Have
you ever wondered what type of buildings were constructed in New France? What
about the possible structures built at and around Fort St. Joseph? What
construction techniques were used? How big were the buildings? What kinds of
materials were used and where did they come from? And what types of artifacts
are associated with architecture? Each of these questions are being explored
right now by me and my classmates in Western Michigan University’s Anthropology
in the Community class under the supervision of Dr. Michael Nassaney. My name
is Erika Loveland. I am a first year graduate student in the Department of
Anthropology at Western Michigan University. I first became interested in Fort
St. Joseph when I attended its Archaeology Open House a few years ago and am
excited that I have the opportunity to further my curiosity in Fort St. Joseph
and New France.
Throughout
this semester, our class will research different architectural topics related
to the structures found in New France. These topics include fortifications and
military architecture, Native American and French-styles of domestic
structures, storage facilities, architectural artifacts, temporary structures,
and special purpose buildings. My partner, Kaitlin Burton, and I will be
focusing on Native American and French styles of domestic structures during the
18th century. Our research will aim to answer many of the questions
that I posed above. Recently, I have been examining two common construction
techniques that the French used to build domestic houses. In the poteaux en terre (posts in the ground)
technique, posts are placed in the ground to anchor the structure. The poteaux sur sole (posts on sill) technique
employs posts resting on a heavy squared piece of wood acting as the sill which
is placed on a stone foundation. These two styles of construction are important
because they represent elements of an older, traditional style of house
originating in France.
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Examples
of the poteaux sur sole and poteaux en terre construction
techniques, respectively. This figure is from Thurman, Melburn D. (1984). Building a House in 18th Century
Ste. Genevieve. Ste. Genevieve, MO: Pendragon’s Press.
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While
our class has just began investigating, please stay tuned for more updates on
the architecture of New France!
Sincerely,
Erika
Loveland
