The peltry trade of Louisiane to 1763: a study in comparative archaeology

Abstract

This study investigates the peltry trade of Louisiane, both historically and archaeologically. It traces the historical development of this trade from its pre-colonial beginnings through Louisiane's status as a military colony, then a charter colony and finally as a crown colony until the end of French rule. To the extent that the historical questions can be answered our understanding of the history of the Louisiane peltry trade increases, prompting further questions. This history also lends the archaeology of the peltry trade a historical context. This context has two aspects: 1) as background history and 2) as an avenue of confirming research in our attempt to interpret this archaeology. The archaeological investigation of the Louisiane peltry trade has two aspects: 1) general and 2) specific. In a general sense, this study investigates issues that are relevant to archaeology as a whole: 1) functional classification systems and 2) validity of artifact patterns. More specifically, for the first time the archaeology of the Louisiane peltry trade is brought together. This allows for a comparative analysis of six components from four sites to be conducted on two levels: 1) Component Profiles and 2) Artifact Patterns. The first level explores the differences in comparable artifact ratios between components encouraging their explanation, hopeftilly leading to insights concerning French behavior at these peltry trade sites. This technique is commonly in current use, but of limited benefit. The second level is comprised of three approaches: 1) visual comparison, 2) discriminant fiction analysis and 3) correspondence analysis searching for correlation and validation with the three most appropriate artifact patterns currently in use: 1) Carolina, 2) Frontier and 3) Early Fur Trade.