AT PORT ROYAL, JAMAICA
BY JASON BARRETT AND MADELEINE J. DONACHIE
Port Royal, Jamaica, was a defensive colonial port settlement, captured by the English from the Spanish in 1655. By the late 1680s, Port Royal was one of the largest English trading centers in the New World. With a population of nearly 6500 and with over 2000 buildings, it was a city unequaled in North America for economic prosperity. The success story of Port Royal, however, was destined to be very short. Around midday on June 7, 1692, the high-rolling city was devastated by a massive earthquake. The ensuing tidal wave submerged over half of its area into the Caribbean Sea, killing approximately 2000 people. Another 2000 people died from injury, sickness, and plague in the weeks following the disaster.
In 1981, Texas A&M University, in joint sponsorship with the Jamaican National Heritage Trust and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, began archaeological excavations on a portion of the submerged area of colonial Port Royal. Ten years of investigations successfully uncovered several 17th-century structures and a wide array of artifacts, such as metal, glass, and pewter objects; various types of textiles; and faunal remains and organic materials. Numerous ceramic wares were also recovered, including tin-glazed earthenwares, slipwares, stonewares, and Chinese export porcelain.
This study presents the numerous Border ware vessels that were also found. First, the history of the development of the ware, including production techniques and common Border ware vessel types, is discussed. The Port Royal Border ware assemblage is then analyzed and interpreted. A list of bibliographic sources is also provided. As with all of the artifacts recovered from the site, the presence of Border ware ceramics allows for a more holistic sense of what everyday life was like in this 17th-century English colonial port town.
HISTORY OF BORDER WARE DEVELOPMENT
|The term 'Border ware' developed as a description for the post-medieval pottery being produced in the border region between England's northeast Hampshire and western Surrey counties. The pottery being made in this region gave way, in the 14th century, to a type known as 'Coarse Border ware,' which represented a refinement of earlier ceramic traditions. The development of this Coarse Border ware was most likely influenced by migrations from the European continent, as well as burgeoning trade networks.||
Source: Pearce 1992
Coarse Border ware developed briefly in the late 15th century into a tradition termed 'Tudor Green,' the name paying homage to England's then-enthroned noble lineage. Tudor Green (examples of which are shown opposite), while distinct from what was to become classic Border ware, was likely a direct precursor, since historic and archaeological evidence has shown that both were produced in the same kilns.
During the second half of the 16th century, the Surrey-Hampshire pottery industry consolidated its hold on the London ceramics market with its fully developed Border ware, which is characterized by distinctive yellow and green glazes. It was made from local white firing clays, and its paste was coarser than the earlier fine, thin-walled Tudor Green types. It quickly became the main source of domestic pottery for the inhabitants of London and remained as such until the end of the 17th century.
|There are two distinct classes of Border ware: White Border ware is characterized by a hard paste with moderate to abundant inclusions of quartz sand particles. It may also exhibit moderate amounts of reddish quartz, minor and infrequent amounts of red and/or black ironstone, and white (Muscovite) mica. Red Border ware is, as the name implies, characterized by a red or reddish brown fabric. Inclusions are similar to those found in white Border ware, except for quartz particles, which are relatively infrequent. White streaks typically found within red Border ware may provide evidence for a blending of materials. Red inclusions in white Border wares are, however, not common.||
Source: Pearce 1992
Throughout the 16th and