"All the tin Camp-kettles they can procure. In this the first of several articles examining the various elements necessary for feeding soldiers during the American War for Independence (1775-1783), we will discuss cooking equipment, with an emphasis on the most important item, camp kettles. Experience has often convinced us of the truth of this assertion, and some times at too dear a rate."2 Soldiers' rations and food preparation stand at the most elemental level of an army's daily existence. For the moment an expedition is to take place, the troops may be said to have wanted provisions for one, two, or more days, and that it will be impossible to begin a march until they shall be supplied. Unless an Army is properly fed, all calculations and schemes of enterprize are in vain. "To subsist an Army well, requires the utmost attention and exertion. Henry Knox (former bookseller and amateur military scholar) noted his appreciation of the crucial need to provide fuel for soldiers' bellies. Finally, this dissertation hopes to contribute not only to a greater understanding and use of folk classifications, but also to the use of distance parity theory as seen in eighteenth century French and British sites in North America, particularly in the Upper Great Lakes region.Īfter six years hard-won experience in the war with Great Britain, Maj. Also, practice theory allows for the interpretation of some folk varieties as resulting specifically from consumer choices of Native Americans and possibly French habitants. This dissertation is informed in part by cognitive anthropology. Such an approach allows for the testing of the usefulness of portions of the folk classifications for archaeological interpretive purposed for artifacts not currently treated in this a manner. Finally, variables used in the folk classifications, but not generally in the archaeological classifications, for which referents can be determined are applied to a portion of an archaeological assemblage recovered from the site of Fort Ouiatanon, an eighteenth century fort founded by the French in present day Indiana. Where the variables used by the merchants or military differ from those recorded by archaeologists, these have been researched to determined their referents and usefulness to archaeologists for interpreting the significance of the formal variables noted in the scientific classifications. Where concordance does not exist, the implications for furthering understanding of archaeological classifications are explored. When their structures and principles of classification have been ascertained, these are then compared to classifications of present day historical archaeologists to determine the level of concordance between these emic and the etic classifications. The documents referred to as The Misty May Jackson Montreal Merchants Records and numerous military post storehouse inventories make up the body of data examined to elicit and construct two folk classifications, that of the merchants and that of the military of New France. Specifically, classifications for eighteenth century artifacts recovered from archaeological contexts of sites of New France, particularly from fur trade and military posts, are focused upon here. This dissertation builds upon previous studies of folk classifications as revealed in historical documents. Devised scientific or ‘etic’ classifications have benefited from such studies by eliciting data concerning function and status. Within historical archaeology researchers have sought to enrich their knowledge of some artifacts through examination of the way manufacturers, traders and consumers referred to various artifacts in historic documents. These have also been variously referred to as ‘emic’ or folk classifications. The insider’s or other’s classifications have stimulated the interest of archaeologists and cultural anthropologists since the nineteenth century. The significance of the formal variables noted may not be known, though archaeologists have endeavored to glean data concerning chronology, national origin, function, manufacturing techniques and other social data from some variables of numerous artifacts. Archaeologists may apply them with no other particular research question posed for their construction. Standard or universal classifications based on formal properties of artifacts find wide currency for purposes of inter-site comparisons.
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