Modification, mixture or metamorphosis: An analysis of European trade goods at the 17th century Neutral Walker Site, Ontario.

摘要

This thesis examines the European trade goods from the ca. 1630-53 A.D. Neutral Iroquoian Walker site in Southern Ontario, for evidence of modification. This study is intended to understand how and why the trade goods were modified and incorporated into the Neutral assemblage. This analysis also takes into consideration economic, social and historical differences which may have characterized the Neutral people compared to other Iroquoian peoples. The placement of the European materials at the site is considered, using a theoretical approach that focuses on hybridization of material remains, a total of 220 European trade goods are analyzed. The results ofthis examination show that 51.36% of the Walker site's European trade goods were modified, indicating that the Neutral population at the site were altering and incorporating these goods in ways similar to other Indigenous groups, although the frequencies of these goods are slightly lower. This implies that the prevalence of modified European artifacts may have been affected by differences between Indigenous groups, including the different types of contact situations that they experienced with Europeans.;Keywords: Ontario Archaeology, Neutral Iroquoians, Hybridization, Acculturation, Walker Site