Seventeenth-century life in Renews, Newfoundland : archaeological analysis of an English West Country planter's house

Mills, Stephen Francis (2000) Seventeenth-century life in Renews, Newfoundland : archaeological analysis of an English West Country planter's house. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

During a 1993 survey of eighteenth-century civilian gun batteries on The Mount in Renews, Newfoundland evidence of a seventeenth-century occupation was uncovered. Subsequent excavation of the site in the summer of 1994 exposed the foundation and internal features of a one-room domestic structure and more than 34,000 artifacts. Many of these artifacts, including several tools associated with the fishery, were associated with the occupation of the site during the third quarter of the seventeenth century. Ceramics and other artifacts from the Barnstable and Bideford area of north Devonshire in England's West Country dominated the assemblage. Fifty ceramic vessels were identified from the pot sherds, including many vessels associated with the storage, preparation, presentation and consumption of food and drink. Other ceramic and glass vessels were associated with medicinal products. The nature of the artifacts from the seventeenth-century deposits, together with the substantial structural remains, suggest that a long-term habitation had occurred at this site. -- This thesis describes and interprets the findings from the site including the architectural remains and the artifactual remains. Chapter I introduces the site and its physiography and the early historical background to Renews. The methodology employed for the study is also explained in this chapter as are the dating techniques and the site stratigraphy. Chapter II focuses on the architectural evidence and describes each element of the house present within the archaeological record. Missing elements of the dwelling are inferred by the archaeological and historical evidence. Chapter HI is dedicated to the artifacts discovered on the site. The research parameters are described as are all the major artifact groups. Chapter IV offers interpretations on what the various artifacts represent and what they can tell about the life of a planter in Renews during the seventeenth century. The artifact assemblage was analyzed in a way to allow for inferences to be made regarding several important facets of seventeenth-century life on the site. These facets include foodways, health care, leisure activities and occupational activities. Chapter V concludes the study by summarizing the findings. The appendices contain the figures and information on clay tobacco pipe stem bore analysis, Event descriptions and an informative report on pollen discovered in the seventeenth-century cultural deposits.

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