998), Merrick Posnansky (2004), Ann Stahl (1999), and
Laurier Turgeon (1997) play a definitive role in correcting and corroborating the documentary sources while illuminating biases, deficiencies, and imposed European standards and perspectives toward African cultures and traditions. In addition, while most 13
of the first-hand accounts speak of trade networks and goods, they do not tackle the specific roles that African and European metalwares and other trade goods played at
Elmina. Archaeological reports provide a wealth of information on the material culture involved in trade networks and African-European relations, especially the role of brass and other metalwares as well as the European vessels enabling global networks. For example, Cook and Spiers’ article on the preliminary findings of their research on coastal
Ghana adds a new dimension to the archaeological study of trade goods and trade networks. Cook’s survey and subsequent examination of European wrecks in Elminan waters provides new ways to employ early European accounts and offers a deeper understanding of maritime connections between Europeans and Africans. Timothy
Garrard’s thesis discusses brass in Akan society up to the nineteenth century. Not only does his work illuminate indigenous brass manufacture and use, but it also addresses
African import of brasswares from European sources and surveys the pertinent historical, archaeological, and ethnographic literature addressing brass within West African society, specifically the cultural-linguistic group of the Akan.
Keith Muckleroy’s work provides a theoretical framework for examining shipwrecks like those that Cook identified. Muckleroy illuminates the processes behind site formation underwater. Martin Gibbs’ article “The Archaeology of Crisis: Shipwreck
Survivor Camps in Australia” focuses on survivor camps as a “neglected terrestrial components of maritime archaeology” (Gibbs 2003:128). However, his article also reevaluates Muckleroy’s site formation models, providing explanations of the formation processes and their implications for wreck analysis and interpretation (Gibbs 2003:138).
By placing the wreck within the context of Muckelroy and Gibbs’ wreck formation 14 models a more productive examination and broader links of the Elmina wreck to maritime archaeology and anthropology are gained, which is vital to the study of water craft, trade goods, and global perspectives flowing into and out of West Africa, especially
Ghana. DeCorse’s An Archaeology of Elmina is vital for its inclusion of the sections on the archaeology of the town and the analysis of artifacts in regards to subsistence, craft specialization (particularly metal), and the European trade. He examines both European and African metalworking traditions and the melding of the two within West African trade patterns. Moore’s excavation and analysis of the Henrietta Marie’s cargo provides additional comparative samples by which to examine brasswares and other goods from
West African traders. Although Moore’s wreck is much older, the cargo consisted of a similar sample of brass basins in various sizes, allowing for an investigation of the fluctuation in demand of brasswares over the long term.
Other archaeological studies by Anquandah, Posnansky, Stahl, and Turgeon address a more African-based perspective of the effects and implications of burgeoning global trade networks. These works move away from an examination of European material culture in West Africa to one of African social, political, and economic systems.
Anquandah’s work studies the role of African trade, bolstered by European interest, in the development of large-scale industries like metallurgy that served as an impetus for the emergence of the state in Ghana. Stahl addresses the affects of global networks on local life in two interior Ghanaian sites. Importantly, her work tackles brass ornamentation and other material manifestations of cultural practices influenced by expanding trade.
Posnansky builds on and complements the archaeology of Stahl and Anquandah by taking an ethno-archaeological approach to the study of cultural continuity within Ghana. His 15 work examines the changes and trends in trade and use of material goods over the long term. Finally, Turgeon provides a unique perspective on intercultural contact by examining the copper kettle as a medium. Although his study addresses the Native
American and French interaction, he explains cultural transfer and exchange through material goods, a promising model for brass and pewter vessels in Ghana. These archaeological-based works each elucidate unique facets of pre-contact West African coastal and interior life and African-European interactions centered on maritime trade.
Secondary Sources. Secondary sources provide the broader context into which to place historical documents. They also offer a wealth of information that would otherwise be unavailable. Furthermore, important secondary sources by Stanley Alpern (1995),
Kwame Arhin (1979), Joan Day (1973), Christopher DeCorse (2001), Henry Hamilton
(1967), Eugenia Herbert (1984), Ray Kea (1982), Robin Law (1995), Martin Lynn
(1997), Lars Sundström (1974), John Thornton (1998), and John Vogt (1979) complement the diverse set of primary sources. This wide range of authors examined primary accounts, specific aspects of West African trade, and various archaeological techniques, analyzing the sources and teasing out the requisite and valuable information.
Apart from analyzing the primary sources, secondary works bring different perspectives and unique views to the history of the Gold Coast. Alpern and Sundström provide a detailed examination of trade goods and their role in burgeoning global networks. Alpern reviews a wide range of primary sources and extracts overlooked details concerning trade goods, particularly brass and other metalwares, exchanged between Africans and
Europeans for slaves. Sundström also assesses and evaluates the historical record on exchange in West Africa. However, he places his examination of trade goods in a broader 16
study of the economic, political and social atmosphere of Western Africa. Like Alpern,
Sundström supplies a detailed assessment of brass and copper goods, especially basins, in
addition to an extensive bibliography. Similarly, Herbert examines brass and copper in
West African markets and exchanges; yet, she approaches the material through a detailed
cultural history, rather than placing it in a broader association of trade goods. She
explores beyond the functional role of brass and copper, and studies the social, political, religious, and economic aspects that distinguished the metals as the “red gold of Africa”
(Herbert 1984).
Hamilton and Day examine the European manufacture of brass from a historical perspective based on Bristol and Birmingham. Day’s study focuses on brass manufacture and production, noting the metal’s role in shaping cargoes and trading patterns of West
African traders. Hamilton’s work addresses the history of the brass and copper industries within England, specifically Birmingham. Birmingham played a major role in breaking
down the monopoly, which Bristol held, of brass and copper producers. Hamilton seeks
to enhance knowledge of economic development and produce a more complete picture of
the elements that went into the making of modern England. Both authors further the
global perspective by examining the fluid boundaries between European, colonial, and
African networks.
DeCorse and Arhin offer a detailed historical archaeological context in which to
examine trade goods and late eighteenth-, early nineteenth-century material culture.
DeCorse’s compilation shows how European, African, and American economies were
interrelated and far more complex than the formal categories of European manufacture,
African consumption, and American production of raw materials advocated by theories of 17
triangular trade. Alternatively, Arhin’s work examines the historical and modern trading
and marketing structure in Ghana through an Africanist perspective. Similarly, Law and
Lynn provide an economic historical perspective to studying West African networks and goods that Africans and Europeans exchanged, particularly along the Gold Coast. While
Law’s compilation focused mostly on the centrality of the slave trade in the total
economies of the peoples of West Africa even with the shift to ‘legitimate’ trade, Lynn’s
volume provides a larger framework, encompassing West Africa and the Atlantic world.
Lynn stresses both African and European merchants and the changes within the
organization of trade for both parties. Kea and Vogt also place their studies of the Gold
Coast in economic contexts. Kea examines the broad patterns of settlement, trade, and
politics on the seventeenth-century Gold Coast, while Vogt inspects the Portuguese and
Dutch (respectively) presence in the Gold Coast, especially at Elmina. Yet, the studies by
Kea and Vogt stress the evolutions within the economy, allowing for an emphasis of
long-term continuities and changes within African-European commercial interactions.
Thornton’s creation of an Atlantic world modeled on Braudel’s work also provides an
important framework for situating the events and processes in Ghana within the African
diaspora that extends throughout the Americas.
A wide array of other primary and secondary sources strengthen the examination
of the role of trade goods, especially brass and pewter, in facilitating burgeoning global
networks. However, the works also provide an in-depth look at the importance of brass
and copper throughout the Atlantic world. An emphasis on the Gold Coast of West Africa
and the complexity of trade networks surrounding the metal calls for the unique
perspective that only historical archaeology can provide. Indeed, employing these primary 18 and secondary sources together and emphasizing the archaeological record allows for a deeper understanding of trade networks and trade goods throughout Ghana’s history, and throughout the nascent international economic world of the early eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries.
Archaeological Methods
Work on the Elmina wreck during the summer of 2005 yielded samples for a variety of copper-alloy (most likely brass) and pewter wares, which range in size and shape. Archaeologists working the site attempted to recover samples for conservation and further study, in addition to recording the number and types of stacks on the wreck. This endeavor proved successful, with examples recovered from each of the stacks of identified and recorded types of metalwares. While in the field, archaeologists assigned the wares artifact numbers. They also measured, sketched, photographed, and recorded the artifacts in the artifact log. Fresh water baths helped to protect the artifacts both before and after their journey from Elmina to the conservation laboratory at The
University of West Florida in Pensacola. Once in the laboratory, archaeologists re- examined and finished the paperwork for the metalwares and the other artifacts recovered from the Elmina wreck. Additionally, archaeologists, including the author, photographed and sketched the artifacts before conservation.
Prior to further treatment, each artifact received an individual assessment to determine the best course of action for conservation. In the case of the brasswares, conservators, including the author, employed electrolysis to remove concretion and salts, while restoring and stabilizing the metal. Once finished, they received successive hot 19
water baths (with the last being de-ionized water instead of tap) to eliminate any
electrolytes and achieve neutral pH. Next, the basins were polished with a wet paste of
sodium bicarbonate (baking soda and water) applied with a Dremel® tool and polishing
head #511. Polishing the basins removed tarnishing acquired during submersion in
saltwater as well as the hot water baths. One last bath in benzotriazole (BTA) provided a
protective layer, which sealed off the brassware from the atmosphere. The final step
consisted of spraying the artifact(s) with a layer of clear acrylic lacquer (Krylon;
Hamilton 1998).
The pewterwares also underwent electrolysis as well as successive baths of
deionized water until the pH of the water remained stable at a neutral state. Finally, successive baths of water-miscible solvent, alcohol, dehydrated artifacts and then they received a protective coat of clear acrylic to prevent atmospheric corrosion (Hamilton
1998). Scale and reconstructive drawings finished the conservation process. At the end of conservation and study, archaeologists will repatriate the whole assemblage to Ghana.
Before repatriating the metalwares, they received a detailed study. This analysis consisted of final photography, scale reconstruction drawings, and metallurgical testing to determine composition. The construction of a typology attempted to correlate the historical descriptions and listings with the dimensions and descriptions of extant examples, mostly recovered through archaeology. The lack of a standard terminology for traded metalwares, presented an opportunity to devise such a typology. Quantitative measures of variables such as diameter, thickness, and depth received precise definition and consistent measuring so that future studies may record comparable information. The definition of types also included metallurgical studies undertaken on samples of the brass 20
and pewter basins to determine technological aspects of manufacture. Use of Atomic
Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) determined the composition of the wares, especially trace elements. Tests run on the samples considered all metals (copper [Cu], zinc [Zn], tin
[Sn], lead [Pb], iron [Fe], nickel [Ni], manganese [Mn], antimony [Sb], and silver [Ag]), except for gold [Au], platinum [Pt], and palladium [Pd] based on the lamps and equipment procured by UWF’s Wetlands Research Lab (Macauley 2006).
After determining the range of variables, the wares were sorted into broad
categories based on overall vessel form. Further subdividing these categories determined
secondary attributes, statistical distributions of variables, and patterning to define types
(Sinopoli 1991:60-62). Once defined, the type descriptions also considered some of the
following components modeled after Gordon R. Willey’s Archaeology of the Florida
Gulf Coast (1998 [1949]). These components include type name, definition as a type,
ware characteristics (i.e. method of manufacture, thickness), decoration, form (total
vessel, rim, lip, base, appendages), geographical range of type, chronological position of
type, relationships of type, comments, and bibliography.
While various sources, historical and archaeological, discuss the large quantities
and types of items exchanged, Africans would often widely disseminate the assemblages
carried to West Africa for trade throughout the west coast and interior for a multitude of
purposes. Thus, land sites rarely demonstrate the variety and extent of a full cargo, even
along the coast. As the first archaeologically investigated trading vessel on the West
African coast, the Elmina wreck provides access to an intact cargo touched only by the
shipwreck and site formation processes. The cargo of this particular wreck is replete with
a wide range of cultural material, specifically metalwares that correspond to those listed 21
in cargo manifests (Figure 3). The small number of identifiable, unchanged metalwares
found at sites throughout West Africa and the Atlantic World makes providing detailed
descriptions of the assemblage from the Elmina wreck a vital, necessary endeavor to
clarify the historical references to such trade items. Further study of these wares elucidates trade networks and African-European relations, which both affected and were affected by burgeoning globalization of the nineteenth century. This thesis incorporates information from anthropology, archaeology, art history, economics, history, and metallurgy, developing a multidisciplinary discourse on the significance of metalwares, which contributes to the corpus of data on African-European interactions on the Gold
Coast of Africa.
Photograph by author. Figure 3. Elmina wreck metalware assemblage. CHAPTER III
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Pewter and brass played a large role in the burgeoning global exchange spurring commercial intelligence and increased innovation, which in turn played a major factor in changing worldwide economic standards. African demand for goods assured that the
Atlantic economy involved global encounters, with imports coming from Asia, the
Americas, and other parts of Africa, and from different parts of Europe (Northrup
2002:80). The formation of the modern world economy developed as a result of a series of expansions and contractions in trade networks and technical progress that took place over the course of centuries. The process of internationalization, which transformed the
Atlantic world, depended on technology, navigation, trade and the way in which each component affected each other (Maddison 2005:17). However, the development of the modern world economy did not solely hinge on change. Rather, the continuity of demand in West African commerce, particularly for metalwares, created a sustained system of supply and demand.
Although enslaved Africans became a major “commodity” within the exchange system, Europeans were interested in goods other than slaves prior to the emergence of the African slave trade in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Commodities other than slaves continued to be a part of commercial operations even during the pinnacle of the
23 24
slave trade, and these goods continued to be a part of trade during the nineteenth century
as part of the “legitimate” trade (Hopkins 1973:89). Not only do brass- and pewterwares
speak to the continuity of West African imports, they provide vital information on the
progression from slave trade centered markets and economies to those of legitimate trade.
Europeans In West Africa
Prior to European interest, Gold Coast inhabitants lived in small farming and fishing communities scattered along coastal Ghana. These small, dispersed villages operated at the periphery of large trade networks and heavily populated urban centers in the interior of African kingdoms. Complex African trade routes carried desirable raw goods including gold, slaves, and ivory to the north coast of Africa, and from there, through the Mediterranean and Europe, via caravans and other land-based means. In return, a steady flow of manufactured goods such as cloth and metal wares trickled southward within the African continent. The Moors and other North African middlemen profited substantially from overland trading, and they fiercely guarded the interior from
penetration by enterprising Europeans who aspired to control trade routes. Yet, the desire
to find a more direct route to Asia and the burgeoning allure of African gold prompted
many Europeans to explore the feasibility of circumventing African middlemen and their
terrestrial trade networks.
Beginning in the fifteenth century, some Europeans ventured southward in hopes
of capturing trans-Saharan traffic and trade with “an alternative method and one
promising more success-attempt[ing] to establish contact with the sources of this wealth by sea” (Crone 1937:xviii). The advent of vessels able to complete transoceanic voyages 25
enabled Europeans to achieve their wishes in garnering control and to profit from African trade. During the sixteenth century, Europeans tapped trade routes in Western Africa via sea-borne commerce, reorienting trade towards the coast. However, the “golden age” of trans-Saharan trade did not end during this reorientation. Trans-Saharan trade survived early European contact, its value increasing during the nineteenth century, until its final decline after 1875 (Hopkins 1973:80). Yet, European vessels, and the trade they facilitated, played a central role in establishing ties throughout the Atlantic world and enabled cross-cultural interactions that survived better than trans-Saharan trade networks
(Braudel 1973 [1949]; Thornton 1998). Indeed, the economic, cultural, and political lives of Africans and Europeans (and New World colonists) became increasingly enmeshed, both shaping and being shaped by global processes.
Early European influence and trade “along the littoral of Ghana “occurred
primarily within a maritime context,” as Europeans conducted trade with coastal Akan
groups after anchoring offshore (Cook and Spiers 2004:18). Indeed, the scope of
European relations with Africans prior to the fifteenth century, which generally continued until the nineteenth century, involved interactions along the coast, leaving interior Africa
and its trade an enigma to European traders and explorers.2 Not only did Europeans trade
with middlemen in the trans-Saharan trade, they also traded with middlemen along the coast who represented various African polities and cultural groups. African societies relied on long-distance trade and interregional markets long before the advent of the
Atlantic slave trade, as evidenced by trans-Saharan caravans and other regional trading
2 For a more detailed discussion of why European-African interactions remained coastal affairs see page 27 (below), as well as Curtin (1975) and Braudel (1992). 26 networks. Therefore, the incorporation of Africa into the emerging global trade system occurred with little difficulty, despite linguistic and cultural differences between
Europeans and Africans (Postma 2003:52). By 1471, coastal Africans supplanted the
Moors as middlemen in the long-established European-African trade, albeit on the western coast of Africa instead of the northern.
With the arrival of Europeans, smaller littoral settlements eventually pulled trading power from the large interior networks, redirecting networks and redistributing wealth (Cook and Spiers 2004:17; DeCorse 2001:18-19). The Portuguese established
Elmina in 1482 on the present-day coastline of Ghana. After several exploratory voyages along the West Coast of Africa, Diogo de Azambuja and his Portuguese squadron explored the mouth of the Benya River, eventually deciding that the Benya and its estuary formed the best location for Portugal’s first permanent post, São Jorge da Mina, or
Elmina (Hair 1994; Vogt 1979:22). Azambuja based his decision on the site’s multiple advantages. Not only did the peninsula’s rock outcropping serve as a solid foundation for the castle and as an easily defendable position, but additional rock from the outcropping furnished the basic building materials for the castle. The calm waters surrounding the narrow peninsula that separates the Benya River from the Guinea Gulf offered a natural harbor where “ships of 300 tons’ burden could anchor conveniently near a wide beach upon which goods and supplies could be unloaded” (Vogt 1979:25). The lagoon held a variety of exploitable resources and small vessels could easily traverse the Benya for repair and shelter (Vogt 1979:25). The opportunities for local and international trade continued to bring European traders and explorers to Elmina creating a complex web of exchange systems and trade networks. 27
Over time, a well-suited Elmina served as a hub for all types of Atlantic World vessels, from African canoes to large slavers to merchant ships peddling legitimate goods.
In addition, a relatively large Fante population inhabited the Benya Lagoon area due to rich natural resources that provided ample sustenance. Such coastal African settlements not only predated the arrival of Europeans, but attracted European traders to the West
African coast (DeCorse 1992:169). Europeans had an advantage in establishing their entrepôts because exchange and trade networks already spidered throughout western
Africa, negating the need for Europeans to develop overland trade routes and trading posts themselves. Indeed, Europeans were able to exchange their goods for any of the items they desired, including ivory, wax, Senegal gum, malaguetta pepper, gold, slaves, and more (Braudel 1992:431-432; Curtin 1975:62).3 To Portuguese traders and explorers, the coastal African population signaled existing trade networks, hospitable living conditions, and a ready labor force. For Africans, allowing a European presence in such close proximity served as a safeguard against the exploitation of their population by slavers, increased their negotiating powers with Europeans, and secured major involvement in the trade networks as they shifted from interior land routes to the water routes propounded by European vessels.
3 While Europeans utilized existing trade networks to their advantage and remained on the coast, their failure to penetrate the coast was also based, in part, on their inability to control diseases like malaria. However, Braudel suggests that prevalent tropical diseases did not create such large obstacles since Europeans overcame similar conditions in the tropical regions of the Americas. A more likely case might be that dense populations protected interior Africa and retained a “resilience” bolstered by iron metallurgy and warfare that pre-Columbian Americans did not share. In any case, by the nineteenth century, new medicines, such as quinine, and new technologies enabled Europeans to infiltrate West Africa hinterlands (Braudel 1992:431-432; Curtin 1975). 28
In general, the geography of the Ghanaian coastline facilitated local trade. The
absence of coral reefs and violent storms meant that sailing ships could travel relatively
safely along the coast. Although seemingly hospitable, Ghana’s coastline includes hidden dangers, which only magnified the hazards of Atlantic trade. Some West African shipwrecks occurred due to “navigational hazards such as shifting sandbars, unpredictable currents, or submerged rocks in shallow waters,” in addition to limited natural harbors
(Cook and Spiers 2004:19; Inikori 1996:58-63). Reports of a Portuguese cargo vessel, a não named the Nuestro Senore de Ajuda, suggest that she sank on the Mina coast in 1608 due to “bad navigation” (Cook and Spiers 2004:19; Guinote et al. 1998:236). Other vessels met their end in skirmishes and naval battles fought over competing claims for the coast, in addition to wartime enemy attacks. For example, in December 1479, a
Portuguese coastguard squadron captured three Spanish trading vessels after surprising them with bombardment (Vogt 1979:15). While all three ships survived intact, an unlucky French ship sank in the 1580s after an encounter with the Portuguese (Cook and
Spiers 2004:19; Hair 1994:94). Traders contended with at least one more hazard in
Atlantic trade, uprisings by African slaves on-board or coastal Africans. For example,
both the True Blue and the Nancy were “cut off” by slaves in 1769. The mutinous slaves
of the True Blue ran her aground, while the slaves on the Nancy revolted. The crew of the
Nancy almost put down the revolt; however, the slaves received help in defeating the
crew from a local coastal African population. After a successful insurrection, the enslaved
Africans and their coastal aids proceeded to plunder the ship and then set it adrift (Inikori
1996:67). Undoubtedly, other vessels met their end as the Ghanaian coast, particularly
Elmina, became a prominent trading entrepôt and vying nations sought her control. 29
During the early fifteenth century, Iberian shipwrights developed new designs to meet the challenges of navigation found along the African coast and to sustain exploration and trade (Vogt 1979:3). A century earlier, the Portuguese, like most
European countries with well-established trade routes, employed the barca, a heavily built vessel designed for hauling cargo rather than ease of handling. These large, hulking ships cheaply transported bulky and heavy merchandise. As the amount of commerce increased, the tonnage of vessels that drove and sustained commerce increased as well
(Smith 1993:29). While the inter-continental trade of Europe evolved to bigger ships, coastal African trade initially required small, maneuverable vessels with shallow drafts that could sail close to the wind and the coast. The caravel, a small craft usually rating 60 to 70 metric tons and measuring less than 21.34 m to 24.38 m (70 to 80 ft) in length became the model African trading vessel (Vogt 1979:3).
Shipwrights modeled the caravel after small coastal fishing vessels, sacrificing cargo capacity for seaworthiness (Smith 1993:31). The caravel required a smaller crew than a larger workhorse such as the barca, necessitated less initial capital investment, and proved to be swift and maneuverable making it ideal for African trade. Captains of exploratory ships relied heavily on the caravel for voyages within West African waters.
Once European companies established ports and became acquainted with navigation on the Guinea coast, ships originating from Europe generally grew larger and gained a number of advances in maritime technology. Ralph Austen in African Economic History
(1987) suggests that Portugal opened up “an entirely new dimension of African intercontinental commerce,” spurring innovation in technology and transportation, for maritime trade over five centuries (Austen 1987:82). During the nineteenth century, the 30
changes to ships reached a pinnacle as steam power and iron replaced sails and wooden
structures, further streamlining and accelerating the pace of commercial transactions
throughout the Atlantic world.
Control of Elmina
During the height of the gold trade, the Portuguese controlled, albeit with
numerous interlopers, much of the coast including Elmina and smaller trading posts at
Axim, Shama, and Accra. Even before the Portuguese built their castles along the Gold
Coast, they captured interlopers. The Portuguese captured one unlucky trader, Flemish
Eustache de la Fosse, while he illicitly traded on the coast in 1471 (Hair 1994:128-131).
During the decline in gold production, Dutch colonizers also became interested in the west coast of Africa and its commercial potential. On his way to secure a valuable cargo of sugar and dyewood from Brazil in 1590, the Guinea current carried Captain Barent
Eriksz off his course. The Portuguese captured the captain and threw him in prison. While there, Eriksz heard about Elmina’s wealth and learned of Portugal’s weak hold on the area. Upon his release, he readied a voyage to the Gold Coast and within nine months returned with a rich cargo of gold and other products (de Marees 1987 [1602]:xiv). With a growing interest in the region, the Dutch began their long assault on Elmina, hoping to gain control. Vindicating failed attempts in 1596, 1603, 1606, 1615, and 1625, the Dutch finally captured Elmina in 1637.
Under the Dutch, little of the trading infrastructure and system of daily workings changed. Focus in trade gradually changed from gold to enslaved Africans. The Dutch took advantage of their position and created a brisk trade until the abolition of slavery. 31
Then, in 1871, control of Elmina changed again, this time in favor of British forces. The
Fante living in Elmina refused to acknowledge British control and the situation worsened
when an army of Asante, neighboring enemies of the Fante, arrived on the coast in 1873
(DeCorse 2001:28-31).4 Later the British issued an ultimatum that all Elminans had to
deliver their guns to the castle. Elminans refused to acknowledge the ultimatum, causing
the British military contingent to open fire. Although no Africans lost their lives in the
bombardment, the leveling of the settlement caused the former inhabitants to relocate to
the north of Benya Lagoon (DeCorse 1992:169). Elmina castle still stands today, a reminder of the long history of African and European interactions on the Ghanaian coast.
African-European Interaction and Identity
Elmina Castle played a large role in the formation of a post-contact African identity on the western Ghanaian coast, in addition to the growth and development of the
European commercial presence. The strong commercial presence belied the small number of Europeans who staffed the castle and smaller outlying forts. Beyond officials who regulated trade and affairs of the entrepôt, soldiers, merchants and bureaucrats composed the marginal population. Additionally, the small number of Europeans who lived on the
Gold Coast often remained confined to the entrepôt and its compounds, relying on
African agents and conducting their affairs largely within African socio-cultural contexts
4 The expansion undertaken by the Asante state during the eighteenth century greatly affected the cultural features and sociopolitical organization of the historical Akan populations of Ghana. Asante culture traits left imprints on the Akan in a number of ways and the Asante influence can clearly be seen in the archaeological record (DeCorse 2001:18-20; for more comprehensive studies see Bellis 1987; Crossland 1973,1989; DeCorse 2001; Effah-Gyamfi 1979, 1985; Kiyaga-Mulindwa 1980; Posnansky 1973; Shinnie and Vivian 1991; Stahl 1992; and Wilks 1993). 32
(Blake 1942; Cook and Spiers 2004; DeCorse 2001; Hair 1994). Europeans relied on
coastal Africans for specific skills and facilitation of trade, providing Africans more
power in their relations with Europeans. Indeed, Africans “played fast and loose with their diverse heritage, employing whichever identity paid best” (Berlin 1996:255). A vast number of Africans became “Atlantic creoles,” men and women who formed a new cultural group that merged during African-European interaction, by choice, experience, or birth, along the Atlantic littoral (Berlin 1996:254). Over time, specific skills and attributes influenced African-European interaction within African exchanges, in addition to New World slavery and trade. Although not solely unique to Africa, the skills used by
Africans and Atlantic creoles to negotiate African-European interactions included fishing, boating, swimming and diving, cattle herding, mining, and farming.
African canoe-use represented one of the major crafts on which Europeans relied.
In any culture near water, water craft often plays an important role in political and
economic life, in addition to the “mastery of [the] environment, for the many rivers, the
great lagoons, and even the tumultuous ocean offered livelihood and means of
communication” (Smith 1970:515). Prior to European contact, indigenous travel along
the coastline possibly extended as far eastward as Benin (modern-day Nigeria; Law
1991:46-47).5 Not only could Africans move quickly and deftly in canoes, but they could
5 A scholarly debate over the origin of canoe-use in African trade rages, with some camps supporting the idea that “an indigenous canoe-borne trade in these commodities between the Gold and Slave Coasts preceded the arrival of Europeans” (Law 1991:57) Others argue that this type of African trade “developed only during the seventeenth century, in imitation of European activities” (Law 1991:57). Breunig’s investigation of a canoe found in modern-day Nigeria forces scholars to consider that canoes may not have been adapted from the Near East or from Europe, but that Africans developed water transport along a parallel, independent course. The canoe from Dufuna in northeast Nigeria dated to around 6000 B.C. (7264 +/- 55 and 7670 +/- 110 BP), making it the third oldest dugout in the world to-date (Breunig 1996). Both camps agree, however, that the canoe played a 33
enter waters impassable to the large, deep-drafted vessels of the Europeans (Bolster
1997:48). European merchants and traders, in addition to Atlantic creoles, took
advantage of trade by canoe, employing Africans’ (especially Elminans’) ability to
penetrate and create markets in areas inaccessible to European ships, “securing much of
western Africa in the web of Atlantic commercial capitalism” (Bolster 1997:48). The
canoe, one of the many tools of the Atlantic creole, offered Ghanaians such mastery over
the environment and leveraged mastery over their political and economic situations as
well.
Native canoemen offered a viable skill with which to negotiate the European
presence while sustaining their lifeways. Both Europeans and Africans utilized labor in
issues of power relations. African labor remained most imperative in, “manning the
small boats, in order to fulfill the vital transportation and communications needs of the
Europeans” (Feinberg 1989:69). Along most of the Gold Coast during the first few
centuries of European contact, arriving ships anchored offshore due to heavy surf and the
absence of natural harbors. The canoes that greeted these ships served to link the ship to
the shore. They also carried cargoes and passengers to shore while engaging in trade at
the same time (Feinberg 1989:69). The hidden dangers and difficulties of seafaring in
vital role in trade, subsistence, and other lifeways of the West African peoples, especially those of Ghana. A debate also exists over whether or not West Africans utilized sails on their canoes prior to European contact. Paddles and man-power usually typified the propulsion system on a canoe. However, early European accounts do suggest that some canoes employed sails on sea-going canoes. For example, de Marees provides an image of “a canoe with a sail made of Tree-bark, sailing along the coast to sell Palm-wine” (de Marees 1987 [1602]:116). While the potential exists that sails represent a parallel; yet, independent invention, most scholars believe that Africans copied the idea of the sail from the Portuguese. Scholars also believe that Africans’ rig probably afforded a limited capacity for sailing into the wind. Besides tree-bark, Africans may have outfitted the canoes with sails of cotton, grass fiber or woven palms attached to cane masts. See Smith (1970) and de Marees (1987 [1602]:116) for further information. 34
West African waters forced Africans to build water craft specifically tailored for coastal and riverine navigation as opposed to high-sea ventures (Ceceleski 2001:5-8; Thornton
1998:21). Indeed, John Barbot described the Africans at Elmina as the “fittest and most experienced men to manage and paddle the canoes over the bars and breakings” (Barbot
1732:157). Captain Nathanial Uring wrote, in 1701, “‘We saw the Sea break so high, that we began to be afraid to venture, and were inclined to return, but the Canow People encouraged and assured us there was no Danger’” (Bolster 1997:48). Europeans employed the “canow People” described by Uring for their seafaring prowess. Such skills manifested themselves through “Boats called Canoas” (Bolster 1997:48; Bosman 1967
[1705]:43, 129), which ranged in size and in the number of men who controlled them.
Upon Portuguese contact with Gold Coast Africans in the early 1470s, canoemen in small canoes “offered assistance and eventually began to ferry passengers and cargo to the beach at the small village of Adina (Elmina)” (Gutkind 1985:26).6 Their role as cargo transporters represented the canoemen’s vital importance to European commercial success. Canoemen assisted ships of other nations, privateers, and African merchants, draining the labor force available to the Portuguese (Gutkind 1985:28). However, this initial exchange spurred continued service by Elminans to the Portuguese. Indeed,
European contingencies throughout the west coast of Africa reinforced patterns established by the Portuguese, especially in the employment of canoemen and their canoes in a myriad of tasks. While Europeans relied on Africans’ seafaring expertise, their role as laborers at Elmina remained relatively small until the seventeenth century
6 Elmina claimed the largest number of African employees both at the castle and in contract along the entire coast during Portuguese hegemony. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cape Coast Castle eclipsed Elmina both as a trading center and as an employer of African labor. 35
when trade increased dramatically. When the Dutch drove the Portuguese from the Gold
Coast they increased Elmina’s involvement in the slave trade and slaving vessels. Dutch
traders “obtained roll tobacco from passing Brazilian slavers in exchange for supplying
canoes manned with Fante mariners, [who] were indispensable for loading and unloading
vessels along the Slave Coast, where exceptionally heavy surfs prevailed” (Brooks
1970:93). During the seventeenth century, increased involvement in the slave trade and
expanding trade networks inextricably linked the Gold and Slave Coasts (Allada and
Whydah), especially by canoe (Law 1991:46-47). Thus, the Dutch exploited local
seafaring skills for their own benefit along the West African coastline.
With the advent of a permanent European contingency, Gold Coast subsistence and lifeways altered to support the growing population, especially that of Elmina. Over- exploitation due to the ever-increasing numbers of inhabitants around Benya Lagoon endangered resources. As lagoon resources decreased, marine fishing expanded.
Christopher DeCorse’s archaeological examinations at Elmina have shown that coastal settlements do contain evidence of marine faunal remains such as shark centra. The presence of marine faunal remains date to seventeenth- and post-seventeenth-century contexts, possibly suggesting the shift from lagoon to marine fishing at this time
(DeCorse 2001:108). An earlier reference to the marine shift at Elmina comes from “the
regimento of 1529, [which] states: ‘I [the king] am informed that the blacks of the village
[Elmina] have many canoes in which they go fishing and spend much time at sea’”
(DeCorse 2001:108). The majority of first-hand accounts, such as Bosman’s reference to
“Five or Six Hundred Canoes which went a Fishing every Morning” (Bolster 1997:48;
Bosman 1967 [1705]:43), suggest a heavy reliance on marine resources after both 36
European contact and the initial episodes of population expansion. Elminans not only consumed the fish, but the European contingent also relied on the food purchased in
Elmina’s market to augment the irregular supplies from Europe. Irregular supplies also meant that Europeans relied on a number of African-driven, specialized industries. These industries included craftsmen, like metalworkers, who not only reworked a wide array of objects from imported European metal but also manufactured metals and metal wares according to pre-European contact traditions.
Not only did Europeans in Elmina rely on local food supplies and commodities to sustain trade, but they also developed a reliance on middlemen. Called makelaers by the
Dutch, middlemen played liaison in a variety of cultural and economic situations. Due to the small numbers of Europeans who populated West African entrepôts, middlemen, either African or mulatto (called tapoeyers), conducted much of the trade (Berlin
1996:255-260; DeCorse 2001:143; Feinberg 1989:128-128) between Europeans and local communities as well as traders from the interior. Additionally, middlemen served as
“crew members on small trading vessels, diplomatic or personal messengers, or canoe paddlers delivering goods or correspondence . . . guaranteeing reliable ship to shore communication” (Feinberg 1989:69-70). The development of Elmina as a prominent trading center depended on its market-ready qualities and its early establishment as a preeminent trading post in West African trade.
Control of West African Trade
Africans, especially those aligned with the power, particularly the Portuguese and, later, the Dutch, that controlled Castle São Jorge da Mina, did not simply submit to 37
European whims. Rather, they largely retained power and their cultural heritage while adapting to changing conditions, especially in the world of trade (DeCorse 2001:175-192;
Thornton 1998:6-8). Indeed, European control of trade throughout West Africa remained an elusive endeavor dependent on absolute control of the numerous castles, forts and entrepôts situated along the coast. Douglas Coombs employed the phrase “spheres of influence” to describe the fragmented areas along the seaboard controlled by British,
Dutch, Danish and other European countries (Coombs 1963:14). These “spheres of influence” did not maintain clear boundaries, even as late as 1857 when Cornelis
Johannes Marius Nagtglas, the newly appointed governor of Elmina, described territorial disputes in a dispatch dated 9 February. He remarked that a unified tariff to increase revenue would only be acceptable if boundary regulations accompanied the tariff. The boundary regulations needed to form two well-defined and consolidated “protectorates,” which would then replace the “chaotically dispersed and vaguely delimited settlements” of the British and Dutch (Coombs 1963:14).
Control of the fortified trading posts along the West African shoreline often signaled influence only within the immediate vicinity. These posts were subject to negotiation with local African populations (Eltis 2000:147; Hair 1994), usually small, independent African states that arose behind the line of European forts (Harms
2002:127), and other European factions nearby. Additionally, Europeans built their forts only after Africans received payment for what Europeans took to be rent or purchase money but what Africans viewed as a mere gift or gratification to further trade. The close proximity of several forts belonging to different European nations indicated that the
African interpretation of these contracts prevailed (Daaku 1970:51-60; Eltis 2000:147). 38
For example, the Portuguese paid rent to local African chiefs, remaining tenants on the
land rather than trying to conquer or possess it (Harms 2002:125). Most of the European nations establishing trading posts along the coast also paid rent. Thus, no one European
nation monopolized trade along the western coastline, and even the most powerful
nations continually reported difficulties in controlling illegal trade transactions and
increases in payment to African monarchs or authorities.
During the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, the Portuguese regarded West
African trade as an exclusive state enterprise. Europeans established their entrepôts and
began commercial operations in western Africa, aiming to preclude competition by
holding key centers along the coast (Austen 1987:88). When Holland, England, France,
Denmark, Sweden, and Brandenburg challenged the Portuguese position in the
seventeenth century, European governments “no longer took direct responsibility for
commercial operations but nonetheless sought to enforce monopolies which were granted
to officially chartered companies” (Austen 1987:88). The various West African (Royal
African, Guinea, Senegal, and West Indian) companies became necessary for encouraging
new merchants to enter trading relationships. European nations tried to employ levies and
taxes to retain authority over their respective entrepôts and certain outlets of trade routes.
Yet, privateers, interlopers, and Africans wreaked havoc on these efforts at control. By
1734, rampant opposition, little profit from Company endeavors, and failing measures to
control levies and taxes, forced the whole of the Gold Coast to open to private traders.
This move to retain profits from West African trade killed the system of nationally
chartered companies that dominated Atlantic trade during the seventeenth century (Harms
2002:138). Small African states, which drove commerce during the seventeenth century, 39 also maintained open trade policies. Thus, vessels sailing for European companies, and those sailing as private ventures, regularly took part in coasting, or cabotage, stopping at numerous small villages along the coast. Merchants “obtained [goods] in direct barter with the Africans living along [the Gold coast] at a fraction of the price they would have cost through European or African middlemen elsewhere in West Africa, hence the continued prosecution of the ‘floating’ or coasting trade” (Bennett and Brooks
1965:xxxi).
While major European powers such as the English, French, and Dutch finally opened up trade to private merchants, company ships still competed with private ones and the monopoly companies retained control of the entrepôts. Canoe-handling West Africans and privateers continued circumventing entrepôts and their levies and taxes by enlarging the role of coasting and by conducting offshore trade. Such actions frustrated conglomerates of Europeans and their efforts to control trade along the west coast of
Africa. When the British government transferred her forts to merchants in 1828, the transfer “signaled an open call to traders and a general relaxation in the mercantile regulations that previously defined West African trade” (Bennett and Brooks 1965:xxx).
By the nineteenth century and the development of the “legitimate trade,” Atlantic world trade networks distributed imports “more widely, socially as well as geographically” than ever (Hopkins 1973:127).
Elmina’s growing trade, and prominence in local and international trade networks, caused a number of changes in control by both African and European groups. By the mid- to late-eighteenth century, the monopoly companies of England, France, and the
Netherlands faced rising, and legitimate, competition from private merchants despite 40
retaining control of the trading forts and castles. Changes characterized African polities, as well. The small African domains that controlled commerce throughout the seventeenth
century succumbed to the “monopolistic practices of the rising military empires of Asante and Dahomey” (Harms 2002:xx). This shifting balance of power, while reflecting growing “national” identities, did not interfere with the structures of West African trade
(Harms 2002:127). Profits often overshadowed the shared identity as merchants, both
European and African, traded amongst themselves and employed coasting as a means to
create the best cargo assemblage for their respective destinations.
World Systems Theory in the West African Context
The Core-Periphery model is applicable on a global scale, in addition to regional
and local levels. In this model, the economic center, or core, contains localities that
usually are wealthier, and more developed, than those at the semi-periphery and
periphery. In developing the system, Immanual Wallerstein looked at the connections
Europe developed while trading with the outside world. He suggests that a “world
system” of trade emerged in the early modern era, where wealth generated in the
periphery and then became a vital source of capital accumulation in the core (Morgan
2000:58; Wallerstein 1979, 2004). Before the European voyages of discovery, the
Atlantic coast of Africa participated in international trade only partially as the outer
periphery of Sudanic commercial systems (Austen 1987:81, Wallerstein 1985:36-38).
Within Ghana, coastal Africa consisted of small, scattered villages located on the
periphery of trade networks, while the trading and population centers of the interior
dominated and controlled the networks, pulling resources from the coast. 41
Upon the arrival of Europeans and the establishment of entrepôts along the coast,
West Africans played a large role in adapting European trade to existing trade routes and
creating shifts in power of control from the interior to the coast. Indeed, European
commerce only constituted a “diversification as far as the bulk of Ashanti (Asante) trade
was concerned” (Meillassoux 1971:51), expanding and shifting the old patterns of trade.
While exchange patterns remained tied to the intricate network of major and minor
footpaths linking one town to the other, European entrepôts brought into existence many
new paths to connect the growing number of towns, villages, and hamlets to the important
coastal trading centers (Meillassoux 1971:169). Furthermore, Europeans greatly increased the volume of trade goods entering West African markets. Yet, European nations vying to control trade in western Africa did not form the core power within the region. Rather,
European entrepôts and African states shared influence and control over the semi- periphery, or the villages and settlements associated with the entrepôts, and the periphery, or the hinterlands of West Africa. The existing trade routes played an important role in the development of power relations, as Europeans adapted to African exchange with both sides manipulating relationships. African agency clearly influenced the development of power relations, as well. This agency precluded usual colonial developments, especially movement into the interior.
Elmina’s unique position, along with other West African littoral entrepôts, suggests a new way to view world systems theory as applied regionally to West Africa. A reworking of the world systems theory as applied to Elmina consists of two powerful communities, Europeans and Africans (Akan officials, agents, and traders). Elmina’s role in local and international trade influenced politics, and vice versa, creating a complex 42 web of relationships (Yarak 1986:35). None of the Gold Coast entrepôts, whether
Portuguese, Dutch or British, possessed the ability to fully support themselves (Coombs
1963:14). Instead, European governments or monopolistic companies subsidized most
European endeavors on the western coast of Africa. On the other hand, Africans had few
means of conquering or removing the European presence. They did, however, possess the
ability to constrain the “garrison’s communications with the surrounding country, to cut off the Europeans’ landward supplies, [thus preventing European] trade with the inhabitants of the country,” (Norregard 1966:5) the very basis for the European presence.
Indeed, Kenneth Kelly, in his article “Using Historically Informed Archaeology:
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Hueda/European Interaction on the Coast of Bénin,” presents a strong case in which African agency trumped the European presence at the site of Savi. Kelly argues that the Hueda managed European traders by remaining unallied and controlling space. By remaining unallied, the Hueda retained control and even enacted a competitive edge by bolstering competition between European traders. Furthermore, the
Hueda prohibited fortified European trading posts, requiring Europeans to travel inland to trade from small, shabby lodges built by the Hueda in the “shadows of the [Savi] palace”
(Kelly 1997b:359-360). The Hueda enforced their autonomy by limiting that of European traders through control over space and activity. African agency, in addition to disease,7 ensured that the middle ground, or the “shared cultural space between Europeans and
Africans . . . remained firmly rooted in the littoral,” as opposed to the middle ground in the Americas which usually quickly developed in the interior (Eltis 2000:137).
7 See page 25 and page 27, note 3. 43
Additionally, within less-developed peripheral areas, the level of economic growth is generally considerably lower in the parts farthest from the core area of commercial and governmental activity (Cressey et al. 1982:144). With the establishment of European forts and castles on the coast, the trading pattern became more complex.
Changes in the Gold Coast exchange networks inextricably linked interior markets with those on the coast, and West African markets with those throughout the expanding
Atlantic world (Garrard 1980a:38). Thus, African and European powers continually battled for control over economic centers, both along the littoral and within the hinterlands, without a clear victor. Both interior and coastal areas developed and retained influence as major economic and governmental centers for both Africans and Europeans, creating overlapping core, semi-periphery, and periphery areas within the world-systems model. Until the late nineteenth century, neither Europeans nor Africans had the ability to completely control or dominate the other. At times, mutual interest by each in the commodities of the other created a balance that ensured that compromise and accommodation characterized the interactions between Africans and Europeans (Eltis
2000:137). Yet, Africans retained a number of advantages over Europeans on the coast.
One of the these advantages included resistance to diseases, which helped limit the
European presence in the interior and reduced the numbers of Europeans inhabiting coastal settlements. Africans also maintained the ability to discontinue trade as a means to overcoming problems with specific European factions. 44
Exchanging European Trade Goods
The exchange system of West Africa involved a general continuity over time that varied regionally in quantities demanded and combinations of types of goods, but rarely in the types of goods themselves. Additionally, the increased demand in Africa and the
East and West Indies placed “unprecedented pressures on European manufactures”
(Herbert 1984:123). Herbert discusses trade in terms of the “classic triad of exports,” gold, slaves, and ivory, and, the “countervailing triad of imports” or textiles, metalwares, and beads (Herbert 1984:123). The desire for brass, which overshadowed demands for other cupreous metals like copper and bronze, remained a constant within West Africans trade networks. Indeed, various European brass-working centers fed and incited African demand for cupreous metals at the same time that demand fueled production of cupreous metals. The metal-producing centers of England eventually gained ascendancy over
Holland and other continental centers. Even within the European producers, however, regional centers rose and fell in power. For example, Bristol provided the vast majority of
England’s cupreous metals until the 1780s when Birmingham replaced it as the major port of trade for brass. Exchange patterns demonstrate the fluctuations in types of goods available in different ports at any one point in time. Local circumstances deeply affected
“change over time as trading supply lines became more firmly established . . . [yet, there was always a] persistent demand for a variety, quantity, and quality of suitable types of consumer goods” (Staniforth 2003:103). Some of these goods held value beyond consumer demand. Merchants included these symbolic items in the trade based on tradition. 45
Manufacture and trade functioned symbiotically through a unique supply and demand developed in West African commerce. European trading ventures needed to provide the right mix of goods for West African markets either from their own manufactures or manufactured goods from other markets. Few areas along the littoral supported sizable European populations that siphoned away demand for certain culturally-desired goods, and African merchants desired an assortment of goods to meet their precise demands (Herbert 1984:124). The contingencies of Europeans focused on running the forts and castles stretched out along the coasts, for few Europeans lived outside of these entrepôts. With the onset of the nineteenth century, manufacturing techniques including sheet metal produced in steam-powered rolling mills and mass produced manillas, or thick, open-ended bracelets, and rods, supplied new areas in Africa, both coastal and interior sites (Herbert 1984:154). Trade networks still had to provide
“adequate supplies of culturally appropriate food, drink and other consumer goods for the population,” while adapting to a widening market of goods and availability (Staniforth
2003:102). These “speculative cargoes,” which conjectured the goods and commodities that would sell the best, did not just apply to the first voyages of the fifteenth century, but appear throughout the history of West African trade networks.
West African exchange succeeded or failed depending on the assortment of goods provided by European ships. Bosman, the Dutch Factor of Elmina, noted that trade on the
Gold Coast at the beginning of the eighteenth century required more than 150 different items for a desirable outcome (Bosman 1967 [1704]:91). John Atkins, an early eighteenth-century traveler, agreed with Bosman’s assessment. He suggested that successful exchange hinged on the: 46
well sorting and well timing of a Cargo, [which] depends at several places much on Chance, from the fanciful and various Humours of the Negroes, who make great demands one Voyage for a Commodity, that perhaps they reject next, and is in part to be remedied either by making the things they itch after, to pass off those they have not so much mind to, or by such continual Traffick and Correspondence on the Coast as may furnish the Owner from time to time with quick Intelligence [Atkins 1735:159; Herbert 1984:124].
Indeed, Anthony Hopkins referred to the subsequent phenomenon of ships carrying a vast array of goods to meet African fastidiousness as “floating supermarkets” (Herbert
1984:124; Hopkins 1973:111). He also provided four commercial reasons for why ships
entering West Coast entrepôts resembled floating supermarkets. The first involved high
levels of competition and the necessity for a large variety of goods which both created
bargaining advantages and the ability to alter prices. The second arose from unpredictable
African markets far from sources of supplies and goods. The third reason stemmed from
African purchasers on the coast who were not final consumers, but wholesalers
attempting to supply a sizeable interior market over long periods. Finally, the fourth
reason that Europeans created floating supermarkets developed from the absence of an
internationally acceptable currency on the West Coast (Hopkins 1973:111). Indeed,
Timothy Garrard argues that the Portuguese found themselves in competition with the
Mande for Akan trade, and “were frustrated to find that the Akan did not always prefer
European goods” (Garrard 1980a:26). Additionally, Inikori notes, “sellers in Western
Africa demanded to be paid with an assortment of goods that met their consumption and
investment needs” (Inikori 2002:287-8). Thus, Hopkins highlights the intricacies of the
trade situation on the West African coast.
While Hopkins provides analytical suggestions for the wide array of goods that
entered West African trade, Eugenia Herbert argues that, historically, Europeans failed to 47 see the reasons why traders needed to generate “floating supermarkets” to take full advantage of West African exchange. She notes that the African role in the Gold Coast exchange remained far from passive and that Europeans often left prosperity to chance, idiosyncrasy, and irrational whim instead of a more beneficial understanding of the intricacies of African societies and their markets (Herbert 1984:124). As an example,
Herbert discusses John Adams’ 1822 assessment that merchants regarded brass pans as
“losing articles of trade” but also “highly necessary to complete an assorted cargo for
Africa” (Adams 1970 [1822]:263; Herbert 1984:124). John Thornton expounds on this idea by suggesting that the commodities received into African markets were not essential items, meaning that Africans could produce most of the goods themselves. Various historians have agreed, proposing that West African trade “moved by prestige, fancy, changing taste and a desire for variety,” rather than fulfilling an imperative need
(Thornton 1998:45, 48-50; also Eltis 2000:167-168; Postma 2003:54). In particular, John
Thornton and David Eltis argued that whimsy and caprice, not need, stimulated demand in West African exchanges.
However, David Northrup states the opposite, arguing that “demand was not simply motivated by the novel designs of the imports nor by their superiority, but rather by an unmet demand for cloth and metals that imports were able to at least partially satisfy at prices consumers could afford” (Northrup 2002:82). In reality, Africans probably demanded trade goods from Europeans based on need driven by the unmet orders and high prices of overland networks as much as on fancy or whimsy. In order to meet these demands and needs, British and other European traders often brought goods from around the globe to England to load into cargoes intended for West African trade. 48
Sometimes merchants found it necessary to send vessels to various ports within
Continental Europe to complete their assortment of goods before continuing on their journey. Vessels frequently stopped at Holland ports of call where continental goods were
amassed (Inikori 2002:288). Joseph Inikori describes the private records of Thomas Hall
& Co., a London merchant firm extensively involved in the African trade during the
eighteenth century. He notes that the firm had an agent with Jacob Senserf & Co. of
Rotterdam. This agent purchased goods in Holland to complete the assortment of
commodities journeying to the West African coast. Inikori also suggests that past the mid
eighteenth century, after a rising trend featuring mass production, a large number of ships
from England continued to stop in continental European ports before continuing on to
Africa despite increased availability of goods at home (Inikori 2002:290).
Many travelers, including James Barbot, Willem Bosman, Pieter de Marees, and
John Adams, despite rampant plagiarism as each strove to create the most “complete”
source on West Africa whether through first hand experience or not, offer insights into
the items that entered and exited through the exchange system.8 Not only did European
countries and private ventures supplement their own commodities with purchases from
other European nations prior to embarkation, they traded with other nations within the
Atlantic system and they gathered desired African goods from other parts of the African
coast (Burnside 1997:114). Merchants gathered commodity assemblages from all over the
world in order to fulfill the range of goods demanded by West African markets. Despite
the wide array of goods offered for sale, textiles and metalwares remained in greatest
demand during the late-seventeenth century (Kea 1982:207). Although traders purchased
8 See Chapter 2 for a more complete discussion of the need for caution when using travelers’ accounts and other historical documents. 49
goods from each other throughout the Atlantic world, they became fierce competitors
over fickle West African markets and centers of exchange. Thus, the “floating
supermarkets” (Hopkins 1973:111) had to supply the various coastal ports established by
one company while facing fierce competition from rival European companies and
interloping ships (Kea 1982:207). Like Hopkins (1973), Ray Kea recognized the various
factors driving West African trade. Thus, he delineated commercial operations on the
Gold Coast into four “connected trading circuits: (1) overseas trade, (2) the coasting
trade, (3) the Sudanic trade, and (4) the local and intraregional overland trade” (Kea
1982:206). The European presence on the Gold Coast, especially at Elmina, greatly
affected the economy and culture of nearby Africans. Yet, Africans played a major role in
how the various trading circuits developed and what commodities traders carried along
the routes.
Ties to the Industrial Revolution
During the late 1700s and early 1800s, the early phases of the Industrial
Revolution initiated a rise in mass consumption, faster production, urban growth,
technological advancement, and new transportation and communications systems (Ritchie
2003:10). The nature of commerce changed, spreading the trade of “objects of daily consumption” (Ritchie 2003:11) to arising global markets beyond the Atlantic world.
The changes in industry and commerce signaled changes in thought patterns as merchants
and innovators thought more globally. Josiah Wedgewood, a leading English merchant, described the wares in foreign languages and priced them in foreign currencies in his catalogues. These catalogues show Wedgewood’s understanding that each market had its 50 own tastes, needs, and desires (Ritchie 2003:11). By 1795, Wedgewood not only sold to regional markets but also “broke through local trade of fairs and peddlers to an international market” (McKendrick 1960:408). Providing pattern books, advertising in provincial and continental newspapers, understanding the importance of fashion, and warehouses established in foreign markets were some of the revolutionary techniques employed by Wedgewood in culling international markets.
At the beginning of West African trade between European and Africans, the system operated on a small scale and possessed an informal structure, with “each trading initiative test[ing] the commercial climate and us[ing] local contacts to explore the range of commodities most in demand” (Birmingham 2000:34). However as the international trading world became more sophisticated, specialized, and complex, shipping routes followed suite (Morgan 2000:3). Additionally, traders of all nationalities and allegiances participated in the West African commerce, from the late fifteenth century throughout the
‘legitimate’ African trade, increasingly contributing to its global flavor. Merchants received help from the rise in “commercial intelligence” that accompanied the expanding global market. Part of this increasing intelligence stemmed from the development of better navigation techniques. These techniques included the “diffusion of maps, globes, marine atlases, octants and printed guides for master mariners [which] improved the accuracy of navigation, as well as lights, buoys, dredging, chronometers” (Morgan
2000:66). Trade routes throughout the Atlantic world also enabled the rising level and speed of commercial intelligence on a year-round, rather than a seasonal, basis as each ship (and an overall increase in the number of ships) spent more time at sea than in port
(Morgan 2000:66). Coffee houses helped to spread information about events in the 51
Atlantic world with minimum delay (Morgan 2000:67), while the development of catalogues, like Wedgewood’s, helped to spread the impact of local industries throughout the Atlantic world. The prices and desirability of commodities fluctuated in African markets, like those around the world, causing difficulties for Europeans who tried to predict which items to export. Yet, West African exchange differed from other areas of trade in that symbolic or traditional items that brought little profit remained in high demand, markets stayed decidedly non-European in character, and interior demands drove demand on the coast yet remained almost entirely unfamiliar to Europeans.
Summary
The types of trade goods offered and chosen for purchase illuminate the cultural preferences and thought process of those catering to West African markets and West
African markets themselves. The market demanded both brass and pewter, and the
European industries, in turn, produced to meet those demands. Thus, demands challenged and stimulated innovation in the industries as industries and their technological advances affected demands. The brass and pewter vessels in their part of the West African trade “kit” illuminate the interplay between market demand and supply and the effect on the involved societies. The ubiquity of pewter and brass basins in West
African trade symbolizes the continuity of certain trade goods and their demand within each European foray. The purchasing and negotiating power within West Africa continued in importance through the nineteenth century, serving as a catalyst for the burgeoning world market. CHAPTER IV
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Previous Research
European vessels en route to Africa conveyed large amounts and varied types of
cultural material destined for exchange through increasingly faster and more regular ocean routes. In overcoming constraints of trade inherent in desert travel with maritime technology, Europeans initiated new strategies and relationships with coastal African societies to develop and sustain African trade. Entrepôts, or trading forts and castles such as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina, “served as focal points for exchange between the
sailing vessels importing tons of manufactured goods into West Africa, and coastal
African brokers who distributed these goods through interior trading networks” (Cook
and Spiers 2004:17). Previous historical and archaeological investigations undertaken in
West Africa focused on structures and architecture (DeCorse 2001:4). Since 1985, however, research interests at Elmina, and on the African coast in general, shifted towards the examination of social and cultural interactions between Africans and
Europeans, prompted by the research of Christopher DeCorse through the Central Region
Project. More recent research, like that of Gregory Cook and Sam Spiers (2004), moves
“beyond the castle” by focusing on the broader trade networks and their socio-
52 53
political impacts in both the coastal hinterland and offshore (Cook and Spiers 2004:17).
Indeed, a large number of ships of varying types, nationalities, and functions linked West
African entrepôts with the larger Atlantic world, offering more nuanced studies of
African-European interactions.
Terrestrial archaeologists conducted a number of investigations of African-
European interactions and related material culture throughout West Africa (Agorsah
1983, 1986; Alexander 1993; Andah 1993; Anquandah 1993, 1997; Bellis 1972;
Calvocoressi 1975, 1977; Carr 1995; Chouin 1998; Connah 1975; Cook and Spiers 2004;
Davies 1961; DeCorse 1980, 1989, 2001; Effah-Gyamfi 1979, 1985; Ehrlich 1989,
Eluyemi 1975; Garrard 1980a, 1980b; Holl 2000; Kelly 1997, 2002; Kense and Okoro
1993; McIntosh 1977; Shinnie and Kense 1989; Stahl 1999, 2001). In particular,
Christopher DeCorse’s An Archaeology of Elmina examines Elmina as a case study
illustrating the “ways in which local rules uniquely articulate with and mitigate global
patterns” in West African history (DeCorse 2001:12). Exploring the unique functions and
components of Elmina as an individual society facilitates our understanding of change,
and complements the potential explanatory value of larger systems (DeCorse 2001:12).
During 15 years of archaeological research in coastal Ghana, DeCorse focused on two
overarching concerns: the past lifeways of the Elminans and the change and continuity in
how they ordered and conceptualized their world over time. An overarching theme deals with the influence that the European-centered economic system, introduced in the
fifteenth century and developed throughout the nineteenth century, had on West Africa
(DeCorse 2001:10). 54
Beginning in 1985 and continuing through 2000, archaeological research included surface surveys, test excavations, trenches, and excavation (DeCorse 2001:73). DeCorse argues that the vast array of European trade materials provided exceptionally precise date ranges within the West African context for the Elmina site. However, the dates could not
“be correlated with specific historically known events” (DeCorse 2001:77). Additionally, site formation processes in the original location of the Elmina town-site created well- defined stratigraphic layers. These individual deposits could be closely dated by the plethora of trade materials, and the age of individual provenances could be assessed on the basis of surrounding deposits (DeCorse 2001:78). Yet complex disposal patterns, areas that often contained a wide variety of discarded materials that provide useful insights into human consumption, health issues, and other culturally charged concerns, provided little opportunity to associate midden deposits with particular households
(DeCorse 2001:79).
Archaeologists also conducted research at Fort de Veer (Veersche Schans), beyond the old town site of Elmina in Bantoma. Excavations at Veersche Schans build on work completed in the 1960s by David Calvocoressi and Oliver Davies. The site offers insight into settlement patterns in the vicinity of Elmina, and provides a model that can be applied along the Western African coastline. Once Europeans founded castles, occupation shifted from thin, dispersed settlements along the coast to a concentration of the population in villages and towns immediately surrounding the entrepôt. Thus, DeCorse’s study of Elmina and archaeological investigations undertaken near the entrepôt provide a unique window into cultural contact at a major West African trade center (DeCorse
2001:71). Fort de Veer not only yields information on the nineteenth-century redoubt, but 55
also on a pre-European contact or contact-period African settlement and an eighteenth- century African burial ground. The material from these sites provides a complementary, yet unique, set of data in the form of different temporal periods and different activities from those at the old Elmina town site (DeCorse 2001:86).
Other sites excavated in both the coastal and forest regions of Ghana provide information on the culture, technology, and lifeways of the West African littoral. Timothy
Garrard’s thesis (1980) on brass in Akan society addressed the paucity of information on cuprous artifacts found in preceding archaeological investigations. With his thesis,
Garrard strove to create a “basic archaeologically oriented study of Ghanaian brass-
working” by synthesizing excavation reports, ethnographic accounts, and historical
records (Garrard 1980b:2). As part of the thesis, Garrard included a survey of reported
finds from both archaeological excavation and from surface and construction finds. For
example, 1967 excavations of a mound in Twifo-Hemang by J.O. Bellis yielded several
cuprous objects, including fragments of sheet metal, a gold dust spoon a fragment of a
riveted handle, and many unidentified fragments. Most significantly, Bellis recovered a
fragmentary cuprous metal pan near a female burial. He described the pan as a thin and
badly deteriorated vessel, similar in shape to a modern pie pan as well as imported
European brass pans (either Lisbon or Neptune as defined by Day 1973:170). Bellis
suggests that the vessel once had a handle riveted to one side. Additionally, the
irregularities of the surface suggest that brassworkers hammered the vessel into shape;
however, he could not determined whether it was imported or locally manufactured
(Bellis 1972:61-2). Garrard notes that Bellis’ description becomes even more useful when
readers consider four additional, yet significant, items of information. This other 56 information, found in subsequent pages of his dissertation suggest: “a. that the pan had low, slanting sides; b. that the presumed riveted handle was not found; c. that the diameter was estimated at 4-5 inches (10.2-12.7 cm); d. that no decoration was visible”
(Bellis 1972:74 as quoted in Garrard 1980b:115-116).
In The Archaeology of Global Encounters as Viewed from Banda, Ghana (1999),
Stahl explores the archaeological evidences of the longstanding interregional, sub- continental, and intercontinental relations of West African societies beyond the coastal region. Her excavations of Makala Kataa and Kuulo Kataa examined three temporally distinct occupations in order to track changes in settlement, craft production, subsistence, and exchange. Stahl’s work provides insight into the dynamic nature of local life within expanding global networks (Stahl 1999:5). Stahls’ archaeological endeavors in these two interior Banda sites allows for a long-term look at effects of the trans-Saharan trade of the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries (Kuulu), the rise of the Asante state and
Atlantic trade of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (early Makala), and the period in the late nineteenth century directly preceding British rule (late Makala).
The excavations yielded a variety of metal objects, including a brass foundry and brass gold weights and rings. Stahl’s excavations at Kuulo Kataa demonstrate regional exchange patterns specified by trade of locally produced crafts, like iron and pottery, for exotic goods like Volta fish, wild fauna, and textiles. In addition, excavations support sub-continental exchange patterns involving the importation of brass and bronze objects, beads, and gold weights. The brass and bronze artifacts recovered from Kuulo Kataa consist of non-native copper sources, suggesting trade contacts in the Niger region. Many of the brass and bronze objects indicate local modification. Despite the evidence for sub- 57
continental exchange patterns, the brass objects from sites at Kuulo Kataa, mostly objects
of personal adornments (rings, bracelets, and pendants), cannot indicate whether Kuulo
Kataa inhabitants traded directly with Niger traders or whether they attained the objects through intermediary exchange with larger centers, like Begho and Old Bima (Stahl
1999:36).
Early Makala, like Kuulo Kataa, shows signs of a regional economy; however, the site only yields evidence for constricted sub-continental exchange. Most of the non-local objects reflect European origin, with the exception of the objects made of copper alloys, which could represent either European or Niger sources. However, the small number of
European goods found at the Early Makala site suggests that “only a trickle of goods made their way to Asante’s northern hinterlands” (Stahl 1999:55). The discontinuity between occupation of Kuulo Kataa and Early Makala, when residents dispersed throughout the Banda region, could have disrupted craft production and trade networks.
Despite changes in settlements and trade patterns in the region, copper alloys remained in demand, regardless of whether that demand was heavy or light. Stahls’ archaeological endeavors bring to light new information on the inner workings of internal trade relations in Ghana, including the role of brass. The sites’ relationship with Elmina and other areas of the Gold Coast also provide information on the broader range of trade networks, offering insight into the effects that trade had on the whole African diaspora, not just coastal Africa or the Americas.
Bredwa-Mensah examines the cultural lifeways of Africans slaves who cultivated the Danish plantation systems on the Gold Coast. Bredwa-Mensah’s article, “Slavery and
Plantation Life at the Danish Plantation Site of Bibease, Gold Coast (Ghana),” not only 58 comments on the impact of the slave trade on West African societies, but calls for researchers to pay greater attention to slave archaeology in West Africa itself. Thus, he focused on the Danish plantations located on the Akuapem Mountains, which allowed a holistic examination, as well as a high level of certainty that the artifacts indicated lifeways of the plantation owner or African slaves rather than the exchange of more coastal settlements (Bredwa-Mensah 1996:445-447). The variety of cultural material included a number of local and imported trade items, such as European ceramics and local pottery, beads, cowry shells, dark bottle glass presumably for holding liquors, kaolin smoking pipes, and a variety of faunal remains. Based on the archaeological evidence,
Bredwa-Mensah suggests that Bibease slaves enjoyed a level of autonomy that allowed them to express their African cultural and social identity, in dress, activity, and food. In particular, European and locally produced ceramics included cooking pots and a variety of bowls that show evidence for the preparation of African meals and for traditional consumption patterns among contemporary societies in Ghana (Bredwa-Mensah
1996:450-456). Additionally, the diversity of local and imported trade items suggests both an “active internal system” of trade, and some “incorporation of the coastal settlements on the Gold Coast and their immediate hinterland counterparts into the
European dominated world economic system of the nineteenth century” (Bredwa-
Mensah 1996:456). The archaeological investigations of Bibease plantations illustrate the social and cultural interactions, as well as the commercial relations, between Europeans and West Africans in both coastal and hinterland regions. 59
Finally, in his endeavor to uncover processes behind the emergence of states and
towns in Ghana, Anquandah examines the sites of Begho, Bono Manso, Shai, and Ladoku
through an interdisciplinary approach. He seeks to isolate and study social aspects such as
population, settlement, subsistence, trade, metallurgy, arts and crafts, and political control
that affect and are affected by urbanism and state formation (Anquandah 1993:645). His archaeological work spans over 10 years and excavation recovered a vast array of artifacts, notably copper and copper-alloyed objects. Furthermore, Anquandah addresses the role that trade played in the development of the sites, arguing that each developed large-scale local industries and trades by taking advantage of natural resources, landscape, and access to trade networks so that they served as a magnet and creating the impetus for town or state development. For example, Begho emerged as a town-state due to “the trade-induced transfer of population from Mandeland, Ivory Coast, northern Ghana, and
Akanland as to local development of viable systems . . . based on local resources”
(Anquandah 1993:650). Anquandah’s research contributes to the development of a
picture of Ghanaian urbanism and state formation, the material culture of such sites, the
inter-relation between coastal and inland sites, as well as the affects of the European
presence prior to the creation of trading entrepôts and their subsequent towns and cities.
Nautical Archaeology
The archaeological study of shipwrecks provides insights into material culture not
available in terrestrial archaeological investigations. In particular, the study of African
metalwares suffers from “the absence of a firm chronology due to the dearth of closely
dated material” (Craddock and Hook 1995:181). Yet, information furnished from closely 60
dated shipwrecks is beginning to redress the chronological issues arising from poorly
dated or preserved terrestrial sites, especially if importation and manufacture processes
are inadequately understood or recorded. Archaeological excavations of the Henrietta
Marie and other shipwrecks present valuable insight into the cargoes destined for and
leaving West African trade. The Henrietta Marie offers access to artifacts, such as early
pewter plates traded to Africa, and a number of other goods, rarely found in the terrestrial
context. For example, a few pewter plates possessed visible knife marks and an “HM”
carved on the back suggesting onboard use. Additionally, archaeologists recovered many
basins from stacks retaining their original straw and paper packing material. Almost all of
the basins bear the marks of London pewterers Joseph Hodges, George Hammond, or
Thomas Winchcombe (Moore 1989:56). The archaeological investigations of the
Henrietta Marie, the Elmina wreck, and other archaeological shipwreck sites provide
unparalleled insight into European-African interaction, the range of commodities
involved in West African maritime trade, in addition to individual material objects, their
histories, and their roles in exchange.
The Elmina Wreck
In 2003, archaeologists from Syracuse University, funded by a National
Geographic Research Grant (#7338-02), conducted a side-scan sonar survey which
focused on the areas of Elmina’s coastline that potentially included shipwrecks involved
in the West African trade (Cook 2005:5). The survey identified 68 potential wreck sites.
Divers examined one of the targets and ground-truthed a shipwreck approximately 2.14 km (1.5 mi) southeast of Elmina castle in 9.75 m (32 ft) of water. Archaeological investigations during 61
the 2005 field season, which lasted from August to October, centered on four priorities: (1) create a complete pre-disturbance site plan of the Elmina shipwreck site, noting the layout of the exposed wreckage on the seafloor; (2) probe outward from the exposed wreckage to determine if additional materials lie under the seafloor; (3) place test excavations in the bow, midships, and stern of the wreck to indicate whether hull remains are preserved and discern the depth of cargo remaining on site, while recovering samples of trade goods and diagnostic artifacts; and (4) if
time allows, investigate other anomalies in search for additional historic wreck sites in the area.
Using this methodology, archaeologists attempted to identify the date, nationality, purpose of the
vessel’s voyage and the cause for its sinking, while also ground-truthing other potential
shipwreck sites suggested by data from the 2003 sonar survey (Cook 2005:5).
When archaeologists returned to Ghana for the 2005 field season, research
questions focused on determining the range, forms, and qualities of artifacts comprising
the wreck site in hopes of establishing the nationality, date, and purpose of the vessel. A
team of nine archaeologists from Syracuse University, The University of West Florida,
and the Archaeology Department at the University of Ghana, and a support crew of
fishermen from Elmina investigated the wreck in attempts to answer the research
questions. The field season opened after completing preparations for fieldwork
(procurement of housing, the research vessel, a crew) and attending a traditional libation
ceremony. An assistant to the Chief of Elmina Fishermen performed this ceremony, customarily conducted before archaeological research commences in Ghana, in the Benya lagoon behind Elmina castle as a way to respect the dead and compensate for any disturbance the investigations might cause (Cook 2005:7). 62
The archaeological crew arrived at the site each morning via a 15.24-meter (50 ft)
Ghanaian canoe provided by Papa Kofi Arhin, advisor to the Chief of the Fisherman in
Elmina, and manned by several Ghanaian canoemen, including Papa Kofi and members of his family. After relocating the site based on global positioning system (GPS) coordinates taken in 2003, divers created a mooring for the site by a securing a chain linked to polypropylene rope and a plastic bottle (a buoy designed to look like trash so it would not be salvaged by other fishermen) around the muzzle of a cannon on site. The initial dive team reported dynamic conditions on the 9.75-meter-deep site (32 ft), including heavy surge and zero visibility due to heavy layers of silt. The diving conditions required inventive solutions for the archaeological inquiry, much like work undertaken on the Hollandia, a 45.72-meter (150 ft) Dutch East Indiaman used from 1740-1750. Under similar conditions to those on the Elmina wreck site, archaeologists investigating the
Hollandia “based their grid references of the finds on bearings on large and eye-catching objects on site, such as anchors, guns, big lumps of silver coins, lead ingots, etc.”
(Gawronski et al. 1992:259).
Each day, archaeologists moored the research vessel to cannon on the east side of the wreck, providing a constant point of orientation for the wreck site. Then archaeologists worked in teams of three, switching between diving on surface supplied air and topside support, which included tending the surface supplied air source (“hookah” system) and monitoring the divers. The Ghanaian members of the crew safely guided the canoe to and from the site each day, and offered additional topside support. Divers marked the perimeter of the site, where they no longer felt cultural material, with numbered rebar and a rope knotted every foot. Thus, archaeologists mapped the site and 63 recovered artifacts by referencing the rebar, knotted rope, and major features of the site, which included concreted manillas in cask form, cannon, and stacks of basins (Figure 4).
Not only did the datums help to familiarize divers, but landmarks on the “site-scape,” consisting of piles of manilas, stacks of basins, and cannon, served as features easily distinguishable by touch, which divers used to orient themselves to the site.
With the establishment of the datums, which created a comprehensive baseline around the site’s perimeter (Cook 2005:8), divers mapped the features of the site in relationship to the datums and connecting knotted lines. Archaeologists eventually extended lines across the site to increase the accuracy of the map and to gain greater access to interior features. After recording the exposed features of the wreck and producing a comprehensive site plan, archaeologists focused on excavating in different areas of the site that might provide evidence for the orientation of the vessel (Cook
2005:9). Indeed, the archaeological investigations of the Elmina wreck site consisted of a series of small-scale test excavations that were conducted to determine the presence, nature, extent, content, structure, and research potential of the site. Manual excavation overcame the problems potentially encountered when introducing water induction dredges or airlifts, common practices for excavation underwater, to the dynamic environment. Thus, archaeologists employed hand-fanning, which allowed excavation to continue even if divers were forced to hold themselves on-site against the surge with their other hand or knees gripping major landscape features. Artifacts, once encountered during excavation by feel, were transported to the surface in mesh bags. Prior to removal, the archaeologists recorded the artifacts’ location based on the distance from the knotted lines and from main features on the “site-scape.” When possible, they recorded notes
65 underwater on mylar and later transferred to paper for curatorial purposes. Heavy surge and lack of visibility often made writing an impossible task; thus, divers carefully memorized distances and measurements, to be recorded as soon as they surfaced.
Archaeologists garnered measurements by utilizing soft tailor’s tapes, flex rules, and measurements based on their own body parts, such as the length of their hand or arm span.
Archaeologists focused the excavation and artifact recovery in five primary areas of the site, including one in the northernmost region, three in the middle, and one in the south. Upon arrival at field headquarters in the village of Biriwa at the end of each day, archaeologists recorded relevant notes and locations for each artifact in the artifact catalogue, and assigned the artifact, or artifact sets, a number. Much like procedures for the Hollandia, archaeologists for the Elmina wreck assigned similar materials or objects, which shared the same location one number (Gawronski et al. 1992:259). For example, archaeologists recovered brass- and pewterwares concreted together in stacks and manillas from the same piles. These artifacts remained grouped together until conservators processed them in the conservation facilities of The University of West
Florida. Initial processing of the artifacts included photography, drawing, and storage in water. At the end of the season, with permission from the Ghana Museums and
Monuments Board (GMMB), archaeologists transported the artifacts to The University of
West Florida for conservation and analysis. All artifacts will be repatriated to the GMMB upon completion of analysis. 66
General Artifact Information
Exposed cultural material lay approximately 16.74 m (55 ft) in length along the sea floor in a general north-northeast orientation. Other materials still covered by the sea floor probably reach a maximum length of 19.81-21.34 m (65-70 ft), nicely corresponding with side-scan sonar images of the site taken in the 2003 survey. The major exposed features on the site include five heavily concreted cannon. Measuring 2.74 m (9 ft) in length, archaeologists noted that the guns rest on top of other cultural material comprising the cargo. Furthermore, these cannon have a general orientation of an outward direction, suggesting their use as deck guns. Thus, the Elmina shipwreck shows heavy armament, as the cannon are likely twelve- to eighteen-pounders (Cook 20056:11). Stacks of pewter and brass basins, bowls, pans, which range in size from 13 cm (5.51 in) to over
45 cm (17.72 in) in diameter, dominate the wreck site as another major feature. Indeed, archaeologists located and sampled metalwares in each of the primary areas of investigation. Manillas, still in the shape of the casks in which merchants stored them for travel, lead rolls in 0.94-meter (3 ft) lengths, and iron barrel hoops comprise the other major features of the wreck site.
Excavated items include samples from the major features of the wreck, with the exception of the cannons, such as glass, ceramics, and flora and fauna. Archaeologists recovered and conserved more than 1,362 artifacts. Excavators only recovered potentially diagnostic finds due to budget constraints and the high cost of transportation from Ghana to The University of West Florida (Cook 2005:14). Glass items range from onion bottles usually indicative of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sites, to case, wine, and 67 medicinal molded bottles associated with nineteenth-century manufacture techniques, and over one thousand trade beads. European ceramics found on site include stoneware jugs, an olive jar, bricks, and hand-painted and transfer-printed bowl fragments. In addition, archaeologists recovered two examples of African produced ceramics. Finally, they gathered a number of animal bones (a large ungulate possibly representing water buffalo), seeds, cowrie shells, and charcoal pieces from the wreck site (Cook 2005:14-17).
Summary
During 2005, archaeologists successfully recorded the exposed features of the
Elmina wreck and recovered a wide array of diagnostic items. Based on preliminary analysis of the artifact assemblage, the vessel likely sank on the inbound leg of its journey to the West African coast sometime in the early 1800s when the slave trade transitioned to the “legitimate” trade. While the artifact collection represents African, English,
German, Danish, and Spanish or Iberian nationalities, the artifacts range in date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Without further study, the assemblage cannot provide conclusive evidence for the vessel’s identity, intended trade, and loss.
However, multiple lines of research are being conducted on the artifact assemblage. One of these lines, concerning the metalwares of the Elmina wreck, grew from an observation in 2003 that brass constituted one of the major components of the cargo. Archaeologists recovered a sample consisting of five small brass basins and then conserved them at The University of West Florida’s conservation laboratory (See Figure
2). Such metalwares hold particular interest for the information they can add to the numerous references found in the historical literature depicting the wide range and 68 desirability of metalwares entering West African trade. Indeed, contemporary cargo inventories and manifests of vessels plying West African waters, and numerous travelers’ accounts, list a wide variety of copper, brass, pewter, and lead manufactures.
Archaeologically, the metalwares typically survive as disarticulated or partial remains on terrestrial sites. Based on 2003 archaeological activity, the Elmina wreck site held the potential to overcome poor archaeological visibility on land for metal objects involved in the West African trade. In 2005, archaeologists confirmed and sampled the wide array of brass- and pewterware, which form prominent features over the entire site (see Figure 3 and Figure 4). The variety and quality of the metalware found on the Elmina wreck represents a critical component of investigations undertaken during the 2005 field season. CHAPTER V
THE MANUFACTURE, SUPPLY, AND DEMAND OF METALWARES IN WEST AFRICAN TRADE
Introduction
West Africans desired metal vessels, especially copper and brass, from European
traders. Despite scarce copper deposits, Africans from the forested region near Elmina
possessed knowledge of metal casting and working for centuries prior to the European
encounter (Hair 1994:2). As Europeans increasingly provided new and abundant sources of metal, local metalworking industries burgeoned (Vogt 1979:68). West Africans desired brass and iron more than gold based on the formers’ utilitarian nature, and they willingly parted with large quantities of gold and other resources to obtain the metals (Postma
2003:52). From 1470 to about 1520, copper, in a vast number of forms, shapes, and sizes, became the most popular metal purchased from the Portuguese station at São Jorge.
However, brass began to replace copper as the most sought-after metal early in the sixteenth century, and by the 1530s, Europeans imported more brass than copper to
Africa (Vogt 1979:68-9). During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Africa’s
“hunger for iron and copper matched Europe’s capacity to supply them, just as production of gold helped to satisfy Europe’s insatiable demand for gold” (Northrup 2002:85).
69 70
West African Metallurgy
The utilization of mineral resources in West Africa has a long history; Africans have mined iron, gold, copper, and tin for thousands of years. Both gold and iron deposits stretch extensively over West Africa. Copper deposits, on the other hand, are scarce in
West Africa, with the exception of localized areas in Mauritania and Niger. Central
Nigeria and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo yield quantities of tin and some copper, as evidenced by the elaborate bronze art of Ife and Benin. Africans not only crafted these minerals into ceremonial and utilitarian objects, but developed interregional and international trade based, in part, on the metals. The ancient empires of Ghana and
Mali provided gold to North Africa and Europe as early as the eighth century, whetting the appetites of both European and Arab merchants. Despite extensive overland exchange, Africans retained control over their mineral stores prior to colonial conquest, concealing the locations from which they obtained gold and other metals (Herbert
1998:139; Stock 2004:325-6). Africans freely exchanged gold overland and via maritime routes in exchange for a wide variety of goods. Yet, the demand for copper and its alloys traded for gold remained a constant, driving force in West African market exchange.
Archaeological Evidence for West African Metallurgy
Based on available evidence, outside sources apparently introduced copper and iron metallurgy and smelting technology simultaneously to the region (Bisson 2000:89;
Herbert 1998:139; Miller and der Merwe 1994:7-8). Potential conduits for the spread of copper and iron metallurgy include overland and maritime routes from North Africa, 71 specifically Meroe, Gulf of Sirte, and Morocco, the Arabian Peninsula, and East Africa
(Herbert 1998:139; Miller and der Merwe 1994:8-9). However, the diffusion of iron and copper metalworking knowledge and smelting technology is not clearly delineated, suggesting independent invention or at least diffusion from several sources rather than a single one (Herbert 1998:139). Northern Ghana probably followed the general pattern of early urbanization and technological innovation, like the Agadez region in Niger and western Mauritania, where some of the earliest metallurgical evidence for smelting dates to 1000 B.C. (Bisson 2000:89; Herbert 1998:139; Miller and der Merwe 1994:8-9). On the other hand, coastal Ghana may have followed the pattern of certain areas on the littoral of West Africa, where evidence for metal-working appears late in the first millennium A.D. and occurs with Late Stone Age tools until the thirteenth century
(DeCorse 2001:229). For example, terrestrial excavations at Elmina produced few examples of brass, either Akan or European recasted materials, but did recover iron slag dating to A.D. 1000-1637. At the Coconut Grove site near Elmina, archaeological excavations have uncovered slag and furnace fragments potentially dating to A.D. 1000-
1400. Despite this evidence, the level of smelting on the coast and the identity (whether
Fante or not) of the smelters remains uncertain. While historians remain uncertain over the level of copper alloy and gold casting along the coast, two crucibles, similar to brass- casting remnants found in other excavations in Ghana, suggest evidence for brass or gold working in Elmina (DeCorse 2001:124-126).
Even when metal casting and smelting technology became widespread in West
Africa, vast quantities of iron and copper entered the metallurgical industry through the trans-Sahara trade. Iron and copper goods, along with salt, arrived in the coastal region at 72
an early date in exchange for gold and other commodities. Thomas Fenn, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona, analyzed copper artifacts from West Africa by examining chemical composition and lead isotopes. Because lead contains four isotopes, which remain in their original form despite smelting, scientists can deduce change in the ratio, providing a “fingerprint” for the metal’s source of origin (University of Arizona 2006).
Fenn’s research suggests that demand for copper by West Africans and gold by Arabs fueled the trans-Saharan trade, despite closer ore deposits. Yet, the nature of exchange across the Sahara limited the quantities of these metals arriving on the coast, and in turn, restricted the casting and reworking of the metal in the area. The development of the
European-African trade introduced African brass workers and metal casters in the coastal
area to greater access to brass, stimulating the rise of metalworking industries. Although
fluctuating in strength, the demand for cuprous goods by West Africans remained
constant from the beginnings of metalworking in the first millennium B.C. through the
nineteenth century. Estimates based on historical documents and a small number of
archaeological excavations suggest that more than 50,000 metric tons of copper and brass
entered West Africa through terrestrial and maritime routes, both from within Africa and from outside sources (Childs and Herbert 2005:293).
Terrestrial archaeological investigations uncovered only a small and fragmented fraction of the cuprous metalwares involved in West African trade. Only one underwater investigation to-date, the Elmina wreck, yields tangible evidence of the trade in metalwares. Yet, historical documents ranging in date from 950 A.D. to the end of the nineteenth century repeatedly reflect and recall the demand for copper and brass.
European records display the quantities of brass requested regularly, and these trade 73
goods played a significant role in the power struggle along the West African littoral staged by European countries. Under Portugal’s control, which stretched from the late
fifteenth century through the sixteenth century, brass and copper of German manufacture
entered Elmina by the ton. Indeed, from August 20, 1504 to January 10, 1507, Estevao
Barradas received over 280,000 manillas, over 1,500 shaving bowls, 520 urinal pots, and
3,192 chamber pots (Garrard 1979:38). John Vogt suggests that between June 10, 1529
and August 31, 1531, over 200,000 manillas, and over 9,000 brass and copper vessels
entered the Elmina entrepôt (Vogt 1973:93-103). Additionally, a contract between the
Portuguese crown and the Antwerp firm of Anton Fugger and Nephew, dated to January
20, 1548, arranged for the manufacture and shipment of more than 400 metric tons of
metal, including a large quantity of cuprous cauldrons, basins, and similar goods, to
Western Africa (Garrard 1979:38). In order to maintain trade relations when they took control of Elmina during the early seventeenth century, the Dutch imported over 18,182 kg (40,000 lbs) of brass basins, kettles, and other hardware (Daaku 1970:11). Finally, after the British succeeded in usurping Dutch power during the early nineteenth century, they imported more than 11 metric tons of brass and copper in 1831 and more than 120 metric tons in 1841, so that between 1827 and 1841 over 1,273 metric tons of brass and copperware entered African ports (Herbert 1984:181; Reynolds 1974:187).
During the infancy of legitimate commerce during the first half of the nineteenth century, merchants carried over many trends from the slave trade in an attempt to convince producers and traders of an easy and uncomplicated transition (Hopkins
1973:132). From 1827-1841 British exports to the Gold Coast considerably increased. In particular, Gold Coast imports swelled from 1,067 kg (21 hundredweight) to 123,088 kg 74
(2,423 hundredweight).1 The Report of the Select Committee on the West Coast of Africa in 1842 ascertained that the entire coast saw a 500 percent increase in both weight and value of copper and brass exports (Great Britain Parliament 1968 [1842]:502; Herbert
1984:169-170). Significantly, trade under the British remained prosperous despite a move from the primacy of the African slave trade to that of legitimate trade, and the exchange in copper and brass remained a major component of West African commerce.
Although current archaeological evidence for early brass, iron, and gold working at Elmina is sparse, the site does provide examples of the fabrication and reworking of imported European brass by Ghanaian craftsmen. These artisans fashioned by cutting, hammering, bending, stamping, molding and modifying imported metals from Europe that arrived on the coast in the forms of rods, wire, tubing and sheets. Artifacts recovered during Elmina terrestrial archaeological excavations demonstrate the variety of objects created by metalworkers, and include items associated with the gold trade (spoons, shovels or pans for separating gold dust, scale pans, and balances), jewelry (necklaces, chains, rings, earrings, and bracelets), and ritual vessels called forowa. Forowa, or sheet brass containers typically contained shea butter, a natural fat extracted from the fruit of shea trees and used for medicinal (an emollient) and for ritualistic purposes (DeCorse
2001:130-135). Usually the containers took the form of a cylindrical can that ranged from
5.08-30.48 cm (2-12 in) in height. Africans decorated these vessels with Akan
“zoological personalities and geometric motifs” (Ross 1974:41). Additionally, forowa
1 A hundredweight is a unit of measurement for mass, defined as 112 lbs in the United Kingdom system of measurement. Britain legally defines the hundredweight as 50.80 kg. There are 20 hundredweights to a ton. The hundredweight is abbreviated cwt, where wt is an abbreviation for weight and c is an abbreviation for one hundred (the Roman numeral C is equal to 100). 75
stored Asante goldweights and other valuables. Ross, former director of the UCLA
Fowler Museum of Cultural History, studied over 230 forowa from 30 collections in
order to understand the aesthetics, styles, and workmanship at the individual, local and
regional level. He also sought to compare forowa with other Ghanaian metalwork and to
gain insight into the techniques and history of such metalworking. Although similar in
size, shape and nature of design, the distinction between forowa and kuduo, a pre-
European Asante cast brass container, involved differences in both technical (sheet versus cast brass) and functional aspects. For example, Africans typically associate forowa with shea butter while kuduo appear more frequently in ritualistic contexts, such as Asante
“soul washing” rites (DeCorse 1992:183; DeCorse 2001:131-134; Ross 1974:40-49). The
origin of the forowa remains unknown. Many date to the second half of the nineteenth
century, although scholars argue for an even earlier origin during the end of the
seventeenth century, with traditions resting in kuduo, which dates as early as the fifteenth
century (Cole and Ross 1977:65; DeCorse 2001:133; Ross 1974:45). While the
containers suggest European influence in form, material, and distribution limited to coastal areas, the styles and motifs of the forowa are characteristically Ghanaian (Ross
1974: 49). Indeed, West Africa metalworking, while tied to the European manufacture of
metals, imbued its own special qualities and ideological system in items of brass. 76
Brass
Symbolic Power and Cultural Value
Brass and copper items allowed West Africans to display wealth, status and
power. Cuprous metal items were not only scarce, but they embodied three nonfunctional characteristics: color, luminosity, and sound. These characteristics “embed copper items in ritual and mythological systems which classify [their] world, and through classification, aim for a measure of control” (Herbert 1984:277-282). The color red often symbolized power, in addition to blood, life, fire, and conflict. These symbols function within a larger system, creating ambiguous, ever-changing, and complex meanings dependent upon the viewer (Bisson 2000:111; Herbert 1984:278). Shining brass and copper also takes on layers of meaning, with some of the most prominent containing messages of aggressiveness, power, wealth, a “watery divide” between life and death, in addition to the ability to ward off witchcraft and see into the beyond (Herbert 1984:280).
Sound, much like brilliance, both attracts and repels. The tone of a cuprous object suggests value and quality, but also corresponds to the ear and the ability to hear on both the human and spirit levels (Bisson 2000:111; Herbert 1984:280-282). The sounds of copper and brass, like color and luminosity, have many associations with the “political, religious, social, economic and aesthetic spheres of African society” (Herbert 1984:242).
Additionally, cuprous vessels conveyed religious or spiritual messages while functioning as a container. Origin myths of various Akan groups assert that ancestral founders descended from heaven in a brass bowl, adding to the exotic and prestige values of the wares. Rituals and ceremonies performed to drive away evil spirits and venerate the 77
dead required brass basins as well (Garrard 1979:36; Herbert 1984:258-259). De Marees
wrote that the “greater sort [of basins were] set in the graves of the dead” (de Marees
1987 [1602]:261). Bowdich described a funeral rite in which Africans placed a brass pan
beneath the head of the deceased in order to support the head in the belief that it would
eventually drop off (Bowdich 1966 [1819]:278-280). Additionally, Africans sometimes
laid hands so that fingers rested inside a kuduo containing gold dust (Rattray 1971
[1923]:145). According to Captain Robert Sutherland Rattray, a British anthropologist and colonial officer, brass pans or bowls became “the temporary dwelling, or resting-
place, of a non-human spirit or spirits” (Rattray 1971 [1923]:145). In communities, such as Elmina, brass basins still grace shrines, especially those associated with priests or chiefs (Chouin 1995:6; Herbert 1984:258). Yet, the symbolism and the value of copper and brass extend beyond fetish and ritualistic uses, especially in preserving the sanctity of
the cult of ancestors. Thus, demand for cuprous objects through trade networks stems
from the integral role the metal played, and still plays, in African life.
Physical Properties
While color, luminosity, and sound imbued copper and its alloys with value and status within African cultural systems, scarcity, durability, and workability also contribute
to the metal’s importance in cultures around the world (Herbert 1984:277-282). Copper
(Cu) is one of the earliest metals to be worked by humans and has been highly valued for
its properties for more than 10,000 years. Copper and its alloys contain a number of
qualities that make it a highly desirable metal not only for vessels and containers, but also
for sculptures and weapons: high ductility, resistance to climatic influences, and 78 malleability (Divis 1991:8). Copper often appears in nature in a pure or almost completely pure form, much like silver and gold, making it an extremely valuable commodity. Copper in its pure form is usually a dark purplish green until scratched, when the metal takes on its highly valued red, lustrous appearance. Additionally, the metal has a melting point of 1,084.62 degrees Celsius (1,984.32 degrees Fahrenheit), potentially linking the smelting of copper to early pottery kilns with the capability of reaching temperatures of more than 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,012 degrees Fahrenheit).
Herbert argues that if early pottery-makers used a copper oxide, such as malachite, as a pigment to glaze pottery, the right circumstances could have produced a metallic copper (Herbert 1984:4). Regardless, almost every ancient society from the Near East,
Asia, Europe, and North Africa esteemed the metal for its properties and its economic and social values. Brass, which “sparkles, gleams, and glistens” just like gold, costs only a fraction of the price (the relationship between pewter and silver mirrors that of brass and gold; Simpson 1979:2). Brass sometimes functioned as an inexpensive substitute for gold in the realm of ornamental arts. Yet, the intrinsic properties of brass in combination with its economical nature also made the metal an easy choice for metalworkers who created utilitarian wares. Thus, brass’ epithet of the “two-faced metal” highlights its dual nature as both a functional and decorative metal (Gentle and Feild 1998:1-5; Simpson 1979:2).
Brass in European Society
As the duality of cuprous metals contributed to their significance and importance in cultures around the world, mining, smelting, and other forms of production developed.
Miners and metalworkers continuously worked with copper, eventually recognizing that 79
copper ores contained other elements, like tin or zinc (Zn) in varying degrees. These elements provided advantages over pure forms of the metal. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is more ductile, more malleable, and well suited for casting due to a lower melting point (900-940 degrees Celsius, 1,652-1,724 degrees Fahrenheit). Brass is more susceptible to turning, or the shaping of metal on a lathe. The metal is also highly resistant to corrosion as the level of copper increases. A wide range of alloys exists, each with particular strengths and weakness. These properties change as the ratio of copper to zinc is reduced or increased, creating types of brass that are better suited for different types of production, such as machine turning, cold hammering, casting, or rolling (Divis
1991:9). The different types of brass used in the various processing techniques also depended on the development of the industry and technical innovations.
European interest in brass making slowly gained strength from the time of
Charlemagne’s rule over the Holy Roman Empire during the eighth to ninth centuries, in which he strove to enhance ceremonies and furnishings of the Church (Day 1990:123;
Haedeke 1970:40-43). During the tenth century, brass production concentrated in the region between the Meuse and Rhine rivers, where calamine deposits, sources of the
carbonate ore of zinc (ZnCO3) used to create brass, existed in abundance. Although the region had few copper deposits, the process of making brass required more calamine in both bulk and weight (Day 1990:124). The major centers of brass production in this region and during this time, Aachen and Dinant, produced hollowware vessels including basins or kettles, pans, and dishes, through the process of hammering sheets of brass by hand into their desired form, called battery. Competition and shifts of power contributed to the rise and fall of centers of production across Europe, especially in the Low 80
Countries, as the industry expanded.2 Political and religious influences affected the ascendancy of various brass-working centers, such as Dinant, Aachen, and Stolberg. For example, persecution of Protestant workers and the tight regulation of guilds established to control production led the metalworkers of Aachen to move their production center to
Stolberg in 1559. Not only did metalworkers gain religious freedom in Stolberg by escaping guild restrictions, they developed water-driven hammers capable of shaping hollowware vessels (Day 1990:131). Political and economic conditions promulgated the spread and development of brasswares and brass-making technologies as metalworkers moved beyond the borders of the Low Countries and trade networks snaked throughout
Europe.
During the sixteenth century, interest in technology and art, in addition to the dissemination of information and innovation, especially in metalworking, flourished in
Western Europe. During the second half of the sixteenth century, England lagged behind continental European countries in industrial and economic development. Germans, on the other hand, gained notoriety for their “industrial energy and enterprise,” including metal manufacturing. For example, the Fugger family not only achieved great status as a banking house but also maintained businesses in the cloth, copper mining, and metal manufacturing industries (Hamilton 1967:3). In 1575, during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I (1533-1603), England, and other areas of Europe, enticed coppersmiths to leave Germany. German workers accepted the invitations to develop the internal cuprous
2 The Low Countries of Europe are generally defined as the historical region of de Nederlanden composed of the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers, including the current-day Belgium cities of Brussels, Namur, Tournai, Bruges, Malines, and Louvain (Garrard 1980a:61). 81
markets of England and other countries, realizing their work would also gain advantages
for their home country.
Not only would the raw materials smelted in England meet rising demands of the
expanding trade networks, the opportunity would allow increased innovation and development of technology away from guild restrictions (Hamilton 1967:288-289;
Tylecote 1976:81). For England, metalworkers from Holland and Germany, and other
areas of the Low Countries, introduced the necessary technologies and techniques for
making brass. They initiated new methods in mining, preparation of ores, copper
smelting, and brass production.
Additionally, immigrant workers launched endeavors to include new developments in furnaces, and adopted waterpower to replace operations formerly performed by hand. At Bristol, Dutch workers introduced casting practices performed in
the initial stages of brass working, by pouring the molten metal into granite molds to
produce large flat plates. Metalworkers then beat or rolled the plates into thin sheets.
Although English workers still “battered” sheets of brass by hand-held hammer in many
parts of England, Dutch workers skillfully operated fast water-powered hammers (Day
1973:36). The water-powered hammers of Bristol propelled the city and its metal industry
into a prominent role in English battery production, which by the eighteenth century
referred to hollowware vessels of brass and copper.
Dependence on continental expertise remained high despite the establishment of
the metallurgical industry in England and the rise in exports of English produced battery, or vessels formed by hammering. In 1694, England still imported over 100 metric tons of brass and copper battery goods, including pans and kettles, from Holland and Germany 82
(Hamilton 1967:290). By 1710, manufactured brass goods imported to England increased to 956 metric tons. Merchants then re-exported many of these imports to Africa and the
Americas, especially since Africans considered English brass manufactures as inferior in quality and often returned them to the makers (Hamilton 1967:290-291). Reexports remained a driving force in England’s trade from the early eighteenth century through the
1740s, with total values fluctuating between 40 and 60 percent during the period (Henige
and McCaskie 1990:26). However, the failure of natural resources, especially timber, to
support the metallurgical industry and its new technologies prompted innovation that
would mark the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and catapult England into a
position of supremacy in the international metals trade.
Growing shortages of wood for fuel and greater demands from blast furnaces
impelled metalworkers to develop ways to use coal and coke3 as fuel for metallurgical
endeavors. England had a large number of coalfields, which produced supplies for coal-
starved continental markets. By the late seventeenth century, the passage of coal from the
eastern coast of England to ports in Holland had become a well-established route (Day
and Tylecote 1991:7). The use of coal in copper smelting meant an increasing use of
reverberatory instead of blast furnaces. Reverberatory furnaces isolated the material from
the fuel source, but not from the gases produced by the fuel, while all the materials in
blast furnaces mixed in a single chamber. At the end of the seventeenth century, the
Welsh pioneered the use of reverberatory furnaces in lead smelting processes and it
quickly gained popularity throughout England. During the eighteenth century, furnaces
3 In essence, coke is a charred form of coal. The components of the coal (including water, coal-gas and coal-tar) are driven off by baking in an airless oven at temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius so that carbon and residual ash are fused together. 83 that isolated all materials from each other, called draught crucible furnaces, replaced reverberatory furnaces. This replacement did not occur before reverberatory furnaces allowed a steady growth in British output due to the use of easily and cheaply obtained coal sources. Additionally, the coal-fired reverberatory furnace allowed English metalworkers, particularly the Champion family, to develop techniques to utilize metallic zinc in the brass making process instead of calamine. However, the calamine process continued to be used up to 1850 (Tylecote 1976:128-133). By 1781, James Emerson developed a method for making brass that directly alloyed copper and spelter (metal zinc), creating the basis for the modern method of brass manufacture (Hamilton
1967:342). Regardless, the use of metallic zinc and the different types of furnaces permitted metalworkers to add increasingly larger amounts of zinc to gain harder, more malleable, and more ductile metal.
Further technological advances in the field of brass working focused on the manufacturing processes taking place after the smelting of brass. The process called battery remained the fundamental procedure of manufacture for brass vessels through the beginning of the eighteenth century and in some areas of manufacture, until the nineteenth century. Battery involved the use of hammers of various weights, originally operated by hand and later by waterpower. The production of a kettle or pan by battery involved several steps. First, workers hammered a quantity of brass into a plate of the desired thickness. Metalworkers then cut this plate into circular shapes, called a nap.
Next, workers hammered together number of these circular pieces and fashioned them into the shape of the kettle or pan. A 1697 description suggests that workers “raised up
[the brass plates] into several hollow shapes, as women make pies” (Houghton 1969 84
[1692-1703]). A source from 1686 describes production as consisting of:
beat[ing] the plates first one by one, then two, three, or four together, as they grow broader and thinner, …nine plates being commonly laid upon one another, …and so turned one within another like a nest of Crucibles or Boxes, the lowermost being always the biggest, and the uppermost the least, the whole nine, being turned nine times sooner than one single Pan [Plot 1973].
Labeled the ferrier, metalworkers turned in the outermost pan to hold all of the naps together. This process, used throughout Europe, began by hammering from the center of the nap outwards, while slowly revolving the nap, to produce the initial curve of the pan.
After annealing4, the metalworker used the hammer to deepen the curve, annealed the nap, and then hammered again, continuing the process until the worker obtained the desired depth of the pan. Finally, he turned the rim over (Day 1973:168). While rolling mills began to replace battery mills for creating brass and copper sheets during the end of the seventeenth century, the process of battery for fashioning round plates or naps of brass
into pots, pans, kettles and basins remained in use until the beginning of the twentieth
century. For example, the Bristol Battery Company produced batteryware until 1908
(Eveleigh 1995:8).
By the end of the seventeenth century, metalworkers spun or “raised” hollowware
on a lathe in Birmingham.5 Spinning techniques then gained prominence in Sheffield
about 1770 as the production of Britannia metal, an alloy of tin, antimony, and copper
4 Annealing is a heat treatment used to alter the microstructure of metals and retain strength and hardness. 5 The earliest known sources introducing the lathe came from ancient Rome during the fourth century B.C. During this time, metal vessels were turned upon a wooden core. Eventually, the technology reached other areas in Europe and, in particular, areas of the Low Countries, perfected method of metalworking. Indeed, Nuremberg brass products received great praise and high value based on the quality of turning that produced exceptionally light wares (Divis 1991:201). 85 expanded. Later, spinning was adapted to steam power and became widely employed in the manufacturing process for copper and brass hollowware goods (Day and Tylecote
1991:177).
Although casting, an ancient process used throughout the world, rose in prominence during the eighteenth century, manufacturers used casting mostly for smaller items such as thimbles and toys. Stamping, another process developed in the late eighteenth century, transformed the industry. The development of rolling mills and the invention of the steam engine enabled the stamped brass foundry trade (Hamilton
1967:346). In 1769, John Pickering acquired a patent for stamping that involved a machine with a moving weight (or hammer). This hammer fell on a sheet of metal that lay on a striking block over a die or raised model of the desired pattern. Thus, workers forced the die into the sheet of metal, leaving an impression. A few months later, Richard Ford applied the same principles in the making of basins, pans, ladles, and plate covers. Ford’s process involved two dyes, which were “placed under the hammer of a stamp or screw of a press, the one being concave, the other convex, which by the pressure of the hammer or screw forced into the dye, the shape or the form of the thing designed is accomplished”
(Hamilton 1967:347). Although Ford adapted stamping to the raising of brass basins and kettles, manufacturers predominantly used the process to produce furniture and coffin ornaments, mirror and picture frames, pins, and figures (Aitken 1866:292-293).
Birmingham and Bristol rose in prominence during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as these new technology took hold. By the second half of the nineteenth century,
British hegemony in the production and exportation of brass and copper, especially in 86
West African markets, reduced the supply of cuprous products from the Low Countries to
a small trickle.
Rolling mill technology, developed on the Continent during the fifteenth century,
gradually replaced battery production in Britain in the late seventeenth century. However,
both rolling and battery technologies remained in use concurrently. For the Continent,
rolling mills finally took precedence during the seventeenth century, and for Britain, the change was not complete until the end of the eighteenth or early in the nineteenth century
(Day 1973:35-36; DeCorse 2001:130-132, 232; Hamilton 1967:343-344). Advances in the British brass industry based on rolling technology and increasing amounts of sheet brass imported into West Africa may have contributed to expanded production of forowa
and other brass objects (DeCorse 2001:130-134; Garrard 1979:43; Ross 1974:45,
1983:54).
DeCorse suggests that a boom in access to brass occurred when the Dutch gained
control of Elmina in 1637, opening access to an increased number of Continental sources,
unlike Portuguese reliance on a limited number of areas for their reexports (DeCorse
2001:131; Herbert 1984:127-140). Without documentary evidence outlining either the
importation of sheet brass or its modification by African craftsmen, or archaeological
evidence for the importation of unmodified brass sheets, archaeological materials may
suggest that craftsmen used European brassware as raw materials. Cuprous items such as
manillas, pans, plates, cups, urinals, kettles, and basins entered West African trade in
large quantities, yielding a wide variety of materials to be reworked (Alpern 1995:15-16;
Craddock and Hook 1995). For example, Gold Coast Africans reworked thick, open-
ended brass bracelets, called manillas, rather than using them as currency like other areas 87
of Western Africa, like Nigeria (Alpern 1995:13). Casters may have melted down a
substantial amount of manillas and other items, because they consisted of precious metals and often possessed strong symbolic and sacred characteristics. Fragments of forowa and basins showing local Ghanaian fabrication at Elmina not only increased in level of production but also in more diverse and elaborate forms during the nineteenth century.
This increase potentially corresponded to the increased availability of sheet brass from
Europe. Additionally, a “significant portion may have been used to make prototypes of the scale pans and sheet-metal vessels ethnographically associated with the coastal Akan”
(DeCorse 2001:132). Brass remained an important staple in West African exchange despite fluctuating demands.
Pewter
Unlike brass, pewter often formed a portion of the cargo assembled for African destinations with the further possibility of remaining portions put up for sale in the
Americas (Burnside 1997:68). Metalworkers of both brass and pewter, if desired, could recast and reform the wares to their own cultural standards and market demands. Both of the metals provided the optimal characteristics of indestructibility, versatility, and
“recycle-ability” (Garrard 1980b, Herbert 1984). Recasting presented owners of pewter with an easy way to “upgrade” (Burnside 1997:68; Harms 2002). The softness of pewter and its employment in daily life often left these metalwares dented, scratched, and cracked. Thus, pewter owners willingly “return[ed] their worn out utensils to the pewterer in exchange for hard cash” (Haedeke 1970:172). The pewterer, in turn, melted down the worn pieces, made new, fashionable wares, and yielded a nice profit (Haedeke 1970:172). 88
Physical Properties
Pewter is the combination of tin and copper, and lead in certain cases. Tin (Sn)
has a melting point of 231.93 degrees Celsius (449.47 degrees Fahrenheit) and is highly
malleable and ductile, and resistant to corrosion from sea, tap, and distilled water.6 Tin’s
softness and malleability created vast opportunity for the scratching, twisting, and loss of shape. However, the creation of a tin alloy eliminated many of these disadvantages
(Weiner 1971:7). Tin became a prized component in the early creation of bronze due to its hardening effect on copper.7
Lead (Pb) shares many of the same characteristics as tin, except for its poisonous nature. Lead is highly malleable, ductile, and highly resistant to corrosion and has a melting point of 327.46 degrees Celsius (621.43 degrees Fahrenheit). Ores containing tin,
silver, and copper generally contain lead as well. The mineral galena, with its wide
distribution throughout the world, also produces large quantities of lead. The more lead
6 Tin’s resistance to corrosion from sea water provided pewterwares (and cuprous wares with a high enough proportion of tin) with a high survival or preservation rate on underwater archaeological sites. 7Additionally, Phoenicians traded tin throughout the Mediterranean as early as 2000 B.C. (Haedeke 1970:165). The principal ore of tin comes from the mineral cassiterite
(SnO2), although placer deposits exist throughout the world, with vast concentrations in Southeast Asia. Cornish tin mines, which were in use since 1500 B.C., became one of the largest producers of tin to satisfy growing European demand. Indeed, the large amount of cassiterite deposits helped make Cornish tin mines and other sites in England famous for their production, and led the Greek Civilization to refer to the British Isles as Cassiterides (Haedeke 1970:165). However, competition soon developed in Erzgebirge, or the Ore Mountain, region of Germany. Both countries remained major producers and suppliers throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Haedeke 1970:165). Low Countries received much of their tin supply from England and Germany, tying all three areas together in an important network of exchange for the metals involved in both brass (in addition to copper and bronze) and pewter production (Tischer 1928:446-7). 89
added to tin, the more malleable and the easier to cast the alloy, while smaller amounts
create a stronger and sturdier alloy. Because the pewter becomes brittle when heated, most pewter workers produced wares through a combination of casting, turning,
hammering, and, later, spinning (Haedeke 1970; Hornsby 1983).
Pewter in the Archaeological Record
As an artifact, pewter seldom contributes to the archaeological record despite its ubiquitous role as tableware. Reasons for pewter’s absence in the terrestrial archaeological record include its durability, its resale value, and its decomposition in the ground (Martin 1989:1). During his study of Elmina’s archaeology, DeCorse noted that the paucity of glassware or drinking containers suggests the use of calabash, gourd, or ceramic vessels, complemented by copper, brass, and pewter imports. However, the metal wares have poor visibility in the non-aqueous archaeological record. Additionally, while pewter arrived on the Gold Coast in the cargoes destined for trade, other goods arrived in much larger quantities (DeCorse 2001:154, 163). Herbert echoes this sentiment, stating that considerable quantities of pewter arrived on the Gold Coast, but were far less important overall then cuprous goods. She notes that the reason for the metal’s import into Africa “remains a minor mystery” (Herbert 1984:136).
Archaeologically, pewter’s tendency to be a “missing artifact” on land sites does not rectify the problem (Martin 1989:1). However, its generally good rate of survival in marine environments, coupled with metallurgical analyses and historical documents may provide a solution to the mystery. For example, a letter written in 1771 by Richard Brew
provides a clue to the desirability of pewter. The letter emphasizes that Africans no longer 90
“called for pewter” after war cut off trade with the Asante, essentially destroying that market for pewter. At the same time, Brew cautions suppliers to continue sending pewter as part of the assemblages designed for exchange on the West African coast (Donnan
1965:450; Herbert 1984:136).
Pewter in the Historical Record
Few historical documents suggest uses for pewter in West Africa beyond their role as tableware or in other functional capacities. For example, Wilhelm Müller, in his
Description of Fetu Country, 1662-9 compared the houses of common and
“distinguished” people in the hinterland. The houses of common people included few utensils such as a large calabash, or a copper kettle or basin, or an earthenware dish. On the other hand, the “distinguished” people possess more utensils in both quantity and quality. Müller suggests that these “distinguished” people of the interior, particularly those maintaining contact “with the Whites” lived in a far superior manner to many
Europeans based on the number of silver drinking vessels, silver spoons, pewter dishes and bowls, table-knives, tables and benches, table cloths and napkins (Müller 1983:202).8
Whether inhabitants of West Africa bartered for pewterware of this type in emulation of
“the Whites,” because of the metal’s scarcity and uniqueness, or for a combination or an
entirely different set of reasons, both the archaeological and historical records remain
silent.
8 During the same period, Europeans who could afford pewter ware often purchased display wares, or pewter pieces crafted as decorative items as opposed to functional objects. Such display wares allowed a burgeoning European middle class the opportunity to garner status and develop a more refined set of aesthetics, even if they could not afford prestigious silver wares (see pages 96-97). 91
The documentary evidence for the period does show that, in many cases, where
coastal Africans desired brass and copper items, they often requested pewter wares as
well. Invoices of vessels, such as the Judith, show that merchants loaded copper, brass,
and pewter wares into the holds in anticipation of exchange on the West African littoral.
The Judith carried pewter in 13 barrels, which contained more than 700 pieces, and a cask
of battery brass pans holding 200 pieces during her 1728 expedition (Donnan 1965:362).
John Johnston’s slave trading expedition in Africa sold both pewter basins and brass pans
at Quashies Town in 1789, Annamaboe in 1790 and 1791, and Cormantye soon after
(Donnan 1965:383-387). Liverpool exported over 134 metric tons of wrought brass,
34,138 kg (672 cwt) of wrought copper, and 38,151 kg (751 cwt) of wrought pewter to
Africa in 1770 (Donnan 1965: 536).
From the mid to late seventeenth century, factors along the Gold Coast (Little
Komenda from Cape Coast, Egya, Small Accra, Kormantse) traded a variety of goods in
exchange for gold, including pewter and brass wares. In each of the reports either
requesting merchandise or reporting its sale, the factors stressed the importance of brass
and pewter basins and pans (Kea 1982:210-217). George Metcalf’s detailed study of
British merchant Richard Miles and his trading activities in the 1770s along the Gold
Coast reinforced the importance of metal hardware in the assemblage of goods required
for trade on the West African coast. In the first half of the 1770s, over-competition for
high quality slaves and an increasing reluctance by Africans to part with precious metals drove the cost of slaves up, causing major shifts in trade patterns. The latter part of the century experienced a great scarcity of European goods as the American Revolution disrupted normal shipping patterns. However, Miles traded more than 75 different items, 92
with 28 of those commonly occurring in a majority of the exchanges. The most requested
items included seven types of East Indian textiles, seven types of European textiles,
pewter and brass basins, pots and tankards, guns, gunpowder, empty cases, iron and lead
bars, rum, tobacco, gold, silver, and unwrought brass and pewter. Metcalf’s study shows
that “hardware” or basins, pans, tankards, chains, padlocks, knives, empty packing cases,
kegs of tallow, iron and lead bars, copper rods, and unwrought metals, appeared in over
95 percent of Miles’ transactions, albeit with a low relative value (8.30 percent of total
value of sales). Regardless of the value, the most popular items within categories of
manufactured items included pans of brass and pewter wares (appearing in 62.60 percent
of the barters, Metcalf 1987:379-381). Finally, Africans may have substituted pewter for
silver. During the nineteenth century, gold and silver remained in short supply, greatly affecting trade currencies in Asante and other areas (Lovejoy 2003:495). While pewter probably did not replace silver employed as currency, short supply of the metal for wares,
both functional and ideological, may have created demand for pewter as a substitute.
Manufacture of Pewter
The manufacture of pewter, particularly dishes, plates and other flatware involved
a variety of techniques including rolling, stamping, turning, hammering, and casting.
Sadware, another term for flatware, has two potential origins. The first suggests use in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to designate one-piece vessels cast in a two-part
mold (Montgomery 1978:133). The second possibility is that the archaic term, derived
from an Old English word meaning “solid-ware,” refers to items requiring strength of
metal. Metalworkers often achieved strength in metal by hammering, which makes the 93 metal more dense and, hence, “solid” (Thomas 1976:28). A treatise on metal manufactures by John Holland and Dionysius Lardner (1831) described the process, noting that manufacture included both positives and negatives. For example, metalworkers could roll the metal into sheets and the process did not require annealing, reducing the number of steps. However, metalworkers had to overcome shattering and cracking of the metal along its edges, a marked disadvantage of the process. In order to avoid “this evil, the ingot is not rolled cross-way, so as to form a broad or square sheet, but simply elongated, retaining as nearly as possible the original breadth” (Holland and
Lardner 1831:104).
Pewter’s composition made it well suited for stamping, although casting remained the most common technique in pewter manufacture. Casting pewter objects required the melting of the alloy. Then workers poured the molten metal into a cast. Plate molds consisted of two circular bronze or brass casting molds hinged together. Extending 5.08 cm (2 in) beyond the diameter of the plate or dish to be casted, the mold had a gate or
“tedge” that held a reservoir of molten metal. This tedge allowed reserves to fill spaces as the cooling metal shrank. After removal from the mold, workers eliminated excess metal on the newly formed pewter piece with a soldering iron or a pair of shears. Melted scraps filled any holes. Next, the outside of the plate between the rim and the bottom of the sadware received hammering to increase the hardness or compactness of the booge, the curved area between the rim and the well. Then workers turned the piece on a lathe, powered by either an apprentice or water, smoothing the top or inside and the bottom and removing any seams left by the casting procedure. The metalworker carefully avoided the hammered part of the booge in some countries because the marks denoted craftsmanship 94
and in some cases increased the value of the piece. Finally, the pewterer burnished the
piece and then wiped it with oil and rottenstone (a fine powered rock used as an abrasive)
to achieve a suitable finish (Haedeke 1970:169-170; Kauffman 1970:33-35).
The pewterer, while turning and smoothing wares after casting, could also apply concentric incised grooves while the object was on the lathe (Thomas 1976:35).
However, concentric turn marks or circular patterns on pewterwares often stemmed from the process of burnishing rather than spinning (Holland and Lardner 1831:223; Kauffman
1970:38). Additionally, there is some debate over whether pewter objects received touch or makers marks prior to or after finishing on the lathe. The pressure of the cutting tools and burnishers used to finish a piece would potentially deface the marks or would at least leave marks, termed chatter marks, due to the vibration an uneven surface produces (Thomas 1976:10-11).
With the increasing advent of modern technology stimulated by the industrial revolution, more efficient techniques gained hold in the metal working industries. While the nature of brass allowed the industry to embrace new technologies and increasing levels of mass production of their wares, pewter’s characteristics prevented drastic changes and up-grades in technology. Thus, the pewterer’s craft remained relatively unchanged from its inception to its decline. Manufacturers introduced spinning to pewter production in the late eighteenth century; however, the technique did little to replace the basic casting and turning methods that had been in use in pewter production for centuries
(Brett 1983:13; Hull and Murrell 1984:11). Spinning generally formed wares of Britannia metal, and utilized water and eventually steam power once the technology allowed.
Spinning mirrors the process used in brass manufacture, with circular shapes cut from 95
sheet metal turned upon a lathe, which slowly bent the plate into its proper form (Holland
and Lardner 1831:106; Hornsby 1983:15).
Although far from universal, manufacturers generally divided the alloy into three
types: plate, trifle, and ley-pewter. Pewterers wrought plates, dishes and other flatware
from the first type of pewter, which consisted of a “good clear, pure pewter, sometimes
referred to as ‘English pewter’” (Holland and Lardner 1831:91). This type of pewter
consisted of tin mixed with copper. Pewterers used trifle pewter, or test-pewter, for pints,
quarts, and other measures, while ley, or low-grade, pewter formed larger vessels. The
second and third types of pewter included portions of lead in varying degrees, increasing the level of ductility for the more complex shapes. More lead also created a harder and easier to mold alloy. Additionally, lead cost less than tin, often tempting founders to add as much lead as possible to save money and to become more competitive (Haedeke
1970:165-7). However, too much lead causes pewter to take on blackish-grey hues, to produce hollow sounds, and to become heavy. In addition, the poisonous nature of lead created a dangerous situation when using test-pewter for eating and drinking (Haedeke
1970:165-167).
Generally, pewter’s cost fit between expensive silver and the cheaper brass and copper wares available to consumers prior to the advent of the industrial revolution and its stimulation of new industries supplying domestic wares. In addition to the alloy’s easy remelting, pieces appealed to a wide array of consumers and situations because several finishes were possible. These ranged from high shine to warm luster to matte (Hornsby
1983:11; Hull and Murrell 1984:11). Chasing, engraving, relief and other forms of
decoration could easily be added to pewter pieces. 96
The highest quality pewter consisted of tin and copper. Typically, copper never
exceeded more than 10 percent of an alloy mixture, and generally made up three percent
or less (Hornsby 1983:11). Pewter dating from the middle of the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth generally contained 95 percent tin (to within two percent), one percent to one and one-half percent copper and one percent to three percent lead according to a Winterthur test of British flatware from the period. During the late
seventeenth century, pewterers introduced antimony to the alloy in small quantities. The
amount of antimony rose to balance a fall in the use of copper, which by the late
eighteenth century often amounted to one-half percent. Bismuth appeared in increasing
amounts in the late seventeenth century, as well (Brett 1983:11; Hornsby, Weinstein,
Homer 1989:47). Thus, while no set of standards can yield the exact date for pewter,
testing can provide dates to determine the general periods in which the use of new
elements occurred. Of course, the use of these elements is rather subjective, as pewterers
created individualized alloys that may or may not have followed the general trends or may
have done so with varied time lags.
Guilds and corporations, in addition to government regulations, sought to control
the composition of tin alloys as early as the fourteenth century. By this time pewterers
found that lead reduced production costs while driving prices up since merchants often
sold flatware by weight and lead weighed more than tin (Gotelipe-Miller 1990:14) These
regulations not only protected consumers from poisonous materials, but they attempted to
curtail excessive profit by limiting the use of lead instead of tin. Marks stamped onto
pewter wares demonstrated inspection and control.9 Guilds controlled the use of touches,
9 Marking only became a common practice in the sixteenth century. Guilds prior to the fourteenth century consisted only of pewterers who associated themselves with other 97
which signaled the pewterer’s guarantee to its quality. Thus, guilds served to protect the
interests of members and to maintain the quality of pewter. They did so by developing
and regulating apprenticeships, controlling transactions, and by “smoothing the workings
of the craft” (Hornsby 1983:16).
During the fifteenth century, pewter appeared as functional, simple, conservative
and rarely “up-to-date” pieces because pewter could not compete with silver at the high-
class level, and there was no middle class (Haedeke 1970:178). By the middle of the
sixteenth century. “the spirit of the new era finally penetrated into the pewterers’
workshops” (Haedeke 1970:179). Indeed, by the 1600s almost every European,
continental and British, household, except for the poorest, owned some type of
pewterware (Hornsby 1983:23). The rise of a new urban middle class, who wanted to
enjoy a certain class of luxury and artistic renderings, created demand for “precious
pewter” or “display pewter” that had relief decoration and rarely functioned as tableware.
By 1630, pewter plates developed broad rims and embossing in non-figurative decorative
motifs (Haedeke 1970:179-186). During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the use
of ordinary pewter became more widespread and middle class households began to use
pewter instead of clay, earthenware, and wooden vessels. Trade took a downturn during
the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), but the end of the war brought a revival in trade and
metalworkers “as part of the guild of smiths” (Haedeke 1970:165-170). When their numbers and reputation outgrew a combined guild, they formed their own corporations. Additionally, guilds rose in prominence as a greater number of pewterers sought to develop the industry. The main duty of this corporation, or guild, was to control the use of touches, which signaled that a pewterer guaranteed its quality and had “observed the appropriate guild regulations” (Haedeke 1970:170). For example, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers of London laid down standard weights for various items in constant manufacture and regulated certain manufacturing techniques. The guild prohibited pressing and spinning and required pewterers to hammer the booges of all plates (Hull and Murrell 1984:14-15). 98
exchange. The conflict striped the guilds of their regulatory powers so that mass
production became a new possibility under the rising state-controlled economies of
Europe. Pewterers negotiated a period of stagnation and setbacks after the Thirty Years’
War, recovering only to competition from new enterprises, in particular the development of faience. Faience, a fine tin-glazed earthenware, not only substituted for porcelain, but the earthenware also began to replace pewter equivalents. While they broke easily, consumers bought the wares based on their cheaper prices, more colorful appearances, and more easily replaceable nature (Haedeke 1970:187-193; Hornsby 1983:24). Thus, with increased competition and a more widespread middle class market, pewterers began to imitate the designs of silversmiths. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the desire for pewter hit a severe recession, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, increasing industrialization and increasing use of other materials (pottery and glass) finally ended the pewter trade (Brett 1983:209; Haedeke 1970:187-193).
Summary
The lack of detail found in the historic record underscores the ubiquitous nature of metalwares in West African trade. For example, a 1508 account of trade in Axim by
Ayres Botelho lists bowls, chamber pots, kettles, brass manillas, clothes, cloth, and blankets. By 1529, the Portuguese maintained a prospering economic system on the
Guinea coast (Birmingham 1970:3). Yet, the Regimento da Mina drafted in 1529 makes no specific mention of any objects, either listed by Botelho or not, but only “enjoins the factor to order the goods likely to be required so that trade will not be held up by shortages” (Birmingham 1970:5). When Portuguese hegemony declined on the West 99
African coast, the position of Dutch middlemen in the overseas trade of copper and brass
goods strengthened (Sundström 1974:229). The Dutch maintained the traditions and
functions of the entrepôt and its role in West African exchange. William Towerson, an early seventeenth-century commander, kept a list of the “commodities and wares that are most desired in Guinie, betwixt Sierra Liona and the furthest place of the Mine,” citing stores of manillas (brass bracelets), tin basins and pots, copper basins, and other metal wares (Andrews 1984:105).
Numerous challenges present themselves when interpreting metal wares, both
brass and pewter, as trade goods. Documentary evidence provides clues to general trends
in the types of metal wares supplied and demanded in Atlantic World markets, and
stylistic fluctuations. Documents also describe the increasing technology, which
developed to meet increasing demands for goods, and the affects this new technology had
on metal production and manufacture. However, historical sources produced in the past
and by historians today provide only a vague understanding of the types, morphological
features, and production techniques for metal wares entering the Atlantic world.
Additionally, there remains a dearth of comparative material for utilitarian brass and
pewter wares. Yet, this study of metal wares from the Elmina shipwreck, one of the
largest collections of brass and pewter wares recovered to date, not only reveals a number
of morphological details and compares them to the existing documentary evidence, but
lays the foundation for future studies. CHAPTER VI
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Introduction
The European presence on the West African coast eclipsed the trans-Sahara trade
by circumventing the constraints of trade inherent in desert travel. European vessels, like the Elmina wreck, offered the ability to carry large amounts and varied types of cultural
material destined for exchange through increasingly faster and more regular ocean routes.
Forts and castles, such as São Jorge da Mina, maintained by Europeans along the
coastline housed the goods until dissemination along well-established trade networks that
stretched far into interior Africa. Indeed, West African exchange required the supply of
goods from at least three continents, contributing to trade on a global context (Searing
1993:65). For example, the package of goods exchanged for any West Africa commodity
often included Asian textiles; German linen; Swedish bar iron; British guns, gun powder,
beads, and metalwares; tobacco and alcohol from North and South America, and cowries
from the Indian Ocean (Eltis 1987:50). Trading cargoes that excluded any of these items
often faced difficulties in exchanging their commodities.
Anticipating demand in West African markets proved a constant challenge to
merchants. John Atkins wrote that as a novice trader participating in slave trading
100 101
expeditions he did “not find out till [he] came upon the coast that his cargo was ill
sorted.” He originally loaded his vessel with 73 brass kettles, 251 Guinea pans, and 216
Guinea basins among other goods prior to leaving London in 1721. Yet he had trouble
selling his commodities along the Gold Coast. Eventually Atkins “was forced to make
friends with the Factorys, and exchange at a loss…” (Donnan 1965:274-277). Finally
arranging for the correct trade items, Atkins exchanged goods, including both pewter and
brass basins and pans, at Anamaboo, Cape Palmas, and Angola.
Metalwares, such as those imported by Atkins, represented one of the standard
items comprising European cargoes entering West African trade. Indeed, historical documents from as early as the 1470s reference trade in metalwares (Alpern 1995:15).
The number of styles, forms, and weights that characterized the desired metalwares epitomizes the wide range of goods necessary to ensure trade on the western coast of
Africa. This chapter will explore the types of metalwares discussed in historical records, detail the metalwares found on the Elmina wreck, and compare the archaeological examples with types from the documentary evidence. From this information, a typology will be created.
Archaeological Typology
Documentary evidence providing vessel names, functional variation, and other descriptions of past material cultures often offers corroborative evidence for archaeological discoveries or a means of examining a specific period of time (Beaudry
1988:43). However, archaeologists also employ the historical record in the interpretation of excavated cultural materials, especially metalwares. By canvassing the names of 102 vessels in historical documents, archaeologists apply folk nomenclature to their studies thereby increasing our ability to connect excavated materials to past behaviors and thoughts.
Vast transformations characterize the history of material culture research, an instrumental part of historical archaeological studies, as archaeologists struggled and innovated with ways to ask appropriate questions of artifacts. Indeed, humans not only designed material objects, they subjected these objects to “infinite variation limited only by the technology and the ideas producing them” (Barber 1994:125). As early as the
1940s, Linton argued that a tendency to underrate the importance of simple utilitarian artifacts still existed (Linton 1944:369). Archaeologists have since embraced Linton’s call to study the markers of daily lives, particularly tools and utensils, because they often overcome change and provide myriad levels of information. Such information includes manufacturing techniques, commerce and market relations, technology, life cycles of products, cultural contexts, user preferences, and beyond. Archaeologists identify, describe, and classify artifacts to answer such questions.
Gordon Willey (1998 [1949]) and James Ford (1952, 1954) argued that classification is merely an arbitrary procedure, which reflects the attitudes of the classifier towards his data. Thus, they impressed the need for the classifier to “define his particular attitudes or the ends for which his classification is but the means” (Willey 1998
[1949]:4). Willey argued that a classification scheme resulted in groupings or categories that reflect the attitudes of the classifier towards the data rather than inherent truths in the materials themselves (Willey 1998 [1949]:3-4). Albert Spaulding, on the other hand, suggested that archaeologists could determine the classification systems derived by the 103
people who made the artifacts. In other words, Spaulding argued that classification could
be rooted in folk taxonomies. Spaulding used statistical techniques in an attempt to elicit
the attributes of pottery made the “right” way in the past (Spaulding 1954). Recent archaeologists like Beaudry employed documentary evidence as a means of extracting
folk taxonomies, or at the very least, folk nomenclature, from excavated materials
(Beaudry et al. 1983). Historical archaeology, with the added dimension of historical records, provides direct inferences from artifact categories.
Archaeologists in the Chesapeake region of Maryland and Virginia developed a folk taxonomy for ceramics (Beaudry et al. 1983). The Potomac Typological System
(POTS) linked vessel forms with terms used in probate inventories and other colonial
documents. Specifically, the authors intended to “begin to systematize the terms in the
categories used to describe excavated ceramics vessels and the assemblages they
comprise, in a way that will make the cultural dynamics behind them more accessible
(Beaudry et al. 1983:17). Spaulding claimed that the classification of types should be a
process of discovery that determines the attributes favored by the makers, not an arbitrary
procedure of the classifier; Ford on the other hand suggested that archaeologists could
never produce an emic classification. He argued that Spaulding’s method only showed
which people followed a particular style at a particular point in time (Ford 1954;
Spaulding 1954).
While Ford and Spaulding debated categories, they asked different questions,
utilizing classifications in different ways. Indeed, in the opinions of Willey and Phillips in
Method and Theory in American Archaeology (1958) both archaeologists correctly
identified goals of categories and classification in archaeology. The major goal of 104 typology, which both Ford and Spaulding attempted to achieve, brought the degree of correspondence between “created” and “discovered” types as close as possible (Willey and Phillips 1958:13). The main goal of POTS mirrored the goal of typologies as outlined by Willey and Phillips (1958), striving to categorize ceramics in a way that accesses their cultural dynamics. The creators of POTS theoretically viewed classifications as arbitrary categories imposed on artifacts (Beaudry et al. 1983). However, they argued that by using documentary evidence to create the categories, archaeologists devised more functionally sensitive typologies (Beaudry et al. 1983). Indeed, by replicating the methods of POTS in the creation of a typology for Elmina metalwares, archaeologists will gain a better understanding of the origin and development of West African metal arts and the use of metal, and the role that European merchants played in such traditions.
Pewter and Brass in the Documentary Record
The majority of references mentioning brass and pewterwares often provide only vague descriptions of the morphology of the vessel, such as basin (or some variation), pans, kettles, neptunes (including “Spanish” and “Scottish”); a general diameter, and its weight. Weight, commonly being 453.59 g, 907.18 g, 1,360.78 g, and 1,814.37 g (one, two, three, or four lbs), became the most common distinguisher in contemporary sources, possibly overcoming differences in the widespread region of manufacture, which included Germany, Holland, Flanders, Wallonia, France and England (Alpern 1995:15).
Because merchants often sold pewter and brasswares by weight, descriptions found in documentary evidence tend to focus on the general form of the ware, the material, and the weight instead of size or morphological features. 105
A few contemporary, albeit early, descriptions speak to morphological details.
English merchants at the port of Coromantin (present-day Ghana) during the late seventeenth century, pleaded with their suppliers, “what brass you send, pray let it bee as light as you can procure and well coloured” after being unable to sell heavier brass vessels (Herbert 1984:137). In his account of trade at Whydah, Phillips described the most desired item, brasswares, as “brass neptunes or basons, very large, thin and flat”
(Herbert 1984:137). However, the basins often varied in size from 30.50-45.70 cm (12-18 in), or even 61.00-91.40 cm (2-3 ft), and in weight (due to size and material) from 28.35-
113.40 g (1-4 lbs) to 170.10-226.80 g (6-8 lbs), and sometimes upwards of 566.99 g (20 lbs; Sundström 1974:232). Ratelband compiled seventeenth-century Dutch accounts of copper and brass vessels, including the type of vessel, prime cost, purchasing power, area of circulation, and characteristics for items such as brass bracelets, barbers’s basins, pots, kettles, rods, and neptunes. The characteristics of the pots included a range of “7-10 inches (17.80-25.40 cm) deep, with small rims tinned;” the kettles as “very large;” the neptunes as “very popular” and shallow pans in different sizes, ranging from small for palm oil to large for shrines on graves. The most common size measured 0.75 ell1
(approximately 114.30 cm or 45 in) in diameter, and weighed 2,267.96 g or 5 lbs (Herbert
1984:139; Ratelband 1953:introduction). De Marees’ Description and Historical Account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602) included a lengthy passage on the types of basins.
His list described “small and large Neptunes, Barbers’ Basins, cooking Basins, fater-
Basins, chased basins, big Scottish Pans, not less than two fathoms in circumference, and
1 The unit of length, ell, was traditionally used for measuring cloth. The Dutch used the term in the form “el,” which denoted a general length of 68-70 cm or approximately 27 in. The English unit, which is less than two times the length of the Dutch “el” and the German “elle,” measures 114.30 cm or 45 in. 106
small rimless Cups,” in addition to the function of the various basins and their value
compared to other goods (Alpern 1995:15; de Marees 1987 [1602]:51-52).
Basins traded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries generally maintained
similar shapes to those as described by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century sources. New
manufacture techniques and market demands potentially stimulated some changes. For
example, Day’s study of the Bristol brass industry included descriptions of various
vessels manufactured in the English mills and brassworks, and these wares appear similar
to descriptions of earlier vessels. Her work provided descriptions and illustrations for
neptunes, milk pans, Lisbon pans, kettles, and cheffs or compass bowls. Additionally,
documents such as the “Invoice of Sundry Goods & Merchandise shipped on board the
Snow Africa,” which is housed in the City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol, detailed
the cargoes, supplies, costs and letters concerning her voyages to Africa departing from
Bristol, England in 1774 to 1776 (Giles ca. 1830-40). The manifest of goods listed “200
Brass Neptunes (pans) 38-44 in (96.50-111.80 cm),” their desired cost of ^256, and the actual price garnered at ^230 (Giles ca. 1830-40:14). Pewter recorded in the manifest appears as “150 3-pound (1,360.78 g) fine Common Pewter Basons” (Giles ca. 1830-
40:40). Thus, a wide variety of primary and secondary sources must be considered together to determine the size, shape, and appearance of metalwares being traded between
Europeans and Africans up through the nineteenth century. Even with this wide array of
sources, defining types based on vague historical descriptions remains problematic.
However, the archaeological record clarifies the descriptions found in historical
documentation. 107
The POTS typology attempted to overcome the “bewildering variety of vessels” that have been called specific terms with a systematic disregard for consistency (Beaudry et al. 1983: 20; Celoria and Kelly 1973:16). While historical sources describing wares traded in Africa distinguished pewter and brass by general terms like basins (usually written “bason”) and hardware, other sources like probate records offer more refined terminology. Most of the cargo manifests and ship inventories listed metalwares as basins, pans, kettles, without further refinement, probably based on the vast numbers and types of exported goods. The classification system used to create a descriptive typology for the Elmina metalware assemblage considers the European viewpoint not an African one, as Europeans designed and manufactured the metalwares entering West Africa markets. Although metalworkers satisfied some special requests, the main output of factories and workshops consisted of the types of vessels that the industry traditionally
produced (Day 1973:169).
Neptunes
Historical sources defined neptunes as large, shallow pans, dishes, or basins of
various sizes, made of cuprous materials. The majority of sources described neptunes as
made of brass, while some of those referring to copper neptunes may actually mean
“yellow copper,” the Dutch and French term for brass. Contemporaries probably derived
the term “Neptune” from “neptune’s pot” or “nepetenal,” another idiom for a basin during
the early seventeenth century. Bowdich (1966 [1819]) also referred to these wares as
“amorill,” possibly an Iberian expression that closely resembles the Portuguese amarelo
or amarilho (Sundström 1974:232). Neptunes measured anywhere from 0.75 ell (68-70 108 cm) up to 76.20 cm (2 ft and 6 in) or even 91.44 cm (3 ft) in diameter with a depth of
7.60-15.20 cm (3 to 6 in), and weighing up to 226.80 g (8 lbs; Herbert 1984:151;
Sundström 1974:232). Europeans exported these vessels to Africa for salt evaporation, and to the East for tea drying purposes. Not only did European countries produce goods for Africa in traditional European sizes and shapes, those sizes and shapes probably evolved in response to multiple markets such as those in the East and in Africa (Day
1973:169, 199).
Bowls, Cups, and Pots
Historical records noted a large number of bowls, cups and pots of copper, brass or tin in the cargo holds of European vessels en route to Africa (Alpern 1995:15). The
Portuguese introduced brass shaving bowls, in addition to small shallow brass bowls termed cheffs (if they had a handle) or compass bowls (if they were without a handle; Day
1973:195). De Marees also described these vessels as “small rimless cups to cook in” (de
Marees 1987 [1602]:52). Alpern argued that Gold Coasters preferred the vessels without the handles that the Dutch used (Alpern 1995:16; de Marees 1987 [1602]:52). Alpern also termed these “small rimless cups” posnets, or a little pot, with metal sometimes included in the definition. Herbert adopted the term in her description of the brass basins that entered West African trade (de Marees 1965 [1624]:281; Herbert 1984:232). Finally,
Vogt’s work called cooking pots “caldeiras” (Vogt 1979:75).
Willey defined bowls as medium to deep objects whose maximum diameter is greater than the width, and whose walls are vertical or slightly curved. The bottoms of bowls are usually rounded but could be slightly flattened at the center of the base. Willey 109
defined pots as vessels whose total height is greater than the maximum diameter. The
base of this vessel is rounded (or conical), while the sides are generally straight, either
converging, out-flaring, or remaining straight at the orifice (Willey 1998 [1949]:496).
Most sources suggest that the term “bowl” is limited to the ceramic tradition (Beaudry et al. 1983:33; Hornsby 1983).
Pans
Alpern suggested that the “neptunes” listed as basins by de Marees more likely fit
into the category of pans (Alpern 1995:15). This staple of the trade, usually made of
brass, ranged in weight from just over 28.35 g to 226.80 g (just over 1 to 8 lbs). Some of
the larger pans reached an upward limit of 566.99 g (20 lbs). Pans generally took the
shape of an inverted, truncated cone. Milk pans shared this shape but usually measured
25.40 cm (10 in) or more (up to 121.90 cm or 4 ft) in diameter (Beaudry et al. 1983:35).
Indeed, Bellis described brass pans found in burials at Twifo-Hemang as similar to
modern pie pan or European forms of metal wares (Bellis 1972:61-62). Lisbon pans
generally ranged in sizes under 25.40 cm (10 in) and had shallow depth (Day 1973:169).
Scottish pans, generally considered big stew pots, measured 91.40-121.90 cm (3-4 ft) or
over 1 ell in diameter, while Spanish neptunes had a diameter of 30.50 cm (12 in) or less
(Alpern 1995: 15; Day 1973:198; Sundström 1974:232). Vogt terms large, shallow pans
as “macho” (Vogt 1979:75). 110
Kettles
Brain, in his 1979 study of brasswares from the Tunica site of Trudeau in
Louisiana, defined handled kettles similar to those of the Elmina collection as “Type B,
Variety 2.” This type of vessel, according to Brain’s description, has a rounded profile, slightly sloping sides that gently meld into the bottom. Rolled sheet brass handles (instead of bail ears) with an exterior attachment by multiple rivets instead of a single one distinguished Variety 2 from Variety 1 within the Type B collection (Brain 1979:174-
175). Thus, Brain separated the types of kettles based on general morphological features
of the body (or profile) and the type of attachment (bail versus handle). Day defined a
kettle as a deep, straight-sided vessel with a handle, but lacking a rim (Day 1973:169).
Continental countries stopped using hanging caldrons in the sixteenth century, the
English in the seventeenth. Continental caldrons tended to be “tubby, rounded” rather
than the “more squashed and sack-shaped” English versions (Gentle and Feild 1998:101).
Alpern suggested that the Portuguese not only introduced these wares but used the term
kettle and caldron interchangeably to describe them. Eventually, kettles became a Dutch
and English specialty. De Marees mentioned that Europeans sold “great heaps” of
caldrons on the Gold Coast and used them for “fetching water from Wells and Valleys”
(de Marees 1987 [1602]:52).
Merchants often described these wares as “Guinea kettles.” Day defined a guinea
kettle as a kettle or straight-sided pan made in large numbers during the eighteenth
century for export to the West African coast (Day 1973:197-198). Europeans adopted the
term “guinea” to portray a general connection with the West African littoral. Indeed, 111
Europeans dubbed the West African coast the “Guinea Coast,” sub-dividing the region into areas based on major commodities, such as the Slave Coast, Gold Coast, and Ivory
Coast. Europeans also unofficially named their first machine-struck gold coin
“guineas”after the region from which most of the gold used in the minting process originated, and after the symbol of the elephant adopted by the Africa Company that graced the coin. That kettles and pans were preceded by the term Guinea only confirms their intended production primarily for West African consumers.
Basins/Basons
A basin, or a deep container with somewhat straight sides and a flat bottom, differs from a bowl, which has more rounded sides (Gotelipe-Miller 1990:28; Hornsby
1983:124-131). However, in terms of metal wares, the term “basin” or “bason” appears to denote any deep container. Indeed, Gotelipe-Miller carefully noted that colonial archival sources often used the term “basin” for all deep containers (Laughlin 1981:27), thus rejecting the term bowl in her typology. Herbert employed the term in a general way suggesting that neptunes, satalas, posnets, and pans fall into this category. According to
Herbert, the size of a basin varied from 30.50-45.70 cm (12-18 in) up to as much as 61-92 cm (2 to 3 ft) in diameter (Herbert 1984:232). Additionally, Olfert Dapper, a seventeenth- century Dutch writer, geographer, historian, and translator, described basins as being
17.80-25.40 cm (7-10 in) deep with narrow rims “in the Spanish style” (Sundström
1974:232). Accordingly, the weight of basins depended on the size and material, ranging from 28.35-113.40 g (1 to 4 lbs) to 170.10-226.80 g (6 to 8 lbs) and even up to 566.99 g
(20 lbs). The heavier type of basin corresponded in size to the Scottish pan (Dapper 1998; 112
Herbert 1984:232). The POTS typology defined basins as “open vessels with convex sides, of greater width than depth, and having a brim or everted lip” (Beaudry et al.
1983:26). Vogt (1979) described basins in general as “bacias” and broke that category into two groups including bacias de mijar (urinals) and bacias de barbeiro (shaving basins; Vogt 1979:75).
Dishes and Plates
Alpern argued that pewterwares comprised a large portion of the dishes and plates that entered West African trade, supplied mainly by the Dutch and English (Alpern
1995:15). The Compleat Appraiser (1770), an anonymously published eighteenth-century price guide, described pewter plates as ranging from 19.70 cm (7.75 in) to 24.80 cm (9.75 in), while dishes ranged from 27.30 cm (10.75 in) up to 71.10 cm (28 in; Beaudry et al.
1983:26). POTS modified the groupings of The Compleat Appraiser and other documentary evidence to categorize dishes as serving vessels larger than 25.40 cm (10 in) either in diameter or in length and plates as an eating vessel from 17.80 cm (7 in) to 25.40 cm (10 in) in diameter (Beaudry et al. 1983:33). Gotelipe-Miller’s examination of pewter flatware from Port Royal, Jamaica classified flatware based on overall diameter. She described flatware as being composed of a rim, well, booge (the curved section between the rim and the well), cast in one piece, and used for food service (Gotelipe-Miller
1990:28). She categorized chargers as serving trays with a diameter greater than 41.9 cm
(16.5 in) and dishes as serving trays measuring between 26.70 and 41.90 cm (10.50-16.50 in) in diameter. Deep dishes measured over 3 cm deep (may be called a soup dish), and it is not as deep as a bowl or basin. According to Hornsby, deep-bowled plates did not 113 appear until well into the eighteenth century (Hornsby 1983:126). Consumers used plates, on the other hand, for individual food services and range between 16.50 to 26.70 cm
(6.50-10.50 in) in diameter. Finally, according to Gotelipe-Miller, a saucer (or butter dish) measured less than 16.50 cm (6.5 in) in diameter (Gotelipe-Miller 1990:28).
Hornsby, on the other hand, defined saucers as small plates under 12.70 cm (5 in), plates from 12.70-30.50 cm (5-12 in), dishes between 30.50 and 45.70 cm (12-18 in), and any serving vessel over 45.70 cm (18 in) as chargers (Hornsby 1983:124).
Elmina Wreck Metalwares
During 2005 fieldwork at the Elmina wreck, archaeologists recovered 74 pewter and brasswares as 7 separate stacks and 2 single pieces (see Table 1 for the general dimensions of the Elmina wreck assemblage). Brasswares comprised over 66 percent of the metalwares, while pewter consisted of a little more than 25 percent. A single aluminum piece (Artifact #370) comprised the other 1 percent. Archaeologists recovered a variety of other artifacts along with the brass and pewter wares. Additionally, conservators found a number of brass pins with wrapped heads in the concretion surrounding, and between, the basins. These pins still have sharp points at the non- wrapped end. Manufacturers merely wrapped a second piece of brass wire around the non-sharp end of the straight pin. The pins measure approximately 5.28 cm (2.08 in) in length and 0.11 cm (0.04 in) in diameter. The head of the pin have 0.32-cm (0.13 in) diameters and 0.22-cm (0.09 in) widths, with each “wrap” approximately 0.10 cm (0.04 in) wide. The concretion surrounding the stacks also contained a range of glass beads
(mostly blue and white), seeds, and other organic materials. 114
Table 1. General Dimensions of Metalware (based on complete vessels)
Quantity Artifact kept for Mean Measurements # study Material (centimeters, grams) Type
304 3 brass 22.34 cm diameter 1 10.90 cm depth 0.78 cm rolled rim width 1.10 cm handle width 3.50-4.00 cm handle height (above rim) 316.40 g (11.16 oz) weight
305 6 brass 27.35 cm diameter 1 12.25 cm depth 0.91 cm rolled rim width 1.10 cm handle width 3.50-4.00 cm handle height (above rim) 436 g (15.38 oz) weight
316 0 brass Stack measured: 26 cm x 21.30 cm 2 Bottom bowl: 12.20 cm basal diameter 6.10 cm deep 3.05 cm wide rim
317 11 brass 16.87 cm diameter 2 4.07 cm depth 2.20 cm rim width 7.69 rim ratio (range 7.16 – 8.20 cm) 192.80 g (6.80 oz) weight
319 18 pewter 28.61 cm overall diameter 5 23.17 cm well diameter 4.95 cm depth 2.80 cm width 10.24 rim ratio 1,014.10 g (35.77 oz) weight
330 0 brass 2 samples redeposited: 14.70 cm diameter 2 6.60 cm height (not depth) 115
Table 1. Continued
Quantity Artifact kept for Mean Measurements # study Material (centimeters, grams) Type
332 13 brass 15.98 cm diameter 2 4.23 cm depth 1.79 cm rim width 9.01 rim ratio 161 g (5.68 oz) weight
350 3 brass 41.87 cm diameter 4 8.54 cm depth 4.75 cm rim width 8.86 rim ratio 1, 033.60 g (36.46 oz) weight
357 1 pewter 33.00 cm overall diameter 6 27.05 cm well diameter 8.00 cm depth 2.84 cm rim width 11.62 rim ratio 1,275.80 g (45.00 oz) weight
358 8 brass 14.95 cm diameter 3 6.84 cm depth 0.78 rolled rim width 211.20 g (7.45 oz) weight
365 5 fragments pewter 1.60-2.70 cm thick 5/6 2.01-5.94 cm length/width 2.48 cm rim width
370 1 aluminum 14.83 cm diameter 7 2.20 cm depth 0.70 cm rim width 60.40 g (2.13 oz) weight
379 19 pewter 1.60-2.10 cm thick 5/6 fragments >0-5.40 cm length/width 116
Table 1. Continued
Quantity Artifact kept for Mean Measurements # study Material (centimeters, grams) Type
386 5 brass 18.60 cm diameter 2 4.80 cm depth 1.97 cm rim width 9.51 rim ratio (range 8.43 – 10.85) 247.50 g (8.73 oz) weight
408 0 pewter 1 small fragment: 11.43 cm long x 5/6 4.45 cm wide x 2.54 cm thick
409 0 brass 1 handle – 13.97 cm long x 9.53 cm wide 1
2003 5 brass 18.50 cm diameter 2 4.50 cm depth 2 cm rim width 9.25 rim ratio unknown weight
Catalogue
The catalogue (see Appendix A) presents a complete log of individual artifact
measurements for the pewter- and brasswares recovered during 2005 Elmina wreck
archaeological investigations. The format and fields follow ideas in Willey’s Archaeology
of the Florida Gulf Coast (1949), Norman Brazell’s article “Catalog your Pewter” (1985),
and Gotelipe-Miller’s (1990) study of pewter flatware from Port Royal excavations by the
Institute for Nautical Archaeology and Texas A&M University. This catalogue strives to
present relevant data that received accurate and consistent recording, based on developments in the study of archaeological metalwares. All measurements are listed in 117
centimeters; while weights are expressed in grams. The fields and their definitions are as
follows:
Catalogue number: Uniquely identifies and arranges each artifact within the
catalogue. This number corresponds to the number assigned to each artifact during
fieldwork in Elmina.
Photographs: Presents images of the artifact and any other identifying
marks or features.
Metal Type: Determines the material used to manufacture the artifact.
Description: Provides a description of the artifact including general morphological
features, the general condition of the piece, any marks left by the maker, users, or
manufacture process, and any other identifying characteristics. Descriptions of damage,
including that from corrosion, will follow Peal (1983). Deep, uneven holes will be termed
“pocks” and “eruptions” will refer to a blistered and fragile surface (Peal 1983: 37).
Form: Defines the historical and morphological type (basin, kettle, dish, plate,
neptune) into which the artifact or fragment fits.
Diameter: Measures the maximum length from the outer edges of the vessel that also transects the center point.
Depth: Measures the longest distance from the top of the inner edge of the rim to the lowest point on the base of the vessel. This measurement is not always an exact number, due to variations caused by bent or upturned rims, incomplete bases, and other damage that created the need for estimation.
Rim Width: Measures the widest distance from the inner edge to the outer edge of 118
the rim. Inconsistencies in width stem from a number of sources. Pewterers trimmed the
wares on a lathe after casting, creating a rim width that varies up to half of a centimeter.
Damage or corrosion also affects width.
Rim ratio: Describes the proportion of the width of the rim to the overall total
diameter of the vessel. This ratio, achieved by dividing the diameter by the width of the
rim, determines if the rim is narrow (ratio of 10 or greater), medium (ratio of 6.5 to 10),
or broad (ration of 6.5 or less). Vessels with rolled rims are exempt from this field.
Rim Type: Defines the morphology of the rim on pewter plates according to
typologies created by Gotelipe-Miller (1990), Verster (1958), and Hornsby (1983). This
category includes rims of brass vessels, when not rolled.
Well Diameter: Measures the maximum length from the inner edges of the rim of
a vessel that also transects the center point. Originally based on pewter objects, this description will also refer to the inner diameter of the base of brass objects.
Mass: Measures the quantity of matter composing each vessel. Merchants often
sold metal vessels based on weight in grams (mass).
Thickness: Measures the dimension between the inner and outer surface of the artifact.
Origin: Indicates place of manufacture where possible.
Parallels: Provides reference information for similar pieces in other published or non-published sources.
Touchmarks: Describes touchmarks, if present. Will be distinguished as maker’s
mark, quality- or hallmark, or ownership mark where applicable.
Metal analysis: Provides alloy composition data. 119
Archaeological Provenience: Describes the location on-site where archaeologists originally found the artifact.
Brass
Each set of brass basins from the Elmina wreck (Artifact #304/305, #317, #332,
#350, #358, and #386) shows evidence of manufacture in the annular grooves that grace
both the outer and inner surfaces, in addition to a “pip.” Three potential scenarios explain
the concentric lines running horizontally around the sides of the basins. First,
manufacturers “largely obliterated by a subsequent smoothing process which left parallel
and horizontal striae (thin lines or grooves) on both the interior and the exterior surfaces
of the vessel” hammer blows left by the battery process (Kenyon 1982:218). Second, the
horizontal striae represent a simple decorative motif (Haedeke 1970:66). Finally, the
annular grooves represent a by-product of the spinning process in which the lathe and
finishing tool leaves small, concentric grooves on the interior and exterior surfaces of the
basin. The battery method of manufacture consisted of “beating, or hammering, sheet
metal into hollow-ware vessels,” whether by hand or water-powered machinery (Day
1973:17). The spinning process, on the other hand, consisted of a sheet metal disk, which
the spinner set on a lathe behind an appropriately shaped metal or wooden form, called a
chuck; while the lathe rotated, the metalworker pressed the brass onto the chuck with one
of many hand-tools (Spinning 2006). The skimming tools used in smoothing wares on a
lathe often left concentric marks, especially on areas less frequently seen (Hull and
Murrell 1984:94; Ward et al. 1995:237). A number of brass basins do not appear to have
an easily identifiable ball-peening or whorl-like pattern characteristic of the battery 120
method from the metalworker turning the bowl to work all sides evenly. However, many
of the brasswares, particularly Artifacts #305 and #358, show some evidence of battery
manufacture smoothed over by lathe-finishing work. Chatter marks or annular grooves mark the basins. In addition, each of the brass basins contains a small indentation in the center of their base, identified as a “lathe-centering pip” (Ward et al. 1995:237). Thus,
each manufacturing scenario provides viable options to explain the grooves found on the brass basins. Manufacturers cast the pewter basins, on the other hand, in molds and then finished each on a lathe.
Artifact #304a-c and Artifact #305a-f. These two artifact numbers consist of a set of nine brass basins stacked so that their handles sit slightly offset from each other
(Figure 5, see Figure C1). Archaeologists recorded the provenience location for this set of
basins between Datum #2 and #3 on the southeast portion of the wreck. Specifically, the
basins sat 3.05 m (10 ft) south of Datum #3, approximately 0.91 m (3 ft) from Datum #2,
and about 0.30 m (1 ft) within the site (also called Brass Feature #1, see Figure 4 ). The
basins allocated #304 consist of the same type of ware as #305, although they have
smaller diameters. The #304 basins originally appeared as a separate set of three nested
basins within six other basins, given Artifact #305, when recovered in the field. Each of
the basins possesses two handles that have been riveted in place with four fasteners (two
on each “leg” of the handle below the rim of the vessel), for a total of eight per basin
(Figure 6). They have convex bottoms and turn marks as evidence of the manufacture
process. The bottom three basins show signs of extreme degradation, although all handles
are present on the #305 artifacts. Artifact lot #304 retains five of the six handles, although the sixth handle partially exists. Basins from #304a-c measure approximately 22.34 cm Photographs by author. Figure 5. Artifact #304/#305 (top and side view). Inches 0 1 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 Centimeters
Illustration by author. Figure 6. Detailed illustration of handle. 123
(8.80 in) diameter, 10.90 cm (4.30 in) in depth, and 316.40 g (11.16 oz) in weight. The
handles measure 7-9 cm (2.76-3.54 in; outer dimension) by 5-6 cm (1.97-2.36 in; inner
dimension) by 1.10 cm (0.43 in; width). They rise 3.50-4 cm (1.38-1.57 in) above the rim and extend 5 cm (1.97 in) below. Basins from #305a-f have a mean depth of 12.25 cm
(4.82 in), mean diameter of 27.35 cm (10.77 in), and mean weight of 436 g (15.38 oz).
The folded brass handles range between 7-9 cm (2.76-3.54 in; outer dimension) by 5-6.50 cm (2.36-2.60 in; inner dimension) by 1.10 cm (0.43 in; width). These handles rise approximately 4 cm (1.57 in) above the rim and extend 5 cm (2.36 in) below. Finally,
Artifacts #305b and #305c both bear the same mark, located on the exterior bottom of the kettle, close to the pip (Figure 7, for a more detailed discussion see pages 160-161 below). The mark appears to be a fleur-de-lis or a cross, with the letter “M” or “W” to at least one side of the branches. The marks on the kettles potentially date to the nineteenth century, when marks on brass became more common (Butler et al. 2001; Fennimore
1996; Gentle and Field 1998). However, this date may or may not be the original date of manufacture, but potentially only represents the date of stamping.
Artifact #316. Archaeologists assigned this number to a large stack of small brass basins with rims (approximately 48). They could not separate a small sample from the heavily concreted stack. Thus, archaeologists recorded Artifact #316 in the field and then redeposited it back onto the Elmina wreck. Divers noted the provenience location at 0.91 m (3 ft) north of Datum #3 on the eastern portion of the wreck and designated the area
Basin Feature #2 (see Figure 4). The exposed portion of the bottom basin yielded a few dimensions for Artifact #316 vessels. The entire concreted stack measured 26 cm (10.24 in) by 21.30 cm (8.39 in), while the bottom bowl measured approximately 12.20 cm (4.80 Photographs by author.
Figure 7. Maker’s marks on Elmina wreck brassware. 125 in) wide at the base, 6.10 cm (2.40 in) tall and had a rim width of 3.05 cm (1.20 in).
Archaeologists also recovered two small pieces of what looks to be striated, light tan packing material. Artifact #316 basins probably resemble those of Artifacts #317, #332,
#386 (Figure 8), and those recovered in 2003 (see Figure 2).
Artifact #317a-k. This artifact group consists of 11 rimmed basins, which have turn marks caused by the manufacturing process (Figure 8). While similar to basins retrieved in 2003 (see Figure 2), Artifact #317 basins in general have smaller diameters than the basins of both Artifacts #330 and #332, measuring 16.87 cm (6.64 in) in diameter and 4.07 cm (1.60 in) in depth. The medium rim (ratio of 7.69) measures 2.20 cm (0.87 in). Artifact #317 wares weigh approximately 192.80 g (6.80 oz).
Archaeologists located these basins 0.91 m (3 ft) north of Datum #3 and 3.96 m (13 ft) from Datum #2 on the eastern extent of the wreck (see Figure 4). Concentric rings encircle the outer and inner surfaces of the basins.
Artifact #330. Archaeologists assigned this number to the remains of two rimmed brass basins, recorded them, and then redeposited them. These basins shared characteristics with the other small, rimmed basins found on-site, with concentric turn marks and comparable measurements (see Figure 8). The basins did not have intact bases.
The partial basins sat between Datum #5 and #6 in the northern portion of the wreck (see
Figure 4). Measurements include a diameter of 14.70 cm (5.79 in), a 12 cm (4.72 in) long extant portion of the rim, and a depth of 6.60 cm (2.60 in).
Artifact #332a-m. Archaeologists found this group of brasswares 1.83 m (6 ft) north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1, on the eastern extent of the wreck (see
Figure 4). They recovered approximately 24 degraded basins concreted together. These Photographs by author. Figure 8. Artifact #317, #332, #386 (top and side view). 127 rimmed brass basins share morphological features with basins recovered in 2003 (see
Figure 2) and 2005 (see Figure 8). Archaeologists selected one section, containing 13 basins, for conservation with the remaining portion of the stack redeposited on site.
Basins in Artifact #332 have a diameter of 15.98 cm (6.29 in), depth of 4.23 cm (1.67 in), and a rim measuring 1.79 cm (0.70 in) wide. These basins weigh 161 g (5.68 oz). They have medium rims, with a rim ratio of nine.
Artifact #350a-c. This artifact group contains three large basins from the fifth stack of Basin Feature #3 in the middle portion of the wreck site (see Figure 4 and Figure
C4). This group of artifacts consists of three misshapen, large brass basins. Turn marks grace the basins (Figure 9). They measure approximately 41.87 cm (16.48 in) in diameter,
8.54 cm (3.36 in) in depth, and 4.75 cm (1.87 in) wide rims. They weigh around 1,033.60 g (36.46 oz). Finally, the brass basins have medium rims with a ratio at 8.86.
Artifact #358a-h. This set of basins sat 2.44 m (8 ft) from Datum #8 toward
Datum #7, 0.91 m (3 ft) inside the site in the northwestern extent of the wreck (see Figure
4 and Figure C3). At first, the stack appeared to contain three to four globular brass basins heavily concreted together (concretion 2-5 mm or 0.08-0.20 in thick). However, after electrolysis began to remove the concretion the final count registered eight basins, which measure approximately 14.95 cm (5.89 in) in diameter, 6.84 cm (2.69 in) deep, and have rolled rims approximately 0.78 cm (0.31 in) thick (Figure 10). They weigh around
211.20 g (7.45 oz). The basins show evidence of damage, with a cut that extends through the bottom basin into the middle of the stack and flattened rims that distort the ovular shape on some of the basins. Photographs by author.
Figure 9. Artifact #350 (top and side view).
Photographs by author.
Figure 10. Artifact #358 (top and side view). 130
Artifact #386a-e. Archaeologists originally located this group of basins 0.61 m (2 ft) south of Manilla Feature #1, between Datum #3 and #4, in the eastern portion of the
wreck (see Figure 4). Archaeologists kept a sample of five of the 20 basins, redepositing
the other 15 basins on site. Measurements consist of an 18.60 cm (7.32 in) diameter
including a 1.97 cm (0.78 in) wide rim, a weight of 247.50 g (8.73 oz), and a depth of
4.80 cm (1.89 in; see Figure 8). These basins have approximately 24 concentric annular
grooves beginning from center of base and extending to end of the base. These rings,
starting from the center of the base, measure approximately 0.30 cm (0.12 in) wide and
decrease in width to 0.10 cm (0.04 in) as they move toward the edge of the basin and then increase to 0.30 cm (0.12 in) wide once more at the edge. Additionally, the rim ratio of
9.51 is medium.
Artifact #409 (redeposited). This artifact consists of one heavily concreted brass basin handle, which measures 13.97 cm (5.50 in) in length and 9.53 cm (3.75 in) in width. This handle closely resembles those found on Artifact #304/#305 (see Figure 6).
Archaeologists located this handle approximately 0.30 m (1 ft) south of Manilla Feature
#1 (see Figure 4).
2003a-e. In 2003, archaeologists recovered five small, rimmed basins (see Figure
2). The brasswares measured 18.50 cm (7.28 in) in diameter, 4.50 cm (1.77 in) in depth, and 2 cm (0.79 in) in rim width. The rim ratio of these basins is 9.25 or medium.
Pewter
Artifact #319 a-r. This artifact group contains a set of wares between Datum #5 and #6 on the northern end of the wreck (see Figure 4). The extremely degraded pewter 131 basins entered The University of West Florida Conservation Laboratory as a large, heavily concreted stack. The top section of the stack, consisting of four basins, sat at an angle to the rest of the stack. The bottom section contained fourteen basins for a total of
18 basins in the stack (see Figure C5). The basins measure approximately 28.61 cm
(11.26 in) in diameter (Figure 11). Other measurements include well diameters of 23.17 cm (9.33 in), 2.80 cm (1.10 in) wide rims with beading below, depths of 4.95 cm (1.95 in), and weights of 1,014.10 g (35.77 oz). The rim ratio of 10.24 technically defines the rim as narrow, but borders on medium. A crowned rose mark, with the letters “B” and“H” in the circlets of the crown, graces the top side of the rim (Figure 12, for a more detailed discussion see pages 161-162 below).
Artifact #357. This artifact consists of a single pewter basin found at the foot of a basin stack between Datum #0 and #4 on the northern end of the wreck (see Figure 4).
This damaged basin has a base that bends upward in the center, and a large tear in the body (Figure 13). The dimensions are 33 cm (12.99 in) in diameter, 27.05 cm (10.65 in) well diameter, 8 cm (3.15 in) depth, a beaded-below rim width of 2.84 cm (1.12 in), and rim ratio of 11.62 (narrow). The piece weighs 1,275.80 g (45 oz). The crowned rose mark gracing Artifact #357 corresponds exactly to those found on artifact #319 (see Figure 12).
Artifact #365. This artifact, comprised of seven pewter fragments, includes portions of the rim of the vessel. Each piece ranges in thickness between 1.60-2.70 cm
(0.63-1.06 in) and in maximum size from 2.01-5.94 cm (0.79-2.34 in). The rim is 2.48 cm
(0.98 in) in width and beaded below. Archaeologists recovered these pewter fragments
0.30 m (1 ft) northwest of Datum #6, in the northern part of the wreck (see Figure 4). Photographs by author.
Figure 11. Artifact #319 (top and side view). Photograph by author.
Figure 12. Maker’s mark on Elmina wreck pewterware. Photographs by author.
Figure 13. Artifact #357 (top and side view). 135
Artifact #379. This artifact consists of eight pewter fragments recovered from a late-style olive jar. The olive jar sat between Datum #3 and Datum #0, and 1.52 m (5 ft) to the north, in the southern portion of the wreck (see Figure 4). The majority of these pewter fragments came from the body of the vessel, although one piece contains a portion of the rim. The fragments are 1.60-2.10 cm (0.63-0.83 in) thick and up to 5.40 cm (2.13 in) in length.
Artifact #408. This artifact number contains a single, very badly misshapen pewter fragment that measures 11.43 cm (4.50 in) in length, 4.46 cm (1.76 in) in width, and 2.54 cm (1 in) in width.Archaeologists located this pewter fragment 0.30 m (1 ft) north of
Cannon Feature #1, on the eastern extent of the wreck (see Figure 4).
Other Metalwares
Artifact #370. Archaeologists found this artifact 3 ft west of the mooring (from the middle of one cannon that sat between Datum #3 and #4) on the eastern side of the site (see Figure 4). The intact, thinly concreted small metal plate has a diameter of 14.83 cm (5.84 in), a depth of 2.20 cm (0.87 in), a rim width of 0.78 cm (0.31 in), a well diameter of 13.41 cm (5.28 in), and a 12.19-cm (4.80 in) base diameter (Figure 14).
Manufacturers constructed this artifact from aluminum and it weighs 60.40 g (2.13 oz).
Elmina Wreck Site Typology
The Elmina wreck site typology attempts to consider broad implications (function, economics, etc) rather than solely focusing on site-specific qualities of the metalwares. In Photographs by author.
Figure 14. Artifact #370 (top and side view). 137
addition to seeking broad inferences, the focus herein is to characterize the brass and
pewter in the collection and compare them to contemporary historical documents rather
than to determine exact, and somewhat debatable, dating horizons. A vast majority of
available dating techniques, especially for pewter, developed through studies of “unique”
wares, which survive as collector’s items or sentimentally valued pieces (Gotelipe-Miller
1990:29). Indeed, studies of pewter often under represent utilitarian wares, although
scholars increasingly study such items as they emerge from archaeological
sites.Europeans supplied a wide array of utility wares such as barber’s basins, bedpans,
and cooking vessels to Africa and other parts of the world. While some evidence suggests
that Africans used metalwares for similar purposes, the primary appeal of brass and
pewter wares lay in their metallic content. Therefore, the originally intended function of
commodities appears somewhat incidental within the context of West African markets
(Herbert 1984:231). However, the majority of sources that comment on and describe metalwares stem from the European context. Thus, by comparing archaeological evidence with documentary sources in the creation of a typology, archaeologists develop a typology
that places artifacts into the contexts of their original creation and intended use (Beaudry
et al. 1983:21). Moreover, following the Potomac Typological System as a model allows for the beginnings of a systematic consideration for metalwares found within the Atlantic
World, while remaining an “open” typology that has generative potential for classifying materials found in the future (Adams and Adams 1991:227).
The typology, following Willey’s work, Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast
(1998 [1949]) as a model, considered the characteristics of each of the artifact sets, grouping consistently occurring traits together, in addition to considering morphological 138
and chemical distinctions. These groups and their characteristics received comparison
with types derived from the historical record. The results show the names and definitions
of types that correspond to the historical record for each artifact group in the Elmina
collection (see Appendix A). Detailed descriptions of the wares include form, decoration,
and any other relevant information. However, the Elmina metalware assemblage represents those artifacts considered significant in the information they could yield in
defining the temporal range of the wreck, its nationality, and its purpose on the western
coast of Africa. The artifacts recovered from the site represent limited excavation in the
form of hand-fanning and surface collection. Thus, the assemblage does not represent a
complete range of metalwares in-situ, or the full array of variation within the types.
Accordingly, this classification represents a preliminary typology in need of further
refinement as more archaeologically derived information on metalwares comes from the
site.
Thus, this thesis identifies seven types of metalwares for the wreck.
Type #1
The first type consists of medium-sized brass kettles, including Artifacts #304
and #305 (Figure 15). Each of these kettles has two riveted rolled handles (four rivets on
each handle for a total of eight), a rolled rim, and concentric turn marks, or annular
grooves, potentially derived from the manufacturing process (see Figure 5 and Figure 6).
The bottoms of the basins are convex (rounded outwards) with the sides flaring slightly
so that the circumference around the rim is greater than around the base. This type of
kettle shares the same morphological features as that of Type B, Variety 2 in Brain’s 1979 Inches 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Centimeters
Illustration by author. Figure 15. Illustration of Type #1. 140 study of the Tunica collection, although those from the Elmina wreck have smaller diameters (Brain 1979:175).
Type #2
The second type comprises brasswares with flat rims encircling the circumference, including artifacts #317, #332, #386 (Figure 16; see Figure C2 and Figure 8). The slightly convex sides of these wares flow into relatively flat bases. The vessels in Type #2 range in diameter from 13.75 to 19.60 cm (5.41-7.72 in). Slightly smaller basal diameters
(10.95 – 13.52 cm or 4.31-5.32 in) create the inverted, truncated cone shape that characterizes pans (Beaudry et al. 1983). The diameter size places Type #2 wares in the category of Lisbon pans. Lisbon pans, or shallow, rimmed vessels, measure less than
25.40 cm (10 in) in diameter (Day 1973). They also have concentric turn marks from the manufacturing process. Archaeologists originally recovered five vessels of this type during the initial ground-truthing of the Elmina wreck site in 2003 (see Figure 2).
However, the pattern of the annular grooves varies from those found in 2005, possibly suggesting a different manufacturer.
Type #3
The third type of wares consist of brasswares, each with a rolled rim, straight sides slightly sloping into rounded bases, and concentric turn marks (Figure 17; see
Figure C3). Because the vessels have a greater maximum diameter than height, they characteristically fit the definition of a bowl (Willey 1998 [1949]); however, the term
“bowl” refers largely to ceramics. Thus, this type of ware, represented by Artifact #358, Inches 0 1 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 Centimeters Illustration by author. Figure 16. Illustration of Type #2. Inches 0 1 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 Centimeters Illustration by author. Figure 17. Illustration of Type #3. 143
probably received description as either a compass bowl (Day 1973) and/or one of the
“small rimless cups” (de Marees 1987 [1602]) or “possenets” (de Marees 1965
[1624]:281) noted in historical sources. The concretion surrounding these basins held a
large number of brass pins with wrapped heads.
Type #4
The fourth type of brasswares dwarf the other pans recovered from the Elmina
wreck (Figure 18; see Figure C4). These large vessels with evidence of turn marks,
labeled in the Elmina wreck assemblage as Artifact #350, probably deemed “basin” in
historical documents, have convex sides, a greater width than depth, and a rim or everted
lip (Beaudry et al. 1983). More specifically, historical documents likely labeled Type #4
wares as milk pans. Milk pans ranged from 25.40 to 121.90 cm (10-48 in) and shared the
general pan shape of an inverted, truncated cone. One last potential category into which
Type #4 may fit is that of “neptunes.” While artifact #350 has a maximum diameter of
42.13 cm (16.59 in), slightly short of the 51.40 cm (0.75 ell or 20.24 in) lower limit as defined by historians, this vessel morphologically fits the parameters and the general historical descriptions. Additionally, the term “ell” was sometimes used as an alias for a
“cubit,” which translates to 0.40 ell or 45.72 cm (18 in).
Type #5
The fifth type consists of medium-sized, plain-rimmed (bead below) pewterware, such as Artifact #319 (Figure 19; also see Figure 11 and Figure C5). The rounded base of
each pewter piece contains a raised well, or boss. A touch mark consisting of a crowned Inches 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Centimeters
Illustration by author. Figure 18. Illustration of Type #4. Inches 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Centimeters
Illustration by author. Figure 19. Illustration of Type #5. 146 rose with the initials “B” and “H” graces the top of the basins’ rims (see Figure 12). A more detailed study of this touch mark attempted to verify the company of manufacture and corresponding date range. So far, the only conclusive evidence suggests a Continental
European source of manufacture or retail. The overall diameter of each item in Type #5, or Artifact #319, measures approximately 28.61 cm (11.26 in). This diameter places this type directly into the diameter range of a “dish,” despite the variations in ranges provided by historical and archaeological sources (Beaudry et al. 1983; Gotelipe-Miller 1990). The definition of a dish, or a vessel with a diameter ranging between 30.50 cm (12 in) and
45.70 cm (18 in), as presented by Hornsby provides the only exception. Because
Hornsby’s division between plates and dishes relies on higher numbers based garnered from collector’s pieces, consideration of historically derived ranges outweighs this division (Hornsby 1983). Additionally, the definition for this type needs further clarification since the depth range of these pewter wares is well over 3 cm (1.18 in). Thus, this type is a “deep” dish. If Hornsby’s assertion that deep-bowled plates only appeared in the eighteenth century is valid, then Artifact #319 dishes fit into this period (Hornsby
1983: 126).
Type #6
They sixth type in the Elmina wreck typology comprises another pewterware
(Figure 20). This type of pewter flatware has a larger diameter than the previous type
(Type #5). The mark found on the rim of the only example of Type #6 (Artifact #357), exactly matches that of Type #5 (Artifact #319; see Figure 12). Based on the overall diameter, 33 cm (12.99 in), this item fits into the category of a “deep” dish. While the Inches 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Centimeters Illustration by author. Figure 20. Illustration of Type #6. 148
general shape of Type #6 (Artifact #357; see Figure 13) appears similar to that of Type #5
(Artifact #319; see Figure 11), the damage to the bottom of the dish creates enough
uncertainty to separate the two. Additionally, the size presents another level of distinction
between the two types. Again, the touch and the depth would characterize this vessel as a
continental European dish from the mid-eighteenth century or after.
Type #7
Finally, the seventh type consists of a small vessel that does not appear to have
originated from a stack and that may be intrusive to the site (Figure 21). Metallurgy
results suggest that the dish is 100 percent aluminum. Metallurgists consider aluminum
(Al) to be highly corrosion-resistant, lightweight, extremely malleable, and tremendously
ductile. The metal has a melting point of 660.32 degrees Celsius (1220.58 degrees
Fahrenheit). The Chinese made objects of aluminum as early as 300 A.D., while Romans
and Greeks used aluminum salts. However, large-scale production of aluminum did not
occur until the mid-1820s. Even then, the metal manufacturers considered the metal semi-
precious. In 1886, an American and a Frenchman both developed an electrolytic process
to extract aluminum, greatly reducing its production price and increasing its prominence within the metal industries. Thus, depending on the date of the wreck, this artifact, whose metal composition manufacturers still considered semi-precious during the early nineteenth century, may or may not be intrusive to the site. Based on the diameter of Type
#7, or Artifact #370, which measured to 14.83 cm (5.84 in), this object would be likely be considered a saucer, which according to Guadalupe-Miller (1990) has a diameter of 16.50 Inches 0 1 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 Centimeters
Illustration by author. Figure 21. Illustration of Type #7. 150
cm (6.50 in) or less. However, Hornsby’s division places Type #7 into the category of a
small plate (12.70 cm to 30.50 cm or 5 in to 12 in; Hornsby 1983:124-131).
Diagnostic Features
Metallurgical Results
Metallurgical analyses may eventually establish provenience based on geologic attributes.
However, current attempts to assign artifacts to a particular geologic deposit based on material content contain two inherent problems. The first is that the artifact must not have undergone chemical or physical alteration that might “invalidate direct comparison of the artifact with the same component material from known deposits” (Ramp et al. 2000:5)
The second problem is that scientists must adequately represent all potential source deposits in an existing database. Thus, the process needs multiple steps to overcome such problems. The artifact’s provenance and the location of the geological sample must be carefully determined. The statistical sampling of deposits or objects must be undertaken.
Scientists must select the most appropriate analytical techniques and must standardize the analytical procedures, establishing databases at the same time. Finally, the ability to evaluate large sets of data must be cultivated (Ramp et al. 2000:5). Each of these steps would require interdisciplinary efforts on an international scale.
Although provenance determination through chemical characterization of
geological deposits is not yet established, metallurgical analyses provide a number of
benefits. First, metallurgical studies accurately determine the nature of the material in
question. For example, Garrard laments the widespread problems of nomenclature for 151
cuprous objects. After considering the English definitions of ‘brass’ and ‘bronze’ for their
original meanings, when used as nouns, when indicating color, when indicating metal
content, for their modern usage and meaning, for industrial meanings, and in terms of
color range; Garrard argues that descriptors for metals that have not undergone
metallurgical analysis are “cuprous objects” or “cuprous metalwork.” These terms
provide a “general and neutral” description, while also being accurate, “for [they] merely indicate a class of objects whose metal is wholly or substantially of copper” (Garrard
1980b:27). Only when metallurgical analyses have determined the exact metal content should scientists use the terms “copper,” “brass,” or “bronze.” However, Garrard does provide a procedure in which scientists can more fully describe metal artifacts without metallurgical testing. He uses the term “cuprous object” for items that contain an uncertain quantity of copper; while he deemed “cuprous alloy” for a metal whose color suggests with reasonable certainty that the object must be made from an alloy (Garrard
1980b:29). Gerrard’s structure provides a degree of accuracy, clarity, and standardization.
Tests run on the samples through Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS)
considered all metals (copper [Cu], zinc [Zn], tin [Sn], lead [Pb], iron [Fe], nickel [Ni],
manganese [Mn], antimony [Sb], and silver [Ag]), except for gold [Au], platinum [Pt],
and palladium [Pd] (Macauley 2006).2 The majority of brasswares ranged between 70
percent and 76 percent copper and between 23 percent and 29 percent zinc. The brass also
contained traces of iron between 0.30 percent and 2.20 percent. However, the largest quantities of iron came from the rim samples of Artifact #304 and #305 kettles that probably contained an iron band around which manufacturers rolled the rim.
2 For complete results, see Appendix B. 152
Additionally, the brasswares registered trace amounts of lead (0.60-3.40 percent), although inconsistent throughout the samples, and silver (0.10-0.20 percent) in Artifacts
#317 and #332 only. The pewterwares of the Elmina wreck, on the other hand, consist of
92–97 percent tin and 3.40-7.40 percent lead, plus traces of iron (0.30-1.10 percent).
Additionally, Artifact #357 contains trace amounts of copper at levels of 0.20-0.40 percent. According to research by Brett (1983), Hornsby (1983) and Hornsby, Weinstein, and Homer (1989), pewter from the Elmina wreck consists of the finest pewter, with a composition of mostly tin and small amounts of copper.3 Artifact #370 measured 100 percent aluminum.
Scientists completed metallurgical testing on a number of metal wares, of both pewter and cuprous alloys, with known provenances, especially within the realm of West
African exchange. Generally English pewter pieces from the mid-seventeenth to mid- nineteenth centuries contained 95 percent tin (± 2 percent), 1-1.50 percent copper and 1-3 percent lead (Brett 1983:11; Hornsby, Weinstein, Homer 1989:47). Brownsword and
Pitt’s examination of thirteenth- through sixteenth-century English pewter flatware shows a general composition of 95-98.80 percent zinc, 0.55-2.63 percentcopper and less than
0.05-3.30 percent lead (Brownsword and Pitt 1984:240-241). While Artifact #357 from the Elmina pewter collection fits this pattern, with the exception of trace amounts of iron, the pewter wares in Artifact #319 contain no copper.
Guadalupe-Miller compiled a rim design typology of the different rim styles found in the Port Royal Pewter Collection in order to characterize the pewter flatware in the collection rather than to review dating horizons (Guadalupe-Miller 1990:29). This is an
3 For a more detailed discussion of the history of pewter and its composition see Chapter 5. 153 important consideration since rim design, including size and style, varies over time and within regions, as do decorations. Rim size generally varies from the “Cardinal’s Hat”
(very broad rim and disproportionately small well) to a very narrow rim measuring 1.30 cm (0.50 in) or less. Rim styles range from “plain” with no decoration, to those having one or more “reeds,” or rings, formed by casting or incising. The popularity of a rim size or style varied over time: manufacturers stopped producing broad rimmed vessels in
England after the 1690s, and produced medium rims almost exclusively after the 1720s.
Brownsword and Pitt (1984) in the article “X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of English 13th-
16th Century Pewter Flatware,” suggested that studies of composition and stylistic features overcome the lack of detailed description and comment in the literature. In particular, rim-form provides a useful marker (Brownsword and Pitt 1984). Rims beaded below, such as each of the pewter flatware pieces in the Elmina collection, dated from ca.
1500 onward.
The same remains true for brass vessels, where rim-form is not as viable as a chronological marker. In examining brass, levels of zinc provide a relatively stable horizon because the cementation process of manufacture, while continuing well into the nineteenth century on a small scale, allowed a maximum of 33 percent zinc. Any artifact containing more than 33 percent zinc should post-date 1800, when metallic zinc (spelter) became widely available. Indeed, during this time costs plummeted, leaving copper ores considerably more expensive (Craddock and Hook 1995:186). The Elmina wreck brass contained no more than 29 percent zinc, with the exception of one anomalous sample from Artifact #350a, which showed a composition of 42 percent zinc and 57 percent copper, with the remaining portion of the alloy consisting of lead. Shaw and Craddock 154
tested Ghanaian Coptic Brass Lamps and found levels of zinc (25-34 percent, 64.50-69.50
percent copper) much higher than those compared to the Elmina wreck brasses (Shaw and
Craddock 1993:246). Many of the vessels tested by Craddock and Hook also contained higher levels of zinc, with the exception of two large pans (TA 2235 and TC 2236) and one pan (T 9173) from Bristol. These pans date from 1750 to 1850 and share similar compositions (70.40-75 percent copper, 17.60-25.50 percent zinc, 0.03-0.08 percent iron,
1.48-1.77 percent lead, 0.06-0.08 percent silver and other trace elements) with those found on the Elmina wreck (Craddock and Hook 1995:191). Generally, the Elmina brasses contain more zinc, less copper, and less lead than most of the brasses tested from
If, Benin, the Le Ma’den Ijafen caravan, and twelfth- to seventeenth-century European brasses found in African contexts (Monod 1969:304-308; Willet 1977:4-7). However, some of this discrepancy may stem from the older technology used to test the metals.
Styles and Features
Supply and demand fluctuated over the centuries, as did the styles and principal features of pewter wares. Early pewterers often crafted plain pewter plates devoid of decoration. For example, English pewterers created much plainer and simpler wares than continental pewter, relying mainly “upon beauty of outline and high quality of manufacture” (Bedford 1965:12). Dutch pewter also remained rather plainly decorated throughout its production (Dubbe 1978; Hull and Murrell 1984:20). Another feature, raised bosses in the center of plates and dishes, a characteristic of Artifact #319, appeared on English wares after 1670 and on continental pieces after 1720. Additionally, rims, in both their shape and their width in relation to the overall diameter of the plate or dish, 155 changed over time and based on locale (Brett 1983:37). Early British pewterers often made plates and dishes with narrow rims. In the seventeenth century, most plates and dishes sported broad rims with plain borders. Multiple reeded dishes increased in popularity from the mid-seventeenth century until the turn of the eighteenth century, when simpler styles regained esteem. Plain-rimmed pewter plates, like those found in the
Elmina wreck assemblage, increasingly formed the majority of wares produced, and remained in production into the nineteenth century, long after other styles had been discontinued (Brett 1983:38-49). During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, rims became fairly narrow with plain or single bands of reeding (Brett 1983:113).
Dutch and Flemish pewter, that of the Low Countries, resembled English wares.
Indeed, pewterers working in the Low Countries depended on Cornish tin, even when
Dutch East India company members imported ores from the Dutch East Indies. This dependency on England for ores may have also influenced styles and forms or wares, as the two countries remained inextricably tied to each other by trade networks exchanging metals (tin and copper ores). Both relief and engraving decoration styles remained limited, with the pewterers focusing on color and form. The shared heritage of the Low
Countries also creates difficulties in distinguishing the makers of Dutch and Flemish pieces. While similar to English broad rimmed, single-reeded, and plain-rimmed pieces, a particularly Dutch style emerged in the eighteenth century with square dishes and waved rococo borders (Brett 1983:140, 153).4
4 Researchers must critically examine and analyze paintings in the same manner as historical documents, especially when using such sources to determine styles and trends. 156
Marking Systems
While brasswares rarely possess marks, pewter pieces tend to have at least one
mark distinguishing the ware’s quality, place of production, maker, owner, or some
combination of two or more identifying signatures. Indeed, each nation and certain regions developed their own set of standards by which to evaluate manufactured articles.
Such marks created nonverbal communication between the maker and the consumer of the maker’s product, providing the maker with credit for the object’s merits and the consumer with an avenue of redress for any deficiency (Fennimore 1996:42). The creation of a marking system originated in England when the Worshipful Company of
Goldsmiths of London developed an ordinance in 1363 which stated that each master silversmith must “have a mark by himself, which mark shall be known…to survey their work and allay” (Fennimore 1996:42).
As guilds concerned with the metal industries grew and developed throughout
Europe, systems of marking metalwares became more common. Over time, the system became refined and generally consisted of marks denoting quality, town, guild and
maker’s initials, and, on occasion, capacity. Quality marks identified the proportion of tin
in the alloy. Most countries or regions followed the three standard system of fine (plate),
trifle, and ley pewter. The Netherlands and other Low Countries incorporated a number of
standards into one mark. Pewterers then struck these multidimensional marks in
duplicate, or even triplicate, to indicate the quality of the wares (Hornsby 1983:65-66).
The town or guild mark represented the city or town of production using the coat of arms
and often included an initial of the city or town, whether or not that initial corresponded 157
to the city’s first letter. For example, the pewterers represented the city of Breslau with the letter “W” (Hornsby 1983:66; Stará 1977:8). They designed capacity marks to ensure fair measure. Like quality marks, pewterers determined capacity according to local or regional standards. Over time, national and then continental systems developed, although both Great Britain and the United States maintained separate systems. A maker’s mark, or the initials or full name, a touch, an allegory of a name, a religious motif, or an allegorical figure designated which master pewterer created a particular ware. Initially, a number of these marks also signified the quality or pewter and the amount of lead. Pewterers then employed single marks, like those found on Type #5 and Type #6 of the Elmina wreck assemblage, for distinguishing quality from the late sixteenth century throughout the final
stages of pewter’s production (Stará 1977:9).
Particular marks signified specific meanings. For example, the Tudor Rose, first
used in England during the sixteenth century to identify the highest quality wares, spread
throughout Europe as a symbol for high quality (Brett 1983:235; Hornsby 1983:12;
Verster 1958:51). During the fifteenth century, the crowned hammer identified high
quality pewter in the Netherlands. However, the crowned rose eventually replaced the
crowned hammer, especially for wares produced from imported English tin (Brett
1983:235; Stará 1977:22). The mark not only identified quality wares, but provided an
avenue for competition with the flood of imported English pewter (Dubbe 1978:454).
First mentioned in Antwerp in 1523, the crowned rose remained in general use from
1535-40 and became universal from 1550 onwards (Dubbe 1978:454).
A few distinguishing features separate Low Country from English pewter. Low
Country pewter usually bears maker’s initials within the crown, in either the arch or 158
circlet (Brett 1983:235; Cotterell 1929:48). Continental marks usually showed a more
diminutive size (Cotterell 1929:48). The seventeenth-century Netherlandish pewterers
depicted the rose as fully opened and crowned with three fleurons, or a lily-like stylized
ornament. During the eighteenth century, the rose grew in size and the crown became
closed and more distinctly outlined. The nineteenth-century rose resembled a wheel with
spokes and gradually morphed into vaguer and less distinct shapes. These proportions
between the crown and the rose fluctuated as quality decreased (Jansen 1977).
Identifying marks on pewter can yield precarious results. Not only have many
guild archives been lost, but the widespread use of patronymics5 during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries prevents a straightforward identification of marks based solely on
initials. Pewterers may not have struck up to 30 percent of pewter wares produced over
time with maker’s marks (Hornsby 1983:65). Some marks do provide full names, which are often identifiable through historical or documentary sources. However, initials potentially fit several pewterers, the first initial is not always that of the master’s name or representative of the pewterer’s full name, and sons and successors often used the mark after the father or previous owner leaves the industry. Additionally, a pewterer, especially those in the eighteenth century, may have owned six to ten different punches (Dubbe
1978:470). Such circumstances thwart efforts to identify makers or periods of manufacture based on marks.
While pewterers often marked their wares, brass makers rarely placed marks on pieces they produced. Most of the brass items that carry marks are associated with
domestic lighting, such as candlesticks (Butler et al. 2001:1). Weights and measures
5 The term patronymics refers to the practice of creating last names from the name of one's father, usually the father's given name, or from the paternal side of the family. 159 frequently display marks, which specifically attempted to dissuade fraud. Bells, too, often bear marks of their makers. By the eighteenth century, markings on brass and pewter had become highly unregulated. In general, pewter production in the nineteenth century diminished in face of competition from glass, ceramics, and guilds, and marking became haphazard (Brett 1983:208). At the same time, modern marking practices developed in response to “increasing industrialization of the manufacturing processes and the development of national legislation to regulate commerce and industry.” Thus, modern marks increasingly appeared on base metalware products (Butler et al. 2001:3). Unlike goldsmiths, pewterers, and silversmiths who each worked with one particular material, founders reserved the right to work with copper, brass, and bronze (Fennimore 1996:41).
Several reasons exist for the lack of markings found on cuprous wares. For example,
English founders attempted to follow regulations put forth in the Worshipful Company of
Founders of the City of London’s ordinance of January 27, 1614-1615. This ordinance stated:
be yt [sic] ordained that every person or person using the Art of Mistery of making brasse and copper workes, weights or wares within the Citty and three miles compasse thereof shall from tyme to tyme mark the same worke, weights or wares with their owne proper and severall markes which they shall have allowed to them by the Maister, wardens and assistants of this Mistery or the greater part of them, whereby the wares and workmanships which they make may be knowne when they shalbe viewed and searched and found defective [Fennimore 1996:42].
However, their small size, modest income, and less secure political foundation lent them difficulties in establishing a monopoly over the working of copper, brass and bronze.
Mechanized mass production and its adverse affects on the guild system further reduced the already dubious control of markings on cuprous items (Fennimore 1996:43). 160
Gentle and Feild suggest that brass production remained uncontrolled or checked because it was both a decorative and industrial metal (Gentle and Feild 1998:446). Other craft guilds exacted control over standards of production because they typically had exclusive rights to only one particular material. For example, pewterers held rights over the working of pewter. Founders, on the other hand, worked with copper, brass, and bronze (Fennimore 1996:41). Indeed, both the Founders’ Company and the Armourers and Braziers in England tried to bring all brass-making under one guild, termed a “closed company” (Fennimore 1996: 41). However, such attempts failed as brass workers also worked in copper, iron, steel and a variety of other metals. Thus, workers of brass consistently evaded control from any angle until the nineteenth century’s rise in mass consumption.
Large merchant houses from the early 1800s onwards marked the commodities in their stockrooms, regardless of date or origin (Gentle and Feild 1998:446). Garrard’s
(1980) research states that Nuremburg’s guild of coppersmiths controlled output by requiring members to stamp their registered master-sign on each of their products, suggesting more control over the production of cuprous objects in Germany in earlier centuries (Gerrard 1980b:60). Yet, the increasing number of controls and restrictions placed on the production and exchange of both wrought and raw brass almost certainly led to violations by many brass workers. These workers probably found the practice of marking finished articles unwise, especially when restrictions banned the use of imported metal. Conclusively verifying that manufacturers used imported metal in production and continued practices of melting down and remaking brass objects made controlling the 161 brass trade in England and other countries remarkably difficult (Gentle and Feild
1998:446).
Elmina Wreck Makers’ Marks
Utilitarian brass objects rarely survived to substantiate or contradict documentary information existing on brass marks. Yet, antique dealers, brass collectors, museum curators, and archaeologists have compiled studies of marks on brass objects (Butler et al.
2001; Fennimore 1996; Gentle and Feild 1998; Wheeler 1975). The Elmina wreck site yielded four types of brasswares, only one of which manufacturers stamped, Artifact #305 in Type #1 (see Figure 7). Of the nine artifacts within this type, only two kettles appear to bear the mark. Artifacts #305b and #305c both carry the same mark in varying degrees of partiality. The mark on Artifact #305b is more complete but less distinct, while the mark on Artifact #305c retained more crispness but is less complete. The mark could possibly be a plant version of the fleur-de-Lis or a type of cross, with the letters “M” and “W” gracing each side of a stalk or transect. The use of the fleur-de-lis may indicate French manufacture; however, other countries also employed the fleur-de-lis in their marks.
Research provides no conclusive region of manufacture thus far. A determination of age and origin of brass objects must also consider style, material and condition, and has been argued to be, at best, “a matter of informed opinion” (Butler et al. 2001:1).
The mark that graces the pewter basins consists of a crowned rose with the letters
“B” and “H” in the circlet part of the crown (see Figure 12). Research conducted on pewter marks found that only continental European manufacturers incorporated letters inside of the crown, suggesting Belgian, Dutch, French, German, or Swiss origin 162
(Cotterell et al. 1972). Pewterers often added only the initials of the maker to mark until the middle of the eighteenth century, when full names began to grace marks.
Additionally, the use of a compound mark rarely took place before the second half of the sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century, isolated quality marks became very widespread, suggesting that the manufacture of the pewter basins found on the Elmina wreck occurred sometime after the 1550s (Stará 1977:9). Although the mark provides information on temporal range and locality, the morphology of the basin should be considered when determining the origin of a pewter piece. As discussed above, the rim style and size generally helps determine the category of pewter, and subsequently its date.
Cotterell typed standard rim forms in use from the seventeenth century until the decline of the industry, suggesting that a plain-rimmed vessel, such as Type #6, was generally produced ca. 1730 onwards (Cotterell 1929:130-131). Additionally, the deep bowl of both types of pewter vessels from the Elmina wreck suggests manufacture well into the eighteenth century. For both Artifacts #319 and #357, combining information from the mark and the morphology suggests a continental European origin and a potential date of manufacture, when considered in context with the other artifacts from the wreck, sometime during or after the early 1700s.
Summary
A dearth of concrete information exists concerning the types and category of metalwares used in exploration, colonization, and subsequent interpersonal interactions in
West Africa. Terrestrial archaeological studies conducted throughout West Africa only recovered fragments and reworked metal trade goods at the closing stages of distribution. 163
Additionally, historical records of the West African trade often contain general categories or gross descriptions of metalwares, such as “hardware,” rather than detailed inventories and discriminating typesets. The Elmina wreck provides one of the first assemblages of metal trade goods prior to initial distribution, which reveals the wide array and qualities of brass and pewter wares entering the West African trade. Thus, this wreck and its extensive volume of trade goods, particularly brass and pewter wares, presents a unique opportunity to gain new perspective on African-European trade and to understand the broader trade networks on the West African littoral. Indeed, the metalware assemblage provides insight into European production, which strove to manufacture goods specifically tailored to the cultural preferences of West African markets. Africans, as selective, demanding consumers of European trade goods, selected, used, and reworked these goods, engaging in a unique dialogue with European material things. CHAPTER VII
COMPARISONS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
Over time, increasing worldwide demand for metalwares drew from expanding metal industries in Europe whose products changed little from the traditionally produced types. Indeed, these products changed little despite technological advances in mass production, metallurgy, and avenues for distribution driven by the industrial revolution.
Additionally, in his study of Senegambian trade, Philip Curtin argued that, overall, the distribution of imports remained stable throughout the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, finally morphing into a new pattern in the early nineteenth century as legitimate trade replaced commerce driven by slaving. He suggested that the constant market preferences stemmed from the importation of certain items throughout the early years of the African trade by the Portuguese and the Dutch. Thus, traders of the eighteenth century, predominantly English and French, had to draw from old sources of supply or copy designs. Curtin noted that brass or guinea pans, became shorter and had greater ranges in size than the original straight-sided Spanish pans measuring 21 cm in height.
For example, French pans typically came in three sizes, the smallest weighing 0.50 kg
(17.64 oz), the middle at 0.75 kg (26.46 oz), and the largest at 1 kg (35.27 oz). These
164 165 pans varied in size from 22 cm in diameter and 5.50 cm in depth to 31 cm in diameter and
8 cm in depth (Curtin 1975:315). The range in sizes grew, undoubtedly, as new technology allowed for quicker and less expensive production. Yet, the output from the metal industry typically consisted of traditionally produced vessel types (Day 1973:169).
Despite the limited number of morphological forms, various cultural groups used such metal vessels in a vast number of contexts and inscribed them with innumerable functions. The metalwares found on the Elmina wreck can be discussed in terms of their
European, African, and Atlantic World contexts, and their functions as utilitarian wares, and roles in ceremonial, ritual, and socio-political milieus.
Metalwares in Europe
Europeans employed brasswares in traditional domestic settings as vessels for food preparation and serving, as candlesticks and candle-snuffers, tobacco boxes, dog collars, curfews (vessels used to cover embers on the hearth at night), and a myriad other items (Eveleigh 1995). Manufacturers of industrial components used brass for items such as tubing and large vats. Military uses for brass included ordnance, shells, and sheathing for ships. Brass comprised a number of scientific instruments, such as astrolabes. In its highest quality, brass formed an inexpensive substitute for gold, being used in such decorative items as jewelry and other ornamentations (Day 1973:123; Eveleigh 1995:3).
Indeed, as new technological advancements in mass production, such as casting, became more common and less expensive, the brass industry greatly expanded its range of production. Brass companies manufactured innumerable types of hardware, from furniture fixtures like brass handles, to shoe rivets, gaslight and plumbing accessories, 166 and horse tack. Additionally, brass toys grew in popularity, as did brass musical instruments (Eveleigh 1995).
While the European use for pewter rarely extended beyond the domestic spheres of the kitchen and the table, pewterwares functioned as decorative and functional pieces.
Often substituted for the more expensive silver, pewterers produced candlesticks, eating and drinking utensils, kitchen implements, storage containers, and items for personal care, such as soap-boxes, shaving-mugs, and syringes. Other functional items made of pewter included pipes, window-fasteners, buttons and buckles, and, in some cases, roofing-tiles and gutters (Nadolski 1987:41-42). Additionally, display pewter or relief- decorated pewter, in addition to pewter in the same design as contemporary silver pieces, gave middle-class Europeans an opportunity to portray fashionable elegance and live as comfortably as wealthier households (Haedeke 1970:178-181).
Thus, within European societies, brass and pewter vessels functioned as utilitarian wares, but fluctuated over time in their capacity to display status and wealth, as well.
Europeans, especially the English, produced a large proportion of metalwares, or imported and then re-exported them as trade goods, developing manufacturing techniques and technologies that secured markets around the world. These technologies and markets catapulted European countries into prominent positions of power in the burgeoning world market.
Metalwares as Cargo
A number of documentary sources address the quantities, prices, and types of
European metal wares exported to Africa. For example, the Norman, a galley trading 167 goods on behalf of the Royal African Company of England to Sherbrow on the Windward
Coast of Africa, carried a variety of metal commodities. In particular, 3 casks of pewter and 11 casks of brass kettles filled the Norman’s hold. The pewterware included various sized “potts” and tankards, and 10 dozen plates, priced at 10 shillings each.1 The brass kettles numbered 280 and weighed 344.50 kg (758 lbs or 1,229.24 g/2.71 lbs per kettle,
Donnan 1965:179-180). The King Solomon, also of the Royal African Company of
England, traded in West Africa in 1720. Her cargo included four casks of brass kettles weighing 408.72 kg (8 cwt and 5 lbs), worth a total of ^60. The cargo also contained three casks of Guinea brass pans at an estimated worth of ^48. The invoice also listed nine casks of pewter “basons” priced at ^83 (Donnan 1965:245). In 1721, John Atkins sailed with 20 brass kettles, 28 brass kettles, 25 brass kettles, 251 Guinea pans, 130 900- gram (two-pound) Guinea Basins, 73 1,400-gram (three-pound) Guinea basins, 13
1,814.34-gram (four-pound) Guinea basins (Donnan 1965:275). A 1725 invoice listed 72 basons, a bundle of 40 neptunes, and 2 casks packed with more than 200 small pans in the cargo hold of the Dispatch (Donnan 1965:323-325). The Judith left London on 8 July
1727 carrying 13 “barrells” of pewter in 900-gram and 1,400-gram (two- and three- pound) sizes and a cask of 200 battery brass pans (Donnan 1965:362).
Later, Liverpool exports numbered 38,152.56 g (751 cwt) of wrought pewter and
134.5 metric tons of wrought pewter in 1770 (Donnan 1965:536). The 1789 voyage of
John Johnston to Quashies Town listed the sale of four brass pans and 1,400 g (3 lbs) of
1 The British Pound Sterling (^) was historically divided into twenty shillings (s). Each shilling was worth twelve pence so that a pound was worth 240 pence. The symbol, “s”, for shilling is not representative of the word shilling but rather refers to solidus. The letter “d” signifies pence, referring to the term denarius. Both solidus and denarius as terms originate from the Latin words for Roman coins, as does librae or the word signified by the symbol ^. 168
pewter basins in three days. Further sales during the trip included over 1,200 brass pans
ranging in size from 48.30 cm to 55.90 cm (19-22 in) and 818.20 kg (1,800 lbs) of
assorted pewter basins for 300 slaves in Annamaboe from 1790-1791 (Donnan 1931:613-
614). Johnston also sold 48 brass pans and 32.70 km (72 lbs) of pewter basons for 12
slaves in Cormantyne (Donnan 1965:614). Indeed, John Adams published his Remarks in
1822, noting that the “natives” of Bonny and New Calabar (Warre) called slaves “brass country negroes” based on the neptunes for which the slaves are exchanged (Adams 1970
[1822]:122).
European merchants, such as those above, did not load the cargo holds of the
Elmina wreck with a “speculative” cargo in that the cargo was chosen completely by the guesswork. Rather, long established traditional items, which passed in and out of fashion, made up the cargo. The sample of the cargo found on the Elmina wreck represents the accumulation of goods going to the African coast, but may not be the ideal cargo for its time or the cargo originally stowed on board the vessel prior to its departure from
European waters. The vessel may have been stopping at Elmina to pick up or trade for more desired goods in other African markets, or may have done so at previous stops.
Trade networks had to provide culturally appropriate consumer goods for those populations that originally inhabited West Africa, in addition to those Europeans who lived there. Thus, vessels engaging in commerce carried a “speculative cargo” that would meet the varied needs. Vessels bound for West Africa, like the Elmina wreck, held globally derived material culture that represented differing availability and diverse local circumstances that affected the selection process. Additionally, shipwrecks provide evidence for patterns of continuity and change over time as exchange routes became more 169
established and then shifted to meet changing cultural and social demands, such as the
change from the slave trade to legitimate operations once abolition was established. The
archaeological investigation of more wrecks involved in both aspects of trade and of
those tightly dated to the transitional period would elucidate the patterns of change and
the ebbs and flows in demand for particular goods. Despite the dearth of such
information, the Elmina wreck does yield information capable of answering questions
concerning the needs and wants of consumers that imbued trade goods with more than
utilitarian meanings (Staniforth 2003:103).
The Function of Cuprous Metals in West African Society2
Gold Coast metal production only included iron and gold, with the remainder of
the metals, including silver, copper, brass, pewter, lead, and other alloys, coming from
commerce with Europeans on the coast or merchants in the Sahel and other areas of the
West African interior (Garrard 1979:36). Copper’s scarcity in West Africa, particularly on
the Gold Coast, largely determined the metal’s role as a medium of exchange, power, and
art, imbuing the metal with a sense of magic and spirituality. The metal’s inherent
aesthetics and intrinsic properties of malleability, durability, and ductility further contributed to its popularity. Over time, interregional, and international, trade networks carried increasing amounts of copper and copper alloy commodities to West Africa to meet demand. Africans utilized the cuprous goods, without physical alteration, in a number of contexts that greatly departed from European conception for such items.
Coastal Africans metalworkers also reworked European materials, and those from other
2 For a more in-depth discussion of brass and copper in West African society, see Chapter 5. 170 parts of Africa, into distinctively African utilitarian and ceremonial objects, such as forowa, negotiating European influence.
Africans fashioned European- and African-supplied metal and metal containers into a variety of objects. Gold Coast brasscasters created forowa and kuduo, personal adornments, and items associated with the gold trade, including gold dust spoons, goldweights, gold dust boxes, and scale pans (Cole and Ross 1977:62-85; DeCorse
2001:128-135; Gerrard 1979:36-43).3 These utilitarian items held great significance. For example, at Elmina and in other parts of the Gold Coast, metal worn by females indicated rites of passage from puberty to womanhood, with unmarried girls wearing iron bracelets and women wearing rings of copper or tin and bracelets of copper and brass. Some cultural groups distinguished prostitutes by the copper leg rings attached with bells they often wore (de Marees 1965 [1624]:269-270; Herbert 1973:183). Forowa filled with gold dust traditionally supported the head of a deceased Elminan at burial, showing the spiritual and ceremonial significance of such metals (DeCorse 2001:133).
Indeed, Gold Coast Africans not only reworked brass basins into items of personal adornment, but they used imported metal without reworking in religious and ceremonial contexts. For example, Africans on the Gold Coast set large cuprous basins in graves and women beat them at the time of a death (de Marees 1965 [1624]:281, 343; Herbert
1973:187). The Asante created shrines or altars to their sky god by placing a brass basin in the fork of a tree. Furthermore, Asante sacrifices and ceremonies required brass basins for various purposes (Herbert 1973:188; Rattray 1971 [1923]:142). Indeed, the esteem
West Africans ascribed to copper and brass often rivaled that of gold. Herbert insightfully
3 For further discussion, see Chapter 5. 171 suggests that the Asante purposely hid the Golden Stool, a sacred object symbolizing the
Asante kingship, between two large brass pans in 1896 to prevent its capture by the
British (Herbert 1973:193-194).
The large variety of imported metalwares served the needs of West Africans on a number of levels. Imported metalwares played important roles in domestic and ceremonial or ritualistic settings. De Marees suggests that the women of Elmina were
“wise and diligent in house keeping, good House-wives and Cookes, but not very skilfull to make cleane and scoure their Copper Kettles and Dishes, to make them shine” (de
Marees 1965 [1624]:270). Africans used small basins or pans to anoint themselves, as grave goods, and to carry various items. They washed and bathed in barber’s basins, sometimes catching hair in such vessels during a trimming or shaving. Platters functioned as covers, keeping “dust and filth from falling into their things” (Alpern 1995:15-16; de
Marees 1965 [1624]:281). Africans butchered and cleaned goats, pigs and other small animals in neptunes. Basins functioned as abodes of deities, altars, vessels for catching blood, and as instruments used in divination rituals (Alpern 1995:15-16). Additionally,
West Africans, especially in Bonny, New Calabar, and near Elmina, required large brass pans to make salt, a major medium of exchange, by evaporating sea water (Adams 1970
[1822]:122). Africans employed posnets or small bowls “without edges” in which to
“dresse their meat” (de Marees 1965 [1624]:281). Kettles served as fetching and carrying devices for water and in some cases, tinned copper pots stored the water for drinking.
Finally, the Akan panned for gold with European metal basins and, in some places, played them as percussion instruments (Alpern 1995:15-16). 172
However, even metalwares used in domestic settings functioned on another level, one to display wealth or status. For example, Müller described the superior manner of living found in upper class households in the West African hinterlands. While the lower class households utilized copper and brasswares, in addition to calabash and earthenware, upper class Africans graced their tables with linens, silver, and pewter. 4 Appropriately, de
Marees concludes his section on wares and their uses by noting that the “cheifest wares… and the most used among them, is, Linnen, Cloth, Brasse, and Copper things, Basons,
Kettles, Knives, and Corals” (de Marees 1965 [1624]:282).
Functions of Metal Commodities throughout the Atlantic World
Copper and its alloys rose in demand during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in a variety of milieus, including military manufactures, industrial products, and domestic spheres. Rising demand in European markets, and growing potential for export to those in
North America and Africa, caused increased production. As in West Africa, a large range of copper and brass articles fit into Amerindian belief systems and world-views, inundating a large portion of North American trade networks (Turgeon 1997:9). The color and shine of the objects symbolized life, fertility, and vitality, and power (Turgeon
1997:9). Amerindians used the copper products, especially kettles, to create items of decoration and personal adornment. Turgeon described kettles found along French-run trade routes in the Americas as a point of entry into the study of relations between
Quebecers and Amerindians. More importantly, his work discussed the “mediating function that objects perform in intercultural contact” (Turgeon 1997:2). Indeed,
4 For a more extensive discussion, see Chapter 5. 173 according to Turgeon, objects act as non-verbal expressions of relationships between groups of people (Glassie 1991:3-14; Turgeon 1997:3). Reworked pieces often graced ceremonies and rituals, and played special roles in battles, diplomatic missions, holidays, and funeral rites (Turgeon 1997:10). Kettles found uses in both culinary and funeral rites, particularly during feasts, carrying high levels of symbolic and political powers (Turgeon
1997:10-15).
As with sources on European brasswares in Africa, those in North America rarely contain detailed descriptions. However, archaeological examples provide some of the morphological details. Turgeon attributed specific manufacturing techniques to defining characteristics of kettles from Flanders and France. Indeed, Flanders and northern France produced a type of kettle with lips formed by folded brass over iron bands, rolled wrought iron handles, and two rectangular bail attachments. Another type, from southwestern
France, consisted of red copper, a flared rim, and iron bail attachments riveted to the kettle (Turgeon 1997:6-7). A similar kettle measured 26.70 cm (10.50 in) high by 30.50 cm (12 in, top diameter) by 38.10 cm (15 in, bottom diameter). A smaller brass kettle measured 7.60 cm (3 in) in height and 19.40 cm (7.63 in) diameter. Iron bails grace the two latter kettles, which come from a Wisconsin Indian Village, called Carcajou (Brown
1918:65, 75-76). The Elmina wreck kettles are smaller than the first example and larger than the second. Additionally, they do not share the same morphology, having smaller base than top diameters, and rolled-brass rims and handles. Other examples from grave sites include those examined by Brain (1979), Stowe (1975), and Wheeler (1975).
Stowe’s archaeological investigation of an eighteenth-century Indian burial on Mobile
Bay detailed the finding of a brass kettle covering the skull of a skeleton, in addition to a 174
number of other contact period trade items such as beads, gun flints, a sword, an axe, and
spikes. The brass kettle measured 39.30 cm (15.50 in) in diameter and 22 cm (8.70 in)
deep, and had copper riveted attachments for an iron bail (Stowe 1975:71). Again, this
kettle is larger than the largest in the Elmina assemblage. However, kettles, regardless of
type, comprised typical trade packages in both North America and Africa.
Archaeologists recovered additional examples from rivers used by fur traders. A
number of archaeological investigations canvassed the lakes, streams, and rivers of the
Minnesota-Ontario border in search of trade goods lost along the canoe routes and
portages of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English and French fur traders. A
number of sites yielded cuprous wares, including nests of brass kettles. For example,
archaeologists recovered a nest of 17 brass kettles, one additional kettle and one brass
kettle cover from the Granite and Pine rivers. These sub-cylindrical kettles each have
rolled rims formed around an iron wire, spiral marks about five mm apart on the interior
from the manufacturing process, and two lugs (otherwise called ears) riveted to the rim.
Wheelers suggests that the spiral marks, produced on a lathe while being polished as the
final stages of manufacture, signify an origin in a Great British brass battery factory from
1785 to 1820 (Wheeler 1975:56). Similar, although not identical, spiral marks appear on
the kettles from the Elmina assemblage, possibly suggesting a corresponding date or
origin of manufacture or, at least, similar manufacturing techniques. The top of each
basin measures 3.20 cm (1.25 in) smaller in diameter than the base of the next larger size,
starting at 16.40 cm (6.44 in) in diameter and 9.50 cm (3.75 in) in height and ending with
the largest kettle measuring 43.20 cm (17 in) in diameter and 20.30 cm (8 in) in height.
The chemical composition of the brass consists of 65.60 percent copper, 31.60 percent 175
zinc, and 2.75 percent lead (Wheeler 1975:54-58). These brass and copper wares also
show signs of reworking. Wheeler described and illustrated a copper vessel that shows
great similarities, in both shape and method of construction, to Indian-made bark dishes
(Wheeler 1985:86). Although they are contemporary with the Elmina wreck, the Granite
and Pine River kettles consist of higher percentages of both zinc and lead, and are more
regular in size than the Elmina brass kettles.
Various Native American burials also contained brass kettles, functioning either
as grave furniture or as ritualistic coverings for skulls in burials (Brain 1979; Fitzgerald
1988; Harper 1975; Kenyon 1982). Indeed, the only known parallel examples to kettles found on the Elmina wreck come from a Tunica Indian village site in Louisiana, called
Trudeau. Archaeologists Jeffrey P. Brain studied the assemblage from this site after
archaeologists excavated the site during 1968-1970. The Tunica collection contains a large number of copper and copper alloy objects, including ornamental and utilitarian items. These items not only illustrate the extensive trade networks in which the Tunica
played a part, but also demonstrate the ways in which the Tunica used the traded items.
Indeed, many of the cuprous objects received modification post-manufacture, suggesting
that the Tunica, much like West Africans, employed the trade goods in ways other than, or in addition to, those originally intended during manufacture for European use (Brain
1979:164). For example, the Tunica Indians replaced “spot pots of earth,” or holes dug
into the ground, with kettles in their salt-making endeavors (Le Page du Pratz 1975
[1774]:171; Martin 1975).
The Tunica collection consisted of 98 kettles made of both sheet brass and sheet
copper, with rolled rims containing iron reinforcements (except for two kettles). Brain 176
suggested that these kettles represent the “common types known to have been manufactured in France and England in the eighteenth century,” made in small, medium,
and large sizes. This information, derived from lists of trade goods and supplies sent to
and received by the Louisiana Colony between 1701-1703 and 1733-1734, describes
medium-sized kettles as weighing 4-8 lbs each (Brain 1979:289-301). Thus, Brain argued
that the small-sized kettles fell short of this weight and the larger kettles weighed
anything more than 8 lbs (Brain 1979:164). Brain divided the 98 kettles in the collection
into six different types based on shape and sub-divided these types into varieties based on
bail attachment (Brain 1979:164). Brain’s Type B kettles, characterized by rounded
profiles, share morphological features with those of the Elmina wreck. While Variety 1
kettles contain bail ears of folded sheet brass that straddled the rim, Variety 2 kettles, like
those in the Elmina collection, have rolled sheet brass handles instead of bail attachments.
Finally, Variety 3 originally contained handles like those of Variety 2; however, iron loop
bail attachments replaced the handles. Brain suggested that this attachment may have
been more useful to the Tunica. However, he considered the option that the iron bail ears
may have been a convenient or easily procured repair (Brain 1979:174-175).
Since no other known examples of Type B, Variety 2 kettles exist outside of the
Tunica and Elmina collections, a number of questions concerning manufacture and
distribution arise. First, the known distribution is comparatively small and extensive
archaeological investigations would have to be undertaken to understand the true extent
of manufacture, distribution, and use for this particular type of kettle. However, this type
of kettle may have only been manufactured in restricted quantities, by one company, for a
limited range of time, or a combination of all three. Distribution may have been limited to 177
certain French, English, or other European groups. Finally, although typically limited to a
few traditionally produced designs, manufacturers may have produced this type of kettle
for a specific purpose or market with a limited scope of distribution (Day 1973:169).
Archaeologists have also uncovered a number of sites containing pewterware. For
example, the Henrietta Marie carried a number of basins, which archaeologists found on-
site in stacks still containing the straw and paper used as packing material. The stacked
pewter basins ranged in size from 33.30 cm (13.10 in) in diameter by 8 cm (3.10 in) in
depth, to 37.50 cm (14.80 in) in diameter, and 38 cm (15 in) in diameter by 9 cm (3.50
in) in depth. Additionally, archaeologists recovered a pewter plate, measuring 22.70 cm
(8.90 in) by 1.20 (0.50 in) cm, with visible knife marks, an owner’s mark of “HM” on the
back, and a maker’s mark indicating its creation by Joseph Hodges, a London pewterer
(Burnside 1997:68, 116; Burnside 2002:87, 94). These pewter plates comprise only a small portion of the original cargo. Archaeologists suggested that the Henrietta Marie carried pewter plates intended for European needs, but merchants loaded surplus supplies for trade in Africa and the Caribbean (Burnside 1997:68, 116; Burnside 2002:87, 94).
The Elmina wreck’s load of pewter probably also pulled from surplus stores originally intended for European consumption.
Pewter from Port Royal, dating to the late seventeenth century, consisted of 155 pieces of flatware from England, continental European sources, and the English colony.
Plates composed the majority of the collection, which also includes dishes, chargers, and basins. Guadalupe-Miller studied the collection by separating the flatware based on size and depth, and by determining makers and owners from identifying marks. The vast majority of the flatware from the Port Royal collection is much older than that of the 178
Elmina wreck; thus, most show differences in rim form. Indeed, the majority of wares have multiple reeded rims, while those of the Elmina collection are plain. Additionally, the maker’s marks have identified English pewterers as the main source of origin. The basins (or bowls) recovered from the collection measured 28.70 cm (11.30 in) in diameter, 2.80 cm (1.10 in) in rim width, 10.30 in rim ratio (narrow), and 6.70 cm (2.60 in) in depth, and 33.30 (13.10 in) cm in diameter, 1.70 cm (0.70 in) in rim width, 19.60 in rim ratio (narrow), and 7 cm (2.80 in) in depth. The deep dish measured 36 cm (14.20 in) in diameter, 3.40 cm (1.30 in) in rim width, with a rim ratio of 10.60 (narrow) and a depth of 4.10 cm (1.60 in). Elmina’s Type #5 “deep” dishes share similar dimensions with the dimensions of the first basin listed above from Port Royal. However, Elmina’s pewter wares are shallower, corresponding to the depth of the Port Royal deep dish instead of the basins. Elmina Type #6 shares only diameter dimensions with the second basin listed above from Port Royal. The rest of Type #6’s dimensions do not correspond.
The assemblages from Native American burials, sites related to the North
American fur trade, Colonial American settlement sites, shipwrecks found throughout the
Atlantic World, and both underwater and terrestrial sites throughout West Africa each add new dimensions and deeper understandings of the burgeoning modern world economy. In particular, maritime routes accessing the markets of western Africa did not trigger an immediate transfiguration in the nature of the trade developed by trans-Saharan transactions. Rather, the transportation of goods by sea prompted a massive increase in the quantities of imports entering West African trade. The coastal centers that arose to distribute incoming goods moved from the periphery of trade to a more prominent role, challenging older centers of trade located in the interior (Herbert 1984:123). West African 179
exchange required an assemblage of products from worldwide markets. Thus, the burgeoning African-European trade placed even greater demands on European manufacturers, who also strove to meet demands from American and Asian markets.
These demands caused expansion in worldwide spheres of economic activity,
technological ingenuity, and cultural negotiation.
West Africa’s Role in the Modern World Economy
As Skowronek discussed in his article, “The Spanish Philippines: Archaeological
Perspectives on Colonial Economics and Society,” a number of scholars (Bergesen
1995:201; Frank 1995:189) challenged the Eurocentric view of “the” world economy.
Instead, these scholars suggested that an Afro-Eurasian world economic system dominated for over 5,000 years, with European states as the periphery. Africans, in addition to Asians, limited exchange at coastal ports so that Asia and Africa remained devoid of a prominent European contingency from the late fifteenth to the early nineteenth century (Skowronek 1998:46). However, West Africans exacted less control than Asians in regulating exchange, allowing trade along most of the littoral. From the fifteenth century on, coastal areas, which had been at the periphery of West Africa trading systems, developed the ability to compete with the older, interior centers of trade. Not only did exchange routes and markets shift, but increased demand placed unprecedented pressures on European manufacturers (Herbert 1984:123). Additionally, Europeans retained a distinct advantage with sea transport and increasing sophistication in
production technology. Not only did Europeans produce more goods, especially metalwares, at cheaper prices and a quicker rate, they could carry more goods to the 180
African littoral. Once there, Europeans sold trade goods, especially metalwares, for prices
with which overland traders could not compete, establishing themselves as a major source
of competition for economic power within West Africa.
As relations between Africans and Europeans developed along the west coast of
Africa, interactions took place in a world system that resembled the Bronze Age economy
of the late third and early second millennia B.C. The organization of this world system
centered around a number of coexisting “core” powers that became increasingly integrated over the thirteenth and first half of the fourteenth century. In this system, no single power dictated the terms of production and trade and, thus, no single geographic
entity held power as the center of the system. The same is true of West Africa, especially
the Gold Coast, as Europeans established their entrepôt systems, causing trade networks
to shift towards the coast. Indeed, Portuguese intruders penetrated the old world system of
Africa with a new approach that initially included plunder and short-term amassment rather than long-term exchange. This new approach modified the old system, which was
adapted to multiple trading partners with long-term relations that benefited each partner,
and created basic transformations (Abu-Lughod 1989:61). Over time, the Gold Coast
developed a regional system that did not contain a dominant core with economically viable peripheral zones. Rather, the system consisted of “a patchwork of overlapping,
geographically disparate core regions or foci of cultural development, each of which
primarily exploited its own immediate hinterland” (Kohl 1987:148). However, the
peripheries between European entrepôts along the Gold Coast and West African
economic centers in the hinterlands played a large role in exchange by developing or
terminating relations dependent on their self-interests. 181
The transition from the slave trade to the post-abolition “legitimate trade” did not occur uniformly throughout West Africa.5 For example, interior West African societies, such as those of the western Sahel region, supplied a significant number of slaves for the
Atlantic trade but the high cost of transport for agricultural produce excluded them from the “legitimate” commerce (McDougall 1995:215-239). On the other hand, some of the areas in West Africa that only marginally participated in the slave trade became major suppliers for “legitimate” commerce (Law 1995:6). In the case of the Gold Coast, British abolition of the slave trade in 1807 had a strong, negative impact on coastal economies and societies until the 1820s when the price and number of slaves sold recovered. For example, from the period of abolition until 1816, the Asante commenced military campaigns to overthrow Fante states. By doing so, Asante repositioned itself as the major political power along the majority of the Gold Coast littoral. After a defeat by the British in 1826, the Asante lost their prominent position and the British abolition greatly reduced demand for Asante’s major item of commerce, slaves. During this time (1790s on), the
Gold Coast slave trade only supplied local demand, no longer exporting slaves to the
Americas (Lovejoy and Richardson 1995:33). Thus, the Asante responded by selling commodities such as slaves and palm oil to the Fante in return for European goods, especially metalwares, which Fante purchased by selling palm oil (Austin 1995:93-96).
Gold Coast Africans still desired the commodities of Europeans, especially brass
5 Towards the legal ending of the Atlantic slave trade by the United States and Britain, contemporaries termed the non-slave trade, which principally included agricultural products such as palm oil, gum arabic, and groundnuts (peanuts), “legitimate” commerce. However, Law views the term “legitimate” as objectionable since it obscure the fact that the slave trade remained “legitimate” in African societies (making it a Eurocentric term) and it hides the fact that Africa exported commodities other than slaves before the legal abolition of the slave trade. Law does point out that the term is so deeply embedded in the literature that its use is hard to avoid (Law 1995:1, 26). 182
and pewter containers, trading gold, ivory, kola nuts, palm oil, and other agricultural
products instead of slaves (Austin 1995:93-96). This increasing production of commercial
crops, both for export and internal consumption, created a large need for slaves within
West Africa itself (Kea 1995:120; Lovejoy and Richardson 1995:40). Following Manning
(1990), who recognized the “web of interactions that may fairly be labeled a world market
for forced labor,” Lovejoy and Richardson argued that the slave trade consisted of a series
of inter-related markets (Lovejoy and Richardson 1995:50). Rather than being solely
relegated to West Africa, these inter-related markets spread throughout the Atlantic
world. Along the Gold Coast, the rising prominence of the palm oil trade did not mark a
break with the slave trade, but rather signaled continuity as trade transition in West Africa
during the nineteenth century (Lynn 1997:32-33). Indeed, Gold Coast Africans not only
produced palm oil and extensively traded it within the region, but they had done so for
centuries prior to abolition. Additionally, the changing political and economic situations
did not completely transform exchange patterns and the types of commodities desired
along the Gold Coast.
While continuity characterized trade to some degree along the Gold Coast, nineteenth-century Europeans searched for new areas in which to invest, new sources of raw materials and labor power to exploit, and increased markets in which to sell their steadily increasing numbers of manufactured goods. Europeans introduced new technologies to Africa in an effort to meet demands of nineteenth-century industrialization. Bredwa-Mensah’s examination of the Bibease plantations illustrates the transformations in European-African relations.6 With the inability to sustain profitability
6 For a more detailed discussion of Bredwa-Mensah’s work, see Chapter 4. 183
through “legitimate trade,” Europeans began to capture Africa economically through colonization. The ability to do so flowed from increased technology in military, scientific,
transportation, and industrial spheres.
The decline of the slave trade coupled with the burgeoning legitimate trade
rekindled European interest in gold, especially that of Wassa on the Gold Coast. Even
during the height of the slave trade, European interests remained rooted in gold. The need
for gold became exceedingly acute as the major industrial countries joined the gold
standard during the mid-nineteenth century (Frieden 2006:6). Commercial activity during
this transitional period remained constant, albeit on a somewhat deflated level, but the
nature of the activity changed from coastal entrepôt trade to colonial capitalism.
However, the colonial infrastructure built to exploit natural still relied on the work and
support of the West Africans themselves. For example, the Wassa mining companies
relied heavily on the towns of Elmina, Cape Coast, and Axim for food, equipment,
supplies, mine labor, transport teams, and boatmen (Dumett 1998:43, 150).
While European-African commerce spread dramatically throughout the nineteenth
century as colonial structures spread, the relative value of African trade within the
Atlantic economy decreased. Non-African countries produced competitive supplies in
addition to purchasing increasing quantities of European products on levels with which
African countries could not compete. Africa, especially the western region, remained
marginalized in the world economy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries despite
Europe’s increasing involvement in African economies. Paradoxically, Africa’s
decreasing economic importance for Europe did not keep Europeans from using new
technologies in transport, medicine, and firearms to expand their presence in Africa for 184
“exploration,” establishing the seeds of colonialism (Austen 1987:112-113). Thus,
Wallerstein argued that West Africa was “incorporated into the world economy starting
around 1750 while the world economy grew dramatically (Wallerstein 1985:38). Indeed,
he noted that the growth of legitimate trade caused economic decline in activities such as
metal-working, affecting the structure of production and relegating West Africa to the
periphery of the world economy (Wallerstein 1985:41-42).
The rise of the Atlantic World economy triggered the development of a fully integrated international economy during the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century (Inikori 2002:7). Africa played a vital role in the development of the burgeoning international economy. Indeed, Africa was able to buy an increasing amount of imported goods for a set quantity of exports, as the terms of trade moved in favor of Africa until
1870 (Eltis and Jennings 1988:936, 942). Thus, continuity existed within West African
commerce even when political and economic changes affected markets and networks.
Prominent items of commerce, including base metals, introduced as early as the 1470s
continued to fill demands from coastal Africans and the hinterlands.
Future Research
Archaeological investigations of the Elmina wreck mark the first attempts to study
an intact West African trading cargo. Although the pioneering nature of such a study
presents limitations, it also provides valuable insights into existing data and new
approaches for future studies. Intimate details from intact trade goods illustrate the
organization and mindsets involved in the creation of a cargo, allowing archaeologists to
examine the cargoes on various levels. First, material culture making up a trade cargo can 185 be studied at the individual level, demonstrating the phases of use, discard, and reuse of artifacts and establishing the physical and temporal trajectories of objects of their life histories. For example, Schiffer’s model on the “life history” of artifacts includes the following processes: procurement, manufacture, use, maintenance, and discard. Artifacts do not follow a unilinear path through these processes, but are “rerouted” at various points, sometimes reentering a process through which they have already passed. These patterns of reuse and the sequences of activities in which artifacts participate create complex, unique life cycles (Schiffer 1972:158-159). While the assemblage from the
Elmina wreck never made its way through physical use, reuse, and discard stages, they potentially did so at a conceptual level. For example, the marks stamped on the pewter vessels found on the Elmina wreck date from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid- nineteenth century. If pewterers manufactured the pewter vessels in the earlier portion of the date range but did not put them into a cargo hold of a vessel bound for West African until the later portion of the range, such vessels represent a conceptual reuse by merchants sending out-of-style or surplus goods to West African markets. Information from terrestrial archaeological studies concerning the types of metalwares found on the Elmina wreck will also illuminate the life cycles of such trade goods. Thus, studies of the items placed in a cargo and their life histories, such as this one considering brass and pewter vessels, illustrate the processes of cultural exchange and transfer that take place during intercultural contact.
Future studies of the Elmina wreck might also consider other questions. For example, artifacts can be viewed as an assemblage, revealing how merchants packed the cargo, how merchants visualized the spatial relationship between the items, the types of 186 goods available to merchants and those procured for the West African trade, and how many of each type of good the cargo comprised. Finally, one can examine the ship as a whole (Staniforth 2003:105). The ship and its structure and accoutrements, in addition to the cargo, comprise a subset of the material cultural of the point of origin (Gibbs 2003).
Furthermore, data gained from archaeologically investigated wrecks can be integrated with archaeological evidence from other wrecks and terrestrial sites. Underwater sites often yield unique data due to the catastrophic nature of the sinking and the preservation of the artifacts, providing new interpretive possibilities. For example, the data from intact cargoes significantly improves our understanding of issues such as morphological variability and contemporaneity (Gibbins and Adams 2001:281).
Future research should also expand on the origin of the pewter and brass vessels.
Although research for this thesis incorporated a large array of sources from a number of
European countries (France, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, England,
Czechoslovakia, etc), the origin of the touchmarks can only be tied to Continental
Europe. Research in Europe may yield more conclusive results. However, time constraints and uncertainty over the nationality of the wreck, in addition to the high potential for merchants to re-export brass and pewter vessels, precluded narrowing the field of research to one geographical locale or one group of archives. Additionally,
Haedeke suggests that surviving touch-plates, records of touch marks for one geographical location, can be easily consulted and used to identify specific touches, but only if they have survived. Without a touch-plate, the potential still exists for identifying the master’s initials by consulting lists of guild-members. However, touch-plates that are lost or missing create a situation in which a correct identification of a touch can be no 187 more than a matter of luck (Haedeke 1970:170). Consulting the lists of guild-members without a touch-plate can be dangerous, especially when initials may be the same or may have been carried down the ages, as molds were often sold or handed down. Indeed, a number of touches resembled the mark found on the pewter dishes from the Elmina wreck to varying degrees (Brett 1983:233, Höller 1991:82; Jansen 1977; Museum Willet-
Holthuysen 1979:208, 326; Schmidt 1989:322); however, an exact match (or one deemed
“close enough”) remained elusive. Despite this lack of positive identification and the need for additional research, this study will significantly add to the database of knowledge on markings found on brasswares and will at least provide access to new marks.
Further investigation of the Elmina wreck, preferably under optimal diving conditions, would also help to reexamine the types of metalwares on site, to compare the types, and to provide a more accurate count of metal vessels in-situ. The quantities of a commodity must be known to study consumption patterns. Currently, the quantities of metalwares on-site can only be estimated. More work, including explicit sampling and recovery procedures, should be completed to accurately understand the extent of metalwares brought to the West African coast by the vessel that is now buried under sand, silt, and 9.75 m (32 ft) of water near Elmina. Additionally, an ethnographic study would have been useful in discussing the types of metalwares with local informants. Information would not only provide names in the Akan language, but also potential uses for comparison with the historical record. Further investigation should also look at metal containers in the Americas, those brought over, used, or fashioned by Africans. Such 188
studies would be beneficial for understanding the true range of morphology of metalwares
in the Atlantic World, and the symbolic, cultural, and functional meanings of the wares.
Finally, attempts to date cuprous artifacts and trace their geological origin have
been fraught with difficulties. However, a collaborative effort between West African,
European, and American countries would shed light on the inception, development, and
spread of the trade networks and exchanges that characterized nineteenth-century
relations. Craddock and Hook outline general arguments concerning how to study the
effects of European metal production in Africa. Basically, if the changes in composition
of European copper alloys could be determined from the fifteenth century onwards, then
it might be possible to date West African metalwork by comparison (Craddock and Hook
1995:183). However, the wide range of compositions in African, European, and Muslim
products, and the number of sources from which miners gleaned copper circumvents most
attempts to date metalwares found in African based on composition. Craddock and Hook
suggest that the solution lies in shipwrecks, which can be tightly dated (Craddock and
Hook 1995:184). The collection from Elmina provides a springboard for such studies.
However, as Craddock and Hook further discuss, a representative series of metalwares
must be collected from dated wrecks from the mid-fifteenth century onwards (Craddock
and Hook 1995:185). With the Elmina wreck as one of the first in the collection, the
analysis of materials from shipwrecks is “beginning to create a framework of the
composition of the metal available to African craftsmen through the centuries” (Craddock
and Hook 1995:187). 189
Conclusions
As African-European interactions expanded on the West Coast of Africa,
manufactures increased and Europeans exported “a thousand things” (Frank 1978:216).
The variety of goods became so large that the compilers of Customs records “tired of further extending their long schedules of commodities” and lumped an increasing
percentage of these exports under the heading of “goods, several sorts” (Frank 1978:216).
Thus, this study offers a model for distinguishing the quantities of metal containers
carried to West African for trade. Furthermore, the metalwares recovered from the Elmina
wreck serve as a means to understanding cultural interactions, and as a means to
understanding the varying levels of world system growth, from Elmina to the Gold Coast
and the Atlantic World (Wallerstein 1974:41-42). The exchange of any commodity, as a
“complex, multifaceted economic and social entity,” plays a major role in the
development of the modern world system and its networks. The physical and social
networks built for exchanging commodities created “shared histories” between Europeans
and West Africans that shaped the modern world system (Orser 1996:238-243; Thomas
1991:3). While Wallerstein views only staple goods as “systemic” or system-shaping
(Wallerstein 1974:41-42), Blanton and colleagues suggest that all goods can be
considered “systemic.” They focus on the distinct consequences of the production and use
of all goods (Blanton et al. 2005:261). As more archival sources, historical records, and
archaeological sites yield information, they will clarify the consequences of the
production and use of brass and pewter within the separate confines of Europe, Africa,
and the Americas, and in the broader context of the “Atlantic as a particular zone of 190
exchange and interchange,” or the circum-Atlantic World (Armitage 2002:15). The
Elmina wreck metalware typology, and the circum-Atlantic World approach, provide new avenues of thought and expand our understanding of the cargoes, commodities, and commerce. REFERENCES
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225 APPENDIX A
Elmina Wreck Metalware Catalogue
226 Table A. Elmina Wreck Metalware Types
Artifact Quantity kept for # study Material Type
304 3 brass 1
305 6 brass 1
316 0 brass 2
317 11 brass 2
319 18 pewter 5
330 0 brass 2
332 13 brass 2
350 3 brass 4
357 1 pewter 6
358 8 brass 3
365 7 fragments pewter 5 or 6
370 1 aluminum 7
379 8 fragments pewter 5 or 6
386 5 brass 2
408 0 pewter 5 or 6
409 0 brass 1
2003 5 brass 2 228
TYPE 1:
#304a: Small to medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in poor condition. Portions of rim, body, and handles are missing. Artifact is not intact and is pitted and full of pocks. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type
kettle 21.16 10.60 1.39 n/a rolled 16.95 271.87 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass – 75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3, within Artifact group #305 229
#304b: Small to medium brass kettle
Description: Kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair to poor condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is not fully intact and is pitted and full of pocks. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 21.85 10.80 0.86 n/a rolled 19.20 318.93 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50 % zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3, within Artifact group #305 230
#304c: Small to medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair to poor condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is not fully intact and is pitted and full of pocks. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 24.00 11.30 1.31 n/a rolled 21.00 358.34 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3, within Artifact group #305 231
#305a: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair to poor condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is pitted and full of pocks. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 27.40 11.00 0.92 n/a rolled 20.75 402.85 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 232
#305b: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is slightly pitted. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 28.10 13.97 0.98 n/a rolled 20.00 568.97 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: Possible fleur-de-lis or cross maker’s mark. The letters “M” or “W” grace at least one side of the branches/transects. Not identified.
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 233
#305c: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair to poor condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is pitted and full of pock marks. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 28.00 13.93 0.96 n/a rolled 21.00 557.07 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: Possible fleur-de-lis or cross maker’s mark. The letters “M” or “W” grace at least one side of the branches/transects. Not identified.
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 234
#305d: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is pitted. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle unk. unk. 1.18 n/a rolled 18.60 340.76 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 235
#305e: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair to poor condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Artifact is pitted. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 21.00 8.60 1.43 n/a rolled 19.00 409.93 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 236
#305f: Medium brass kettle
Description: Brass kettle with rolled rim and rolled handles in fair condition. Large portion of rim and body are missing. Base is barely attached to body. Pitting, pock marks and eruptions cover the artifact. Evidence of manufacture includes concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slightly visible hammer marks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type kettle 27.00 12.50 0.95 n/a rolled 23.00 335.65 0.02-0.05
Origin: unknown
Parallels: Brain (1979)
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-75.00% copper, 0.50% iron, 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: South of Datum #3 237
TYPE 2:
#317a: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing. At least one portion of rim represents full width. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are slightly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.90 3.40 2.36 7.16 medium 11.88 197.03 0.08-0.14 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 238
#317b: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. At least one portion of rim represents full width. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are slightly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.80 4.00 2.05 8.20 medium 12.04 219.99 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 239
#317c: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Remaining portions of rim are incomplete. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are slightly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.70 3.70 1.88 8.88 medium 12.69 174.07 0.04-0.14 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 240
#317d: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.40 3.70 0.06 256.67 medium 12.41 185.97 0.06-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 241
#317e: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. lisbon 15.31 4.20 0.57 26.86 medium 12.32 185.12 0.04-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 242
#317f: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact has slight pitting and pock marks, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe- centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.10 4.70 0.78 20.64 medium 11.90 193.34 0.06-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 243
#317g: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing, although rim width is fully represented. Artifact is pitted, with slight pock marks. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.90 4.30 2.19 7.72 medium 12.11 180.30 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 244
#317h: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.40 4.20 0.69 22.32 medium 12.77 120.77 0.04-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 245
#317i: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, with some pock marks, especially around edges. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.40 4.30 0.70 22.71 medium 12.62 191.93 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 246
#317j: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, with slight pock marks. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.50 3.90 0.49 31.63 medium 12.34 156.21 0.04-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 247
#317k: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing. Only small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact is slightly pitted, with slight pock marks. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 16.20 4.40 1.27 12.76 medium 12.17 207.24 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.70-75.80% copper, 0.40-0.50% iron, 1.00% lead, 0.00-0.20% silver, 22.60-25.70% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet north of Datum #3 and Brass Feature #2 248
#332a: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only a partial rim is represented. Artifact has some pitting. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and slight hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.13 4.20 1.76 8.59 medium 10.99 127.29 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 249
#332b: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of body and base are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact has some pitting and a path that extends from body to base. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, chatter marks, and slight hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 14.22 4.30 0.73 19.48 medium 11.40 101.77 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 250
#332c: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing; only a small, incomplete portion exists. Artifact has slight pitting, especially near rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 14.55 4.70 1.06 13.73 medium 10.95 174.07 0.07-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 251
#332d: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim is exists. Artifact has some pitting, especially near rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and chatter marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 14.05 5.10 0.54 26.02 medium 11.06 118.78 0.06-0.08 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 252
#332e: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing. Only a partial rim is represented. Artifact has some pitting, especially near rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, lathe-centering pip, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 14.44 4.30 0.79 18.28 medium 11.21 162.16 0.08-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 253
#332f: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Almost all of rim is missing; only a small, incomplete rim exists. Artifact has some pitting, especially near rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, lathe-centering pip, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 13.75 4.50 0.39 35.26 medium 11.21 146.85 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 254
#332g: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in fair condition. Portions of rim, body, and base are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Fractures in base. Artifact has some pitting, especially near rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, lathe-centering pip, and hammer marks, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.00 4.20 1.45 10.34 medium 11.19 114.25 0.06-0.08 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 255
#332h: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in fair condition. Portions of rim, body, and base are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists, although the full width is represented. The base contains a large patch. Artifact has slight pocking. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, and lathe-centering pip, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.01 4.10 1.67 8.99 medium 11.02 109.15 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 256
#332i: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Artifact has slight pitting, especially around rim. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 15.12 4.40 1.61 9.39 medium 11.44 199.01 0.07-0.14 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 257
#332j: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists, although the full width is represented. Artifact is slightly pitted. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 17.10 5.05 2.04 8.38 medium 12.28 202.70 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 258
#332k: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in fair condition. Portions of rim and body are missing. Holes in base. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists. Pitting and pocking mar the outer surface especially. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, chatter marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 17.10 5.00 1.29 13.26 medium 12.85 161.31 0.08-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 259
#332l: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim, body, and base are missing. Only a small, incomplete portion of rim exists. The base contains a small patch. Artifact has some pocking and pitting. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, slight hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 17.00 4.90 1.49 11.41 medium 12.76 183.70 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 260
#332m: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are missing, although full rim width is represented. Artifact has some pitting and pocking. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, slight hammer marks, and lathe- centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 17.55 4.40 2.17 8.09 medium 12.80 340.19 0.08-0.15 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-72.50-76.20% copper, <0.30% iron, 0.00-0.80% lead, 0.10-0.20% silver, 23.80-26.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 6 feet north of Datum #3, near Manilla Feature #1 261
#386a: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing and degraded, although width measurement does represent full width. Base is cracked in several places. Evidence of patching. Concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip from manufacturing process are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 18.65 5.00 2.08 8.97 medium 13.45 179.45 0.06-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-73.00-77.50% copper, 0.00-0.70% lead, 22.50-27.00% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 2 feet south of Manilla Feature #1 262
#386b: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing and degraded, although width measurement does represent full width. Concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip from manufacturing process are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 18.20 4.70 2.16 8.43 medium 13.47 244.09 0.07-0.13 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-73.00-77.50% copper, 0.00-0.70% lead, 22.50-27.00% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 2 feet south of Manilla Feature #1 263
#386c: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim are missing and degraded, although width measurement does represent full width. Concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip from manufacturing process are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 19.60 4.50 1.81 10.83 medium 13.24 330.56 0.09-0.16 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-73.00-77.50% copper, 0.00-0.70% lead, 22.50-27.00% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 2 feet south of Manilla Feature #1 264
#386d: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in fair condition. Portions of rim are missing, however measurement does represent full width. Body of basin contains holes. Concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip from manufacturing process are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 18.25 5.00 1.81 10.08 medium 13.52 253.30 0.08-0.12 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-73.00-77.50% copper, 0.00-0.70% lead, 22.50-27.00% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 2 feet south of Manilla Feature #1 265
#386e: Brass pan
Description: Rimmed-brass pan in poor condition. Portions of the base as well as the rim are missing and degraded. Rim width is only partial. Base also shows evidence of patching. Concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip from manufacturing process are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. lisbon 18.30 3.40 1.98 9.24 medium 13.24 120.77 0.06-0.11 pan
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-73.00-77.50% copper, 0.00-0.70% lead, 22.50-27.00% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 2 feet south of Manilla Feature #1 266
TYPE 3:
#358a: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Body is bent and smashed in places. Artifact is slightly pocked. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 14.32 6.80 0.80 n/a rolled 10.80 191.36 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 267
#358b: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in excellent condition. Rim is bent in one section. Artifact is slightly pocked. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 14.80 6.50 0.80 n/a rolled 10.50 223.96 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 268
#358c: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Rim is slightly damaged in several places. Artifact is slightly pitted. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 14.60 7.10 0.80 n/a rolled 11.40 159.04 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 269
#358d: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Artifact is slightly pitted. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, hammer marks, and lathe- centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 14.90 7.10 0.70 n/a rolled 11.10 189.09 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 270
#358e: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Artifact is slightly pitted. Small patch on body is evident. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 15.00 6.60 0.70 n/a rolled 11.30 206.38 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 271
#358f: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Damage includes small cut on base, slight indentations on one portion of the body, and some pitting. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 15.40 6.60 0.80 n/a rolled 11.40 259.97 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 272
#358g: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in good condition. Damage includes small cut on base, slight indentations on one portion of the body, and some pitting. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 15.30 6.90 0.80 n/a rolled 12.70 252.31 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 273
#358h: Brass bowl
Description: Ovular brass bowl or posnet in fair condition. Damage includes large cut on base, smashed areas along the lower body and base, and some pitting. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. compass bowl or 15.25 6.70 0.80 n/a rolled 11.40 207.80 0.05-0.10 posnet
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-70.50-74.90% copper, 0.00-0.40% iron, 0.00-0.70% lead, 25.00-28.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found 8 feet from Datum #8 toward Datum #7, 3 feet to east 274
TYPE 4:
#350a: Large brass pan
Description: Large brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are severely bent, and rim edges are damaged. Artifact is pitted and pocked. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, slight hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. milk pan or 41.73 8.70 5.23 7.98 medium 27.80 1048.08 0.07-0.10 neptune
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-57.00-73.20% copper, 0.00-1.20% lead, 26.80-41.80% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found on south end of large basin stack #5 in Basin Feature #3, near center of wreck site 275
#350b: Large brass pan
Description: Large brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are severely bent, and rim edges are damaged. Artifact is pitted and pocked. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, slight hammer marks, and lathe-centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. milk pan or 42.13 8.80 4.63 9.10 medium 28.05 991.10 0.05-0.12 neptune
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-57.00-73.20% copper, 0.00-1.20% lead, 26.80-41.80% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found on south end of large basin stack #5 in Basin Feature #3, near center of wreck site 276
#350c: Large brass pan
Description: Large brass pan in good condition. Portions of rim and body are severely bent, and rim edges are damaged. Artifact is pitted and pocked. Several holes in base. Manufacturing marks, including concentric turn marks, slight hammer marks, and lathe- centering pip, are clearly visible.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type Dia. milk pan or 41.75 8.12 4.40 9.49 medium 28.20 1061.69 0.07-0.12 neptune
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Brass-57.00-73.20% copper, 0.00-1.20% lead, 26.80-41.80% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Found on south end of large basin stack #5 in Basin Feature #3, near center of wreck site 277
TYPE 5:
#319a: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is pitted. Touch is located on top of rim and is slightly worn.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 5.10 2.78 10.29 11.74 1023.13 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 278
#319b: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is pitted, pocked, and slightly blistered. Touch is located on top of rim and is disfigured by small pocks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 5.20 2.81 10.18 11.60 1019.17 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 279
#319c: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is pitted, pocked, and full of eruptions, although the bottom side of the rim has the most damage. Touch is located on top of rim and is the most well-preserved of the set.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 4.90 2.81 10.21 11.58 1015.48 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 280
#319d: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in good condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is slightly pitted. Additionally, there is a large hole in the side of the well. Touch is located on top of rim and is slightly worn.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.00 2.81 10.18 12.06 935.82 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 281
#319e: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in good condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish has slight eruptions and some pocking. Additionally, the rim is bent in one spot. Touch is located on top of rim and is nicely preserved.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 4.90 2.66 10.03 11.55 1009.53 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 282
#319f: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is slightly pitted and marred by eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 4.90 2.79 10.29 11.78 1008.68 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 283
#319g: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is slightly pitted, pocked, and blistered. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 5.40 2.82 10.18 11.90 1033.06 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 284
#319h: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in excellent condition. The rim is beaded below. No visible marks of manufacture. Dish is pitted, pocked, and slightly blistered. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 5.20 2.82 10.18 11.90 978.06 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 285
#319i: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is slightly pitted, pocked, and marred by eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is pitted and pocked, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 5.40 2.68 10.67 unk. 724.61 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 286
#319j: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish is disfigured by pitting, pocks, and eruptions. The majority of the base is missing. Touch is located on top of rim and is pitted and pocked, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.50? 2.79 10.25 unk. 654.59 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 287
#319k: Pewter dish
Description: 28.50 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish is disfigured by pitting, pocks, and eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is almost completely worn away, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.50 4.80 2.82 10.11 11.70 722.63 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 288
#319l: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish is disfigured by pitting, pocks, and eruptions. The majority of the base is missing. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn, especially along the upper left edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.10? 2.83 10.11 unk. 647.79 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 289
#319m: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish is pitted and pocked. Touch is located on top of rim and is in good condition.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.90 2.81 10.18 11.91 787.83 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 290
#319n: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish is pitted, pocked, and contains eruptions. Large holes mar the base. Touch is located on top of rim and is disfigured by pocks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.90 2.79 10.25 12.06 900.10 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 291
#319o: Pewter dish
Description: 28.60 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of the manufacture process. Dish shows pocking and eruptions. A large portion of the base and booge is missing. Touch is located on top of rim and is nicely preserved.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.60 4.50? 2.81 10.18 unk. 686.34 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 292
#319p: Pewter dish
Description: 28.70 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in good condition. The rim is beaded below. No visible marks of manufacture. Dish is pitted, pocked, and contains eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn by pocks.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.70 4.90 2.79 10.29 11.80 1017.46 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 293
#319q: Pewter dish
Description: 28.80 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in good condition. The rim is beaded below. No visible marks of manufacture. Dish is pitted, pocked, and damaged by eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is highly disfigured.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.80 5.00 2.81 10.25 12.20 1020.87 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 294
#319r: Pewter dish
Description: 28.80 centimeter diameter, plain, medium-to-narrow rim, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. Lathe marks are faintly visible. Dish is extremely pitted, pocked, and marred by eruptions. Touch is located on top of rim and is worn, especially along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow (to dish 28.80 4.40 2.75 10.40 12.50 881.10 0.15-0.20 medium), beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact #357, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-96.60% tin and 3.40% lead; OR, 75.50-78.70% copper and 21.30- 24.50% zinc
Archaeological provenience: Five feet from Datum #5 towards Datum #6 on the line 295
TYPE 6:
#357: Pewter dish
Description: 33.00 centimeter diameter, plain, narrow-rimmed, deep dish in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No manufacture marks are visible. The well profile is flattened; a portion of the rim and the well is torn and folded. Additionally, the dish has a few cracks and is excessively pitted. The touchmark located on the rim is slightly worn along the upper edge.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Base Form Dia. Depth Rim Type Mass Thickness Width Ratio Dia. plain, narrow, dish 33.00 8.00 2.84 11.62 18.61 1275.73 0.12-0.18 beaded below
Origin: Continental Europe
Parallels: Artifact group #319, based on maker’s mark
Touchmarks: Crowned Rose maker’s mark with initials “B” and “H” separated by a fleur- de-lis. The initials are found within the crown circlet.
Material: Pewter-95.00% tin, 0.02-0.04% copper, 0.00-0.07% iron, and 0.04% lead
Archaeological provenience: From basin stack between Datum #0 and #4 on the northern end of the wreck site 296
TYPE 5 or 6:
#365: Pewter fragments
Description: 7 pewter fragments containing body and rim portions in fair condition. The rim is beaded below. No evidence of manufacture. Pocking and eruptions have damaged the fragments. The Portions of rim contained in the fragments do not bear any type of mark.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type plain, unk. unk. unk. 2.48 unk. beaded unk. 89.02 0.15-0.24 below
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: unknown
Archaeological provenience: Found 1 foot northwest of Datum #6 297
TYPE 5 or 6:
#379: Pewter fragments
Description: 8 pewter fragments recovered from a late-style olive jar in fair condition. These pewter fragments come from the body of the vessel. They have been damaged by pitting, pocks, and eruptions.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type unk. unk. unk. unk. unk. unk. unk. 66.34 0.16-0.20
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: unknown
Archaeological provenience: The olive jar sat between Datum #3 and #0, five feet to the north 298
TYPE 7:
#370: Aluminum plate
Description: Small plate with a 14.83 centimeter diameter in good condition. No visible manufacture marks. Pitting and pocking has somewhat damaged the plate and most of the rim.
Dimensions (in centimeters and grams, diameter abbreviated dia. and unknown abbreviated unk.):
Rim Rim Rim Form Dia. Depth Base Dia. Mass Thickness Width Ratio Type small 14.83 2.20 0.78 n/a rolled 12.19 60.38 0.05 plate
Origin: unknown
Parallels: unknown
Touchmarks: n/a
Material: Aluminum-100.00%
Archaeological provenience: Found 3 feet west of mooring (the middle of cannon between Datum #3 and #4 on the eastern portion of the wreck) APPENDIX B
Metallurgical Results
299 Table B. Metallurgical Results Showing Composition by % of Element
Artifact Element
Cu Al Fe Pb Ni Sn Ag Zn #304/#305 body 74.80 0.05 24.60 #304/#305 body (dup) 75.60 24.40 #304/#305 body (dup) 75.50 0.05 23.90 #304/#305 rim 70.20 3.00 26.90 #304/#305 rim (dup) 72.60 2.20 25.20 #304/#305 rim (dup) 74.00 0.70 25.30 #317e 72.70 0.40 1.00 0.20 25.70 #317e (dup) 74.30 0.50 1.00 24.20 #317e (dup) 75.80 0.50 1.00 0.20 22.60 #317a Insufficient Sample Mass #319a 75.70 24.30 #319a (dup) 78.70 21.30 #319a (dup) 75.50 24.50 #319r 3.40 96.6 #332a 72.50 0.30 0.60 0.10 26.50 #332m 76.20 23.80 #332m (dup) 73.30 0.80 0.20 25.60 #350c 75.20 24.80 #350c (dup) 74.50 25.50 #350c (dup) 73.80 26.20 #350a 57.00 1.20 41.80 #350a (dup) 71.90 28.10 #350a (dup) 73.20 26.80 #357 0.02 0.70 4.00 95.00 Table B. Continued
Artifact Element
Cu Al Fe Pb Ni Sn Ag Zn #357 (dup) 0.20 0.40 4.00 95.40 #357 (dup) 0.40 4.00 95.50 #358h 72.10 0.40 0.70 26.80 #358a rim 70.50 0.30 0.70 28.50 #358a rim (dup) 74.90 25.00 #365 0.80 0.34 95.80 #365 (dup) 1.10 0.74 91.50 #370 100.00 #386f 74.50 0.60 24.80 #386f (dup) 77.50 22.50 #386f (dup) 74.10 0.70 25.20 #386a 73.20 26.80 #386a (dup) 73.00 27.00 APPENDIX C
Artifact Assemblage Photographs
302 Photograph by author.
Figure C1. Type #1 assemblage. Photograph by author.
Figure C2. Type #2 assemblage. Photograph by author.
Figure C3. Type #3 assemblage.
Photograph by author. Figure C4. Type #4 assemblage.
Photograph by author.
Figure C5. Type #5 assemblage.