This study draws on historical archaeological data from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Duck Creek, Delaware to interpret local merchants as culture brokers. Such a focus on merchants and brokering helps transcend the recently revived discourse in historical archaeology that sets ethnographic community study in opposition to the world system paradigm.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsWilliam H.1977Silcott, Washington: Ethnoarchaeology of a Rural American Community, Washington Stale University Laboratory of Anthropology Report of Investigations, No. 54, Pullman.
2.
AdamsWilliam H. and SmithSteven D.1985Historical Perspectives on Black Tenant Farmer Material Culture: The Henry C. Long General Store Ledger at Waverley Plantation, Mississippi, in The Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life, SingletonTheresa A. (ed.), Academic Press, Orlando, pp. 309–334.
3.
BakerAndrew H. and PatersonHolly Izard1988Farmers' Adaptations to Markets in Early Nineteenth-century Massachusetts, in The Farm, BenesPeterMontagueJane, and BealesRoss W.Jr. (eds.), Boston University Press, Boston, pp. 95–108.
4.
BeaudryMary C.1995aIntroduction: Ethnography in Retrospect, in Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers, 78, in press.
5.
BeaudryMary C.1995bReinventing Historical Archaeology, in Historical Archaeology and the Study of American Culture, De CunzoLu Ann and HermanBernard L. (eds.), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, in press.
6.
BeaudryMary C.CookLauren J., and MrozowskiStephen A.1991Artifacts and Active Voices: Material Culture as Social Discourse, in The Archaeology of Inequality, McGuireRandall H. and PaynterRobert (eds.), Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 150–191.
7.
BoissevainJeremy1974Friends of Friends: Networks, Manipulators, and Coalitions, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
8.
BourdieuPierre1984Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, NiceRichard (trans.), Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
9.
BraudelFernand1982The Wheels of Commerce, Civilization and Capitalism, 15–18th Century, Volume 2, orig. pub. 1979, ReynoldsSian (trans.), Harper and Row, New York.
10.
BreenT. H.1989Imagining the Past: East Hampton Histories, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.
11.
CaleyGeorge L. (ed.) 1968Duck Creek Crossroads-Smyrna, Delaware Bicentennial 1768–1968: A Brief History of Smyrna, Delaware, Illustrated, Smyrna Bicentennial Committee, Smyrna, Delaware.
12.
CaleyGeorge L.1978Footprints of the Past: Historic Houses, Buildings, and Sites of Smyrna and Duck Creek Area, Shane Quality Press, Smyrna, Delaware.
13.
CarsonGerald1954The Old Country Store, Dutton, New York.
14.
CastilloTamarra C. and StaigerJoan M.1992Redware from the Green Pottery of Delaware, paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology.
15.
CattsWade P.HodnyJay, and CusterJay F.1989“The Place at Christeen”: Final Archaeological Investigations of the Patter son Lane Site Complex, Christiana, New Castle County, Delaware, Delaware Department of Transportation Archaeology Series No. 74, Dover.
16.
ClarkChristopher1979Household Economy, Market Exchange, and the Rise of Capitalism in the Connecticut Valley, 1800–1860, Journal of Social History, 13: 2, pp. 169–189.
17.
ClarkChristopher1990The Roots of Rural Capitalism: Western Massachusetts, 1780–1860, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
18.
ClarkChristopher1991Economics and Culture: Opening Up the Rural History of the Early American Northeast, American Quarterly, 43: 2, pp. 279–301.
19.
CohenA. P. and ComaroffJ. L.1976The Management of Meaning: On the Phenomenology of Political Transactions, in Transaction and Meaning: Directions in the Anthropology of Exchange and Symbolic Behavior, KapfererBruce (ed.), Institute for Study of Human Issues, Philadelphia, pp. 87–108.
20.
De CunzoLu AnnHosethAngelaHodnyJayJamisonJoann E.CattsWade P., and BachmanDavid C.1992Final Archaeological Investigations at the John Darrach Store Site, Delaware Route 6-Woodland Beach Road, Smyrna Section, Delaware Route 1 Corridor, Kent County, Delaware, Delaware Department of Transportation Archaeology Series No. 93, Dover.
21.
De CunzoLu Ann and ThatcherPatricia1979A Typology of 18th-Century Philadelphia Redwares: The Head House Collection, unpublished paper in collection of the authors.
22.
DeetzJamesIn Small Things Forgotten: The Archaeology of Early American Life, Anchor, Garden City, New York.
23.
DouglasMary T. and IsherwoodBaron C.1979The World of Goods: Toward an Anthropology of Consumption, Norton, New York.
24.
FosterGeorge M.1967Introduction: What is a Peasant? in Peasant Society: A Reader, PotterJack M.DiazMay N., and FosterGeorge M. (eds.), Little, Brown, Boston, pp. 2–49.
25.
GeertzClifford1960The Changing Role of Cultural Broker: The Javanese Kijaji, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2, pp. 228–249.
26.
GrettlerDavid J.1990The Landscape of Reform: Society, Environment, and Agricultural Reform in Central Delaware, 1790–1840, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark.
27.
HancockHarold B.1975A History of Kent County, Delaware, Dover Litho Printing Company, Dover.
28.
HenrettaJames A.1978Families and Farms: Mentalite in Pre-Industrial America, William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., 35, pp. 3–32.
29.
HenrySusan L.1991Consumers, Commodities, and Choices: A General Model of Consumer Behavior, Historical Archaeology, 25: 2, pp. 3–14.
30.
HermanBernard L.1987Architecture and Rural Life in Central Delaware, 1700–1900, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.
31.
HermanBernard L.1988Fences, in After Ratification: Material Life in Delaware, 1789–1820, GarrisonRitchie J.HermanBernard L., and WardBarbara McLean (eds.), Museum Studies Program, University of Delaware, Newark, pp. 7–20.
32.
InnesStephen C.1983Labor in a New Land: Economy and Society in Seventeenth-Century Springfield, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
33.
JaffeeDavid1991Peddlers of Progress and the Transformation of the Rural North, Journal of American History, 78: 2, pp. 511–535.
34.
JensenJoan M.1986Loosening the Bonds: Mid-Atlantic Farm Women, 1750–1850, Yale University Press, New Haven.
35.
KennyMichael1960Patterns of Patronage in Spain, Modern Community Studies in the Circum-Mediterranean Area, Anthropological Quarterly, 33, pp. 14–23.
36.
KentB. W.1992Making Old Oysters Talk: Techniques of Oyster Shell Analysis, Maryland Historic Trust, Annapolis.
37.
KENT COUNTY RECORDS 1750–1811 Deeds, Delaware State Archives, Dover.
38.
1811Orphans Court Records, Delaware State Archives, Dover. 1778–1846 Probate Records, Delaware State Archives, Dover. 1770–1828 Tax Assessments, Delaware State Archives, Dover.
39.
KiernerCynthia A.1992Traders and Gentlefolk: The Livingstons of New York, 1675–1790, Cornell University Press, Ithaca.
40.
KulikoffAllan1992The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.
LemonJames T.1972The Best Poor Man's Country: A Geographical Study of Early Southeastern Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
43.
MartinAnn Smart1989The Role of Pewter as Missing Artifact: Consumer Attitudes toward Tablewares in Late Eighteenth-century Virginia, Historical Archaeology, 23: 2, pp. 1–27.
44.
MartinAnn Smart1990Textiles and Clothing at Eighteenth-Century Virginia Stores, paper presented at the Third Textile History Conference, North Andover, Massachusetts.
45.
MartinAnn Smart1993Buying into the World of Goods: Eighteenth-Century Consumerism and the Retail Trade from London to the Virginia Frontier, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
46.
MartinAnn Smart1995The Context for Choice in the Material World of Backcountry Consumerism, in Historical Archaeology and the Study of American Culture, De CunzoLu Ann and HermanBernard L. (eds.), Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, in press.
47.
MatsonCathy1994“Damned Scoundrels” and “Libertisme of Trade”: Freedom and Regulation in Colonial New York's Fur and Grain Trades, William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Series, 51: 3, pp. 389–418.
48.
McCrackenGrant1990Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
49.
MillerDaniel1987Material Culture and Mass Consumption, Basil Blackwell, Oxford.
50.
MillerMary Emily1962The Delaware Oyster Industry, Past and Present, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Boston University, Boston.
51.
MunroeJohn A.1945The Philadelawareans: A Study in the Relations between Philadelphia and Delaware in the Late 18th Century, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 69, pp. 128–149.
52.
MyersSusan H.1980Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
53.
NelsonLee H.1968Nail Chronology as an Aid to Dating Old Buildings, American Association for State and Local History Technical Leaflet 48, History News24: 1.
54.
NoblesGregory1983Divisions Throughout the Whole: Politics and Society in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, 1740–1775, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
55.
NoblesGregory1990The Rise of Merchants in Rural Market Towns: A Case Study of Eighteenth-century Northampton, Massachusetts, Journal of Social History, 24: 1, pp. 5–23.
56.
OrserCharles E.Jr.1994Toward a Global Historical Archaeology: An Example from Brazil, Historical Archaeology, 28: 1, pp. 5–22.
57.
PaineRobert1971A Theory of Patronage and Brokerage, in Patrons and Brokers in the East Arctic, PaineRobert (ed.), Institute of Economic and Social Research, Memorial University, St. John's, pp. 8–21.
58.
PaineRobert (ed.) 1971Patrons and Brokers in the East Arctic, Institute of Economic and Social Research, Memorial University, St. John's.
59.
PapenfuseEdward C.1975In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution, 1763–1805, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
60.
PenderySteven R.1992Consumer Behavior in Colonial Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1630–1730, in Meanings and Uses of Material Culture, LittleBarbara J. and ShackelPaul A. (eds.), Historical Archaeology, 26: 3, pp. 57–72.
PotterJack M.DiazMay N., and FosterGeorge M. (eds.) 1967Peasant Society: A Reader, Little, Brown, Boston.
63.
PraetzellisAdrianPraetzellisMary, and BrownMarleyIII1987Artifacts as Symbols of Identity. An Example from Sacramento's Gold Rush Era Chinese Community, in Living in Cities, Historical Archaeology, Special Publication No. 5, pp. 38–47.
64.
PriceJacob M.1984The Transatlantic Economy, in Colonial British America: Essays in the New History of the Early Modem Era, GreeneJack P. and PoleJ. R. (eds.), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp. 18–42.
65.
PurserMargaret1987“The Latest Fancy Goods, Direct from the East!”: Consumer Goods as Material Culture in Nineteenth-Century Nevada, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Studies Association, New York.
66.
PurserMargaret1992Consumption as Communication in Nineteenth-century Paradise Valley, Nevada, in Meanings and Uses of Material Culture, LittleBarbara J. and ShackelPaul A. (eds.), Historical Archaeology, 26: 3, pp. 105–116.
67.
QuinnJudith1988Traversing the Landscape in Federal Delaware, Delaware History, 23, pp. 39–61.
68.
RedfieldRobert1956Peasant Society and Culture, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
69.
RichterDaniel K.1988Cultural Brokers and Intercultural Politics: New York-Iroquois Relations, 1664–1701, Journal of American History, 75: 1, pp. 40–67.
70.
RothenbergWinifred Bart1993From Market-Places to a Market Economy: The Transformation of Rural Massachusetts, 1750–1850, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
71.
RunkJ. M.1899Biographical and Genealogical History of the State of Delaware, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
72.
RussoDavid J.1974Families and Communities: A New View of American History, American Association for State and Local History, Nashville.
73.
SchuylerRobert L.1988Archaeological Remains, Documents, and Anthropology: A Call for a New Culture History, Historical Archaeology, 22: 1, pp. 36–42.
74.
SchuylerRobert L.1995Global Perspectives and Scales of Analysis in Historical Archaeology, paper presented at the Annual Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Washington, D.C.
75.
SewastynowiczJames1983Community Power Brokers and National Political Parties in Rural Costa Rica, Anthropological Quarterly, 56: 3, pp. 107–115.
76.
ShammasCarole1982How Self-Sufficient was Early America?Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 13: 2, pp. 247–272.
77.
ShammasCarole1990The Pre-industrial Consumer in England and America, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
78.
SiderGerald M.1986Culture and Class in Anthropology and History: A Newfoundland Illustration, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
79.
SilvermanSydel F.1967The Community-Nation Mediator in Traditional Central Italy, in Peasant Society: A Reader, PotterJack M.DiazMay N., and FosterGeorge M. (eds.), Little, Brown, Boston, pp. 279–293.
80.
SloatCaroline Fuller1985The Center of Local Commerce: The Asa Knight Store of Dummerston, Vermont, 1827–1851, Vermont History, 53, pp. 205–220.
81.
Stewart-AbernathyLeslie C.1992Industrial Goods in the Service of Tradition: Consumption and Cognition on an Ozark Farmstead before the Great War, in The Art and Mystery of Historical Archaeology: Essays in Honor of James Deetz, YentschAnne E. and BeaudryMary C. (eds.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 101–126.
82.
SweeneyKevin M.1988Gentlemen Farmers and Inland Merchants: The Williams Family and Commercial Agriculture in Pre-Revolutionary Western Massachusetts, in The Farm, BenesPeterMontagueJane, and BealesRoss W.Jr. (eds.), Boston University, Boston, pp. 60–73.
83.
ThorpDaniel B.1991Doing Business in the Backcountry: Retail Trade in Colonial Rowan County, North Carolina, William and Mary Quarterly, 3d series, 48: 3, pp. 387–408.
84.
VickersDaniel1990Competency and Competition: Economic Culture in Early America, William and Mary Quarterly, 3d series, 17: 1, pp. 3–29.
85.
VillamarinJuan A. and VillamarinJudith E.1982The Concept of Nobility in Colonial Santa Fe de Bogota, in Essays in the Political, Economic and Social History of Colonial Latin America, SpaldingKaren (ed.), University of Delaware, Latin American Studies Program, Occasional Papers and Monographs No. 3, Newark, pp. 125–153.
86.
WalzerJohn F.1972Colonial Philadelphia and Its Backcountry, Winterthur Portfolio, 7, pp. 161–173.
87.
WardBarbara E.1967Cash or Credit Crops? An Examination of Some Implications of Peasant Commercial Production with Special Reference to the Multiplicity of Traders and Middlemen, in Peasant Society: A Reader, PotterJack M.DiazMay N., and FosterGeorge M. (eds.), Little, Brown, Boston, pp. 135–151.
88.
WolfEric R.1956Aspects of Group Relations in a Complex Society: Mexico, American Anthropologist, 58, pp. 1065–1078.
89.
YentschAnne E.1991Engendering Visible and Invisible Ceramic Artifacts, Especially Dairy Vessels, in Gender in Historical Archaeology, SeifertDonna J. (ed.), Historical Archaeology, 25: 4, pp. 132–155.
