Did someone say ceramics...?

Hello, 

During our last week of excavation, Hollie and I had some cool finds in our unit, N10 E3, a couple of which were ceramic sherds. Both of these sherds (pictured left) have a white glaze as well as some decoration, one being just blue and white while the other also includes a brown/orange squiggle. While these are certainly not the first ceramic sherds discovered at Fort St. Joseph, they still constitute an interesting find.

Other significant ceramic sherds found at the site include a white faience sherd (below left) found at N6 E2 and a white saltglazed sherd (below right) found at S2 W6. There have been a number of tiny pieces of faience found throughout the site as well.    
            

While an analysis of excavated ceramics has not yet been done, we do have information on ceramics found before excavations began, as well as data for Fort Michilimackinac. The ceramics fall into several categories, each with multiple subcategories. In both this data and the data for Fort Michilimackinac, earthenware, particularly white and blue ceramic, was most common. Stoneware, such as the saltglazed sherd that was found here, was much less common. The ceramic sherds we found in our unit seem to be blue and white French faience as well as blue and buff polychrome. 

Ceramics can provide lots of useful information about our site. They can give us an insight into many different areas, such as the presence or absence of class, social status, or other differences, trade patterns, or even what people are eating and drinking. They can also be used to date the site. Even though ceramic artifacts are not nearly as common as other artifacts like bone or seed beads, they play a very important role in furthering our understanding of what life was like at Fort St. Joseph.

Thanks for reading!

Emma