Trade Goods Research Techniques

Abstract

The Past Decade has witnessed a phenomenal development of historical archaeology in America; concomitantly, there is an upsurge of interest in the European artifacts found on the sites which have been excavated. On sites which were exclusively European in occupancy, these goods had served domestic purposes only; on Indian sites, they represented the new needs of the aborigines, the policies of colonial administration, and numerous other facts which it is not necessary to detail here. These European artifacts, and particularly the ones found on sites occupied by Indians, have aroused the interest of archaeologists, partly for their own sake, and partly because they seem to offer a new means of dating. It is with the last-named possibility that this article is concerned. Indian sites of historic vintage frequently yield European artifacts, especially along the coastal areas. Many of these villages, however, are otherwise unknown to history. If some means of accurately dating them could be devised, they would at least be assignable to some specific period.