Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 10
Glassware Excavated at Fort Gaspereau, New Brunswick
by Jane E. Harris
Conclusions and Discussion
The glassware from Fort Gaspereau accurately reflects its
mid-18th-century European occupation but the fragmentary condition of
the artifacts and their relatively small numbers render the site less
helpful than had been hoped as an aid in the interpretation of other
sites. In addition, ploughing at the fort site in the 1930s caused the
dispersion of period artifacts throughout the turf and occupation
layers. Nevertheless, the author feels that the blue-green glass bottles
and "flower-pot" shaped bottles are of French manufacture and therefore
concludes that these bottles represent types which one can expect to
find on other French colonial sites in Canada and the United States.
These bottles are also concrete examples of the two glassmaking
traditions in France during the 18th century: the production of common
blue-green glass from wood-fired furnaces and darker olive green from
coal-fired furnaces. A third type of glass owes its presence on the site
to the French but is not necessarily of French manufacture. The clear
non-lead glass pattern-moulded tumblers described previously would have
been brought to Fort Gaspereau by the French and, as fragments of these
tumblers are present in significant numbers in the southwest bastion as
well as the commandant's quarters it would seem that they were used by
the enlisted men as well as the French officers.
The dearth of glass artifacts from the proposed barracks and the
proposed British officers' quarters seems to indicate these buildings
were never constructed. Since the concentration of both French and
English glass occurs in and around the commandant's quarters and the
northeast and southwest bastions it would appear as though the English
officers used existing buildings during their residence at Fort
Gaspereau. This would seem to be a practical solution since they
occupied the fort for only a year before destroying it. To further
support this idea, burned glass resulting from the destruction of the
fort is in evidence in over 70 excavation units with the greatest
concentrations being in two adjacent units within the commandant's
quarters. Most of the fragments were too burned to be identified, but a
few bottle fragments of English manufacture could be recognized.
Use of the fort site after the middle of the 19th century is also
indicated by the recovery of glassware from this period. It too was
found in both layers, a result of ploughing, but to a much lesser degree
in the occupation layer.
The presence of burned 20th-century glass in the west palisade and
ditch trench probably indicates the use of the site as a picnic area in
this century.
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