Taste and choice in early Portsmouth, New Hampshire as seen through ceramic archaeological evidence, 1700-1860

Abstract

Between 1980 and 1985 an archaeological team organized by Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire undertook the excavation of five house lots on Deer Street in Portsmouth's “North End.” Deer Street, like many areas of the city, had fallen into disrepair during the twentieth century and during the 1960s and 1970s most of the residences on the street were raised or moved. Deer Street during the eighteenth century was an economically thriving area and was inhabited by successful craftsmen and merchants. Portsmouth's trade with England suffered during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however, which affected the economic stability of Portsmouth's residents. This thesis uses reconstructed ceramic vessels from the Deer Street excavation and analyses deed histories of the house lots as evidence in a study of the fashion choices of the families that lived there between 1700 and 1860. Detailed appendices provide relevant illustrations and documentary histories.