Belle isle Nova Scotia 1680-1755: Acadian Material Life and Economy (Curatorial Report #65)

Abstract

This thesis presents a functional analysis of the ceramics and glass remains excavated from two pre-expulsion (circa 1680 to 1755) Acadian houses at Belleisle (BeDi-2), Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. The history of each artifact variety is traced, including manufacturing techniques, and distribution routes from the factories to the Acadian houses Where the artifacts were used and discarded. The artifacts analysed are quantified and compared with similar information from other contemporaneous, domestic sites in eastern North America and France. Status differences are discussed. As a whole, the place of Acadian households in international, national and local markets is examined.

It becomes evident that the expanding, eighteenth century Acadian population at Belleisle benefited from the availability of a multitude of goods. T11is allowed them to develop a material life rather different from those of other Acadians, or the contemporaneous residents of the St. Lawrence Valley and New England. The ceramics and glass indicate that the Belleisle Acadians led a comfortable life.

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