Early French Colonial Era Artifacts
Other materials from the same French Colonial era midden deposits –beads, French coins, smoking pipes, and so on—are also typical of the material culture of a fur trader in this era. Most noteworthy was a significant quantity of Native American pottery in the assemblages, with the diversity of ware types and decorations probably indicating the extensive trade networks someone like Langlois would have needed to maintain in his business.
Although it is not clear if Langlois himself ever lived at the property, he seemed to have conducted some of his business there, and some of the archaeological evidence clearly references the voyageur’s trade. This lead baling seal, from a bolt of fabric, came from Montauban in France, a town particularly engaged in making wools for the Native American trade.
Other materials from the same French Colonial era midden deposits –beads, French coins, smoking pipes, and so on—are also typical of the material culture of a fur trader in this era. Most noteworthy was a significant quantity of Native American pottery in the assemblages, with the diversity of ware types and decorations probably indicating the extensive trade networks someone like Langlois would have needed to maintain in his business.
One of the more unusual artifacts in the assemblage was this hand-built sand-tempered vessel, probably used as an oil lamp. This vessel form is not common in Native American traditions, and this example may be an example of a ‘colono-type’ vessel. Such wares are understood to combine African, Native American, and European pottery traditions, and on the Atlantic coast, their presence in plantation sites has been argued to be evidence for the continuity of West African pottery traditions among enslaved potters. Colonoware has only rarely been reported in Louisiana, but it may have also gone unrecognized in urban sites due to the assumption that any hand-built ware represents trade with Native American groups.