Turgeon FrenchBeads 2001

French Beads in France and Northeastern North America during the Sixteenth Century
Author(s): Laurier Turgeon

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Historical Archaeology, Vol. 35, No. 4 (2001), pp. 58-59, 61-82
Published by: Society for Historical Archaeology
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58
cultural meanings beads had for Amerindians
and how they were integrated into their thought
worlds (Hamell 1983, 1992, 1996; Trigger 1985,
1991; Miller and Hamell 1986).
It is generally recognized that the French were
Laurier Turgeon
French Beads inFrance and

Northeastern North America
During theSixteenthCentury
ABSTRACT
it is generally recognized that the French played an
role
in the bead trade during the early contact period
important
in Northeastern North America,
there have been no serious
Although
attempts to carry out archival research and to locate reference

in France;
collections
of beads
consequently,
surprisingly
little is known
about French
are still asking
beads.
North American
bead
some very basic
questions about
the provenience, chronology, and trade of French glass beads.
these questions
This study seeks to answer
by drawing
researchers
on a combination
sources and archaeological

travel literature and collections of
of written
French
collections?early
beads from First Nations
contact
sites.
Information
from
sources is supplemented with new

these relatively well-known
data gathered from post-mortem inventories of Parisian bead
makers and from notarized contracts containing descriptions of
beads purchased for theNorth American trade. The study also
draws on a unique collection of beads dating from the second
half of the 16th century, recently unearthed in the Jardins du
Caroussel,
near
the Louvre Museum
in Paris.
Introduction
have been the object of much scholarly
investigation by archaeologists, ethnohistorians,
and colonial historians of the eastern United
because of the prominent
States and Canada
role they played in the early history of contact
in
between Aboriginal peoples and Europeans
have
North America.
excavated,
Archaeologists
inventoried, and studied collections of beads
from hundreds of contact sites in theNortheast.
Elaborate classification systems of glass and shell
beads have been developed, based on method of
Beads
shape, size, and color (Kidd 1970;

of beads
Since the assemblages
over
time, they have
change rather quickly
been seriated and used for establishing chronolo
gies of sites as well as reconstituting trading
manufacture,
Ceci
1989).
networks (Kenyon and Kenyon

1983; Bradley
1994; Fitzgerald,
1983; Rumrill 1991; Moreau
Scholars have begun
Knight, and Bain 1995).
to use these findings to study the social and
Historical
Permission
very active in the North American bead trade

from the 16th century on. Many
scholars of
bead research have even suggested that the large
majority of glass beads found on contact sites
of the Northeast were traded by the French
(Kidd 1979; Bradley 1983; Kenyon and Kenyon
1983; Smith 1983). References and sometimes
descriptions of trade beads occur in the travel
accounts of French explorers and missionaries
such as those of Giovanni da Verrazzano, Jacques
Cartier, Marc Lescarbot, Samuel de Champlain,

Gabriel Sagard (1632, 1866), and Paul Le Jeune.
Early French colonial sites like St. Croix Island
(Bradley 1983), Quebec City (Clermont, Chapde
laine, and Guimont 1992), Montreal (Desjardins
and Duguay
1992), and Sainte-Marie-Among
the-Huron (Kidd 1949) have provided invaluable

collections of glass beads from which to refer
ence those found on contact sites.
Yet surprisingly little is known about French
beads, given their important role in the early his
tory of North America. Unlike Dutch beads, for

which entire assemblages have been unearthed
and studied in Holland as well as North America
(Karklins 1974, 1983; Huey 1983; Kenyon and
Fitzgerald 1986; Baart 1988; Lenig 1996), there
have been no serious attempts to carry out
archival research and to locate reference collec

tions of beads in France. Furthermore, because
French colonial sites were only established in
the 17th century and most of the French travel
literature is also from the 17th century, the 16th
century remains in a sort of limbo. Little is
known about the trade of the French fishermen
and the Basque whalers who began plying the
waters of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence in ever
greater numbers during the firsthalf of the 16th
There has also
century (Turgeon 1998:590).
been a tendency to concentrate on glass beads
and to not pay much attention to beads made of
other materials such as enamel/faience (frit-core),
shell, jet, bone, and coral. North American
bead researchers are still asking some very basic
chronology,
questions about the provenience,
Archaeology, 2001, 35(4):58?82.

to reprint required.

o
y
ccafd
ee
Pflf
///?/)
nn
aa
bb
kk
IIif
^SlP
mm
15
23
oo

< 50 mm
Turgeon?FRENCH BEADS INFRANCEAND NORTHEASTERNNORTH AMERICA 61
TABLE1
DESCRIPTIONSOF BEADS FROMTHEJARDINSDU CARROUSELCOLLECTION
Color,Shape (Size)
Fig.
KiddCoden
Glass Beads
a
round glass, "robins egg," one broken (6 mm dia., 5mm long)

11a
green round glass (color altered) (5.2mm dia., 6.4 mm long)
or
Ila48
Bright blue round glass (5mm diameter, 7 mm long)
Blue round glass, color altered (5.8mm dia., 5.9 mm long)
Ila48,
Translucent round w/white stripes, "Gooseberry" (7 mm dia., 7.5 mm long)
b
c
d
e
Turquoise
IIa40
Apple
24*
Translucent oval w/white stripes, "Gooseberry" (6 mm dia., 11mm long)

Blue oval glass w/two white stripes (7 mm in dia., 8 mm long)
lib
White oval glass (5.5mm diameter, 9 mm long) Hal5 2
Bright navy round glass seed (3 mm diameter, 3 mm long) IIa55 4
/
g
h
i
Ila55
/
m
n
tubular glass (4mm diameter, 47 mm long) Ia2 1

Translucent green tubular glass (2.9 dia., 35 mm long) Ial2 1
Ultramarine faceted glass (6 by 3 = 18 faces) (6 mm in dia., 8mm long)
Dark blue and white seed beads fired on glass paste (7x7 mm) IIa51/IIal
1
3
lib
4
lib
or
67
18
19
1 IIb73
or
4IIa56
Black
o
p
q
r
IIIf2
Black, blue & white seed beads fired on glass (broken) (10 mm dia., 24 mm
1
1
long) 2
Frit-core (Enamel/Faience) Beads

s
Blue oval frit-core or enamel/faience w/ white appliques (9.9 mm dia., 11.7 mm long) 1
t
Whitish round frit-core or enamel/faience, glaze removed (7 mm dia., 7.3 mm long) 1
Shell Beads
u
White
White
White
shell (8-10mm in diameter, 1-2 mm long, line hole 2 mm dia.)

(small) shell (4.5mm diameter, 2 mm long) 1
natural shell (marginella) (6mm diameter, 10mm long) 1
discoidal
discoidal
JetBeads
x
Black discoidal
y
z
Black
jet (12mm diameter, 5 mm long) 1

jet (7mm diameter, 2 mm long) 1
faceted jet, 7 by 3=21 faces (7x7 mm) 1
discoidal
Black
aa
faceted jet (12 mm in diameter, 14mm in long) 1

jet (8.5 mm diameter, 7 mm long) 2
Black melon jet (22 mm diameter, 17mm long) 1
Black glandular jet ( 12mm diameter, 14mm in long) 1
Black
bb
cc
dd
Black melon
Amber Beads
ee
Reddish
Reddish
ff
gg
hh
Reddish
Reddish
orange round amber (8 mm diameter, 6 mm long, broken at end) 1

orange round amber (6.5 mm diameter, 5 mm long) 13
orange faceted amber (5 by 3=15 faces) (9 mm dia., 7 mm long) 1
orange faceted (gadrooned) amber (11.2 mm dia., 7.2 mm long) 1
Rock Crystal Beads

ii
Translucent
Translucent
jj
faceted rock crystal (8.4 mm diameter, 12.1 mm long) 2

faceted rock crystal (9.8 diameter, 15.5 mm long) 1
Bone Beads
kk
Red
//
Beige
(dyed) round polished bone (7.3 mm diameter, 7 mm long)

round polished bone (4 mm diameter, 3.1 mm long) 1
30
Coral Beads
mm
Reddish
nn
Reddish
oo
Reddish
or Ila55
4
Ila50
IIa53
Bright navy circular glass seed (1.9 mm diameter, 1mm long)
Black circular glass seed (2.1 mm diameter, 1.5mm long) IIa7 4
Opaque white circular glass seed (3 mm diameter, 2.1 mm long) IIal2 1
Bright blue tubular glass (2.5 mm diameter, 15mm long) la 19 1
j
k
5
1
orange round coral (8 mm diameter, 6.9 mm long)

orange round coral seed (3 mm diameter, 2.5 mm long) 1
orange tubular (broken) coral (3.5 diameter, 5.5 long) 1
The color of bead b has been altered, thus it could be a turquoise round
glass (IIa40).

62
and trade of French glass beads. Were beads
How do the French
manufactured in France?
assemblages compare with the assemblages found
on colonial and Amerindian
the
sites? Was
North American
trade selective?
When
did
it
develop?
Answers to these questions will be sought by
focusing on a combination of archaeological and
archival sources from the second half of the
16th century. The two sets of sources proved
to be complementary?the archaeological record
supplied an interesting sample of beads while
the archival documents furnished invaluable
data on manufacturing techniques and trading
networks. A collection of beads was located
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 35(4)
out elaborate trace element analysis of beads

and to explain differences by chronological
phenomenon.
Although helpful, this method
has limitations.
Recent studies have shown
that other factors must be taken into account,
such as differences in regional European manu
facturing recipes (Fitzgerald, Knight, and Bain

Elemental composition of beads
1995:133-134).
could vary, from one production center to
another, and sometimes even within the same
production center, depending on the provenience

of raw materials and on the glass manufacturer's
uses of vitrifying and fluxing agents (Trivellato
2001). For example, the elemental composition
of the sodium carbonate, used as a fluxing
from the second half of the 16th century recently agent, changed depending on whether it was
in made from potassium (saltpeter) or the ashes
recovered from the Jardins du Carrousel
as part of a
of various plants and trees?sea-weed
Paris.
The site was excavated
imported
one
at
from
either Syria, Egypt, or Spain; musk ivy or
the
Louvre,
salvage archaeology project
ferns usually of a regional provenience; or again
of the official palaces of the French monarchy
local trees such as oak, beech, or pine (Agricola
in the 16th century and now the French national
was
it
renovated
and
when
museum,
1912:585; Trivellato 2001).
being
in
1990s.
the
late
1980s
and
early
expanded
The Jardins du Carrousel Collection
Since other collections of beads could not be
a
was
in
the
notarial
undertaken
search
located,
The beads from the Jardins du Carrousel
records of Paris and some of the port cities
were recovered from ditches used to dispose
involved in the early Canadian trade: Rouen, La
The Parisian notarial
Rochelle, and Bordeaux.
records provided post-mortem inventories of bead
makers.
These
inventories
were
drawn
up
by
notaries after a person's death, at the request of

the inheritors, and they contain detailed lists of
the deceased person's material possessions:
land,
buildings, furniture, tools, merchandise, clothing,
and other personal belongings, including bills
and accounts in the case of artisans, merchants,
or shopkeepers. The post-mortem inventories of
bead makers provide lists of beads (often with
an indication of material, color, shape, and size),

descriptions of the tools used in themanufactur
ing process, and sometimes copies of unpaid
bills giving names and places of residence of
Located
of human waste.
just west of the
to
have
been dug to
ditches
the
Louvre,
appear
extract the sand needed in the construction of
the Tuileries Palace during the second half of
the 16th century, when it became part of the
The
1991:356).
complex (Van Ossel
construction of the Tuileries Palace was begun in
1564 during the reign of Catherine de Medici.
in 1572 after the
The project was abandoned
death of the main architect, Philibert Delorme,
and taken up again and completed by Henri IV
Varying in depth from 2 to 4 m
(1589-1610).
Louvre
(6V2 to 13 ft.) and covering an area of some

50 to 70 m (160 to 230 ft.), the ditches were
progressively back filled with garbage collected
seemingly from the Louvre and the surrounding
neighborhoods of this central part of Paris. The
clients. Records of purchases of beads and other

trade goods by ship's captains and outfitters
were found in the notarized contracts of the
waste was
port cities.
It appeared more promising to study reference
in France and undertake archival
collections
on
bead makers and traders than to
research
from the
attempt to refine bead chronologies
In
in
beads.
differences
analysis of elemental
recent years, there has been a tendency to carry
(0.2 and
occasionally covered with limestone

and plaster, probably in an attempt to control
the smell of the decomposing organic materials.
survey trenches were
During the excavations,
areas
in order to better
in
three
different
dug
understand the structure and contents of the
ditches. Water screening with 0.5 and 2.5 mm
1.0 in.) mesh

screens was
undertaken
Turgeon?FRENCH BEADS INFRANCE AND NORTHEASTERNNORTH AMERICA 63

in two of the trenches; it is in these areas that
most of the beads and other small artifactswere
found (Van Ossel 1991:351-352).
The large majority of identifiable materials
was bone (90%-95% of the collection):
sheep,
beef, and pig bones especially, with some rabbit,
hare, and wild boar, and even a few human
The remaining artifact assemblage was
bones.
comprised of ceramics, glassware, coins, pins,
Most of
needles, draper's seals, and beads.
the ceramics and glass fragments were Parisian
types datable to the second half of the 16th
century. The variety and the quality of the
ceramic and glass vessels suggests users from
an upper social milieu.
The stratigraphy could
not be determined because the deposit had been
continuously stirred, mixed, and leveled. The
artifact chronology points towards a deposition
spread out over time. The 213 coins recovered

coins
helped narrow down the chronology?some
had the year of manufacture stamped on them,
the collection is comprised of an

assortment
of beads, it is small and
interesting
does have limitations. Given the size of the
sample, there are an exceptionally large number
Although
of bead varieties. Most of the beads (65%) exist

as single examples; rarely are there more than
four examples of the same variety. This is not
due to negligence, nor to a selective procedure
implemented at the time of the excavation.

The archaeologists who worked on the project
have assured me that all of the beads recovered
were inventoried; none was discarded (Fabienne
Ravoire, pers. comm.). Only two varieties were
recovered
in fairly large numbers:

the round
(13 examples) and the round red
amber beads
(30 examples), probably the remains

or rosaries. Generally, the same
varieties were not associated with one
bone beads
of necklaces
bead
another; theywere recovered in different trenches

and ditches. For example, only two of the seven
shell beads were found together. The diversity
ranged from 1581 to 1599; those bearing

only effigies were given approximate dates run
ning from 1572 to 1603. From this information,
Paul Van Ossel has hypothesized 1590 to 1605
as the period of formation of the deposit (Van
The collection is presently
Ossel
1991:354).
at
Direction
the
regionale des affaires
preserved
culturelles de Vile de France, Service regionale
in Saint Denis, a northern suburb
d'archeologie,
of the assemblage and scattered distribution of

the beads, as is the case with the other artifacts,
indicates that they came from numerous places
and were deposited at different times. It appears,
then, that the sample is fairly representative
of the varieties of beads worn by Parisians at
the time. Some beads still had wire or thread
total of 110 beads representing 41 different

varieties were recovered from the site (Table
1, Figure 1). One of the striking features of
the collection is the wide variety of materials,
shapes, and sizes of the beads. They are made
of eight differentmaterials:
glass predominates
If one can rely on the ceramics

examples.
as
and coins
chronological and social markers,
there is every reason to believe that these types
of beads would have been worn by well-to-do
Parisians during the last quarter of the 16th
which
of Paris.
A
(44%), followed by jet (14%), shell (10%),
amber (10%), coral (7%), frit-core (5%), bone

The beads come
(5%), and rock crystal (5%).
in an equally large number of shapes:
round
oval
faceted, discoidal,
(spherical),
(ovoid),
tubular, circular (torus or doughnut), melon,
and glandular, in that order. Sizes vary from
the large black jet beads, measuring 22 x 17
mm, to the very small bright blue and black
circular glass seed beads, 2 x 1-1.5 mm.
On
the other hand, the color spectrum of the beads

is restricted to black, blue, turquoise, green,
white, and red. Furthermore, almost all of the
beads are monochrome; only three glass beads
and one frit-core bead are polychrome.
attached to them, suggesting they were used

as ornamentation on clothing, which helps to
explain why so many beads were found as single
century.
There is a strong correlation between the Jar

dins du Carrousel collection and the assemblages
from early contact sites in Northeastern North
America.
Most of the glass beads from the

collection (83%) are also found on First Nations
sites dating from the second half of the 16th
century or the first part of the 17th century.
It was
not always easy to identify the beads

the intense biological
and chemical
of
the
activity
deposit altered the surface colors
of some of them. Fortunately, a few of the
beads had been broken and the true color could
be identified by examining the broken fragments
because
The color of those which had

(Figure lc).
not been broken and showed signs of alteration

64
was
determined by scratching and/or wetting a

small portion of the surface of the bead. The
turquoise round (Figure la), the apple green
round (Figure lb), the bright blue round (Figure

round and
Ic), the translucent white-striped
oval ("gooseberry")
(Figures le, f), the blue
white-striped oval (Figure Ig), and the white
oval (Figure Ih) beads are very characteristic of
the earliest beads found in Northeastern North
a period Ian and Thomas Kenyon
America,
have termed "glass bead period I" (roughly
1580-1600,
according to Kenyon and Kenyon
The small to very small round or
1983:66).
circular seed beads are less characteristic, but

they do occur during the early period, primarily
on coastal sites, at times in fairly large num
round and circular bright navy beads

li,
(Figure
j) are present in Massachusetts,
Nova Scotia, Quebec,
and New York (Bradley
1983:42;
1983:32; Wray
Wray et al. 1991:318;
and
Auger, Fitzgerald,
Turgeon 1992:62, 1993:64;
Whitehead
164; Moreau
1994:36;
1993:111,
Diamond 1996:103; Fitzgerald et al. 1997:48-49);
the black circular ones (Figure 1A:)as well as the
bers?the
white circular ones (Figure 11) are also present

on sites in the same states and provinces, except
for Nova Scotia. The lower frequency of these
in early assemblages
very small seed beads
to their size. Unless
related
be
may
partially
a fine meshed
screen is used, they can easily
be overlooked during excavations, especially the

blue and black ones, which are often the same
color as the soil. The bright blue tubular beads
(Figure Im) appear quite frequently on glass
the black
bead period II sites (1600-1625/30);
and translucent green tubular beads (Figure In,
on glass bead period
o) appear occasionally
in
Their presence
sites (1625/30-1650).
the Jardins du Carrousel
collection, however,
is an indication that they could be found on
16th century sites. The frit-core blue oval bead
III
displaying various patterns of raised white appli

qued lines and dots (Figure Is) is a unique bead
variety (Figure It is a frit-core enamel/faience
bead which has lost its glaze) and a good time
marker because it is only found on a few early
sites
the Micmac Northport and Hopps
sites:
1993:44, 66, 165), the Montagnais
site (Moreau
1994:36), the Huron
and
site
1983:60),
Kenyon
(Kenyon
Kleinburg
the Neutral Carton site (Kenyon and Kenyon
1983:60), and the Seneca Adams and Culbert
(Whitehead
Chicoutimi
son sites (Wray et al. 1987:115, 211). While

the total sample size of glass beads is small,
the comparatively high frequencies of certain
varieties
IIa48/50-12%;
(Table 1, IIa40-14%;
seems to corre
IIbl8/19-16%;
IIa55/56-19%)
spond roughly with their popularity on American
The strong correlation
in the
Indian sites.
frequency of occurrence on the Jardins du Car
rousel site and Northeastern North American sites

suggests that Paris was an important supplier of
beads for trade to this part of the world.
There are, however, some important differences
between
the collection
in France
and those in
The only other

North America.
varieties of beads to appear in any substantial
quantities on sites of First Nations people, are
discoidal and marginella shell beads (Figure lw,
in the Jardins du Carrousel
v, w). Numerous
collection, faceted beads are almost non-existent
in the Northeastern North American collections
from the 16th and early 17th centuries. Only
a few faceted rock crystal beads (Figures Hi,
jj) have been found in the collections from an
Northeastern
unidentified site in theMingan Islands in Quebec

and from theMohawk Bauder site inNew York
The two rock crystal
(Rumrill 1991:21-22).
faceted beads from Quebec were excavated by
Rene Levesque on theMingan Islands in 1968.

The site is not identified, but they are cataloged
under numbers (MA 2034, MA 3878) and are
of
at the Centre museographique
preserved
Laval University, Quebec City. Only four fac
eted rock crystal beads have been found on
the Mohawk Bauder site dated to about 1640.
Donald Rumrill believed these to be of Spanish
origin because the only other known specimens
at the time were from sites in Florida, dated
to the second half of the 16th century (Smith

1983:148,
155). Their presence in Paris and
on the Mingan Islands in Quebec suggests they

could just as easily be of French origin.
seem to have preferred the
Amerindians
smooth polished round, oval, and tubular beads
to the sharp-edged faceted varieties, at least
during this early period of contact. There also

appears to be a preference for the harder glass,
shell, and frit-core beads while the softer and
more fragile jet, amber, bone, and coral beads
(Figures Ix-oo) rarely show up on contact sites.
Only a few jet, coral, and bone beads have been

found in mid-17th century contexts. As far as
is known, no amber beads have been identified


The colonial St. John's col
north of Florida.
lection from Chesapeake
Bay is the only one
in North America where beads are made up
Aside from a large
of a variety of materials.
number of glass beads similar to those found
in Paris, including the ultramarine faceted bead
(Figure \p) not located elsewhere, it contains
a combination of black faceted and melon jet
beads, round amber beads, as well as round
bone beads (Miller et al. 1983:132-137).
On the other hand, several characteristic bead
varieties from early Native American assemblages

are absent from the Jardins du Carrousel collec
tion: the black-striped red round (lib 1, accord
ing to the Kidd classification), the black-striped

the red-in-white
and cored red round (IVbl),
oval
the multiple
(IIbb23),
striped light aqua
the
chevron
"star"
white-in-blue
layered
(Illml),
the striped tubular

striped red round (Ilbbl),
and
the
round
The
"eyed" (Ilg, IVg).
(IIIb3)
of
these
strong presence
polychrome beads,
more difficult and expensive to manufacture,
on contact sites, suggests that the consumption
of beads was driven, to a certain extent, by
interest. It is also an indication

thatNative traders had other sources of supply.
These polychrome beads may have been pur
chased from Basque
fishermen who acquired
them in La Rochelle, Bordeaux, and the ports of
northern Spain; or from Norman traders supplied
at Rouen, a major center of glass manufacture
in France; or other European centers of produc
Amerindian
tion. They may also have been acquired from

Spanish, Dutch, or English traders along the
Atlantic seaboard.
Post-Mortem
Makers
Inventories
of Parisian
Bead
To provide more context for the Jardins du

Carrousel collection, a survey was undertaken
of the notarial archives of Paris in an attempt to
locate post-mortem inventories of bead makers.
Since there are several thousand Parisian notarial
registers for the second half of the 16th century,
it would have been too time consuming to go
through them all. To make the research manage

able, secondary sources and published inventories
of the Parisian notarial records were used to
find the names of bead makers and references
to some of their post-mortem inventories. Many
useful references were
found in the magisterial
work
Les metiers et
de Lespinasse,
de la ville de Paris (XlVe-XVIIIe
of Rene
corporations
It quickly became apparent

siecle) (1886-1897).
that the bead makers' shops were clustered just
the central marketplace
north of Les Halles,
in Paris. A systematic search was carried out
in the records of the notaries residing in this

area; most of the post-mortem inventories were
located in the records of four notaries: Filesac
(St. Martin Street), Chazeretz (St. Denis Street),
Peron, and La Frongne ( both on Aux Ours
Street).
A total of 37 bead makers and 31 post-mortem
inventories were identified for the period 1562
to 1610. Only 26 of the inventories were use
or
inaccessible,
incomplete,
of
the
gave descriptions
paternosterers' personal
rather than their beads and tools.
belongings
It is not always easy to read and understand
the notarized inventories of this period.
The
to
much
it is
leaves
be
because
desired,
script
and
The
records
which
very irregular
sloppy.
remained with the notary were copies of the
able;
five were
originals, usually written quickly by young

clerks using abbreviations to reduce the costs of
reproduction. The original document was given
to the owner and the notary kept a copy as a

warranty against loss or theft. Furthermore,
many of the terms used to designate the beads
and the tools are no longer employed today.
Unfortunately, there are no early treatises on
beads
that provide descriptions of the manufac

turing techniques, tools, or terminology used
during the 16th and 17th centuries. The most
complete treatise on glass bead making is that of
a 19th-centuryVenetian glassmaker, Dominique
titled "The Celebrated Glassworks
Bussolin,
of Venice and Murano,"
originally published
in Italian and translated into French in 1847
(Karklins 1990). Although it provides a fairly
detailed explanation
of the two major glass
bead manufacturing techniques, the drawn and
the lamp-wound, it does not give a thorough
description of the different types of beads and
tools used for their manufacture, and the trea
tise is restricted to glass bead production. Dider
ot's mid-18th-century
encyclopedia
provides
names and illustrations of tools, but none of
the beads
themselves (Diderot and D'Alembert

It contains two entries: one for
17751-1765).
"paternosterer" which describes the manufacture
of organic beads (bone, wood, jet, etc.) with a

66
turningwheel, and another for enameling describ

ing briefly the production of "enamel" jewelry.
There is no entry for glass bead making. Like
wise, the voluminous treatise on metallurgy by
the 16th-century German metallurgist, Giorgio
Agricola, who claims to have spent two years
in Venice
and Murano,
dedicates
only eight
pages to glass making, and none to glass beads
in fact four categories of glass

beads designated by the Parisian notaries of this
period: crystalline, glass, enamel, and "turquin"
(undoubtedly the round turquoise beads, IIa40
in the Kidd classification).
For example, the
German, and French, reveals the "secrets" of

Venetian glass making and glass dyeing, but has
precious little on bead manufacture. To complete
the information provided by these works, 16th
and 17th-century French dictionaries
and on
the inventories themselves were relied upon,
couleurs de cristallin"), glass beads ("perles de

verre"), enamel in the form of beads and tubes
or rods ("grains d'email et canons d'email"),
and turquins ("turquyns" are in a category
of their own, perhaps because
of the very
of
chemical
these
particular
beads)
makeup
Antonio Neri's (1662)

(Agricola 1912:584-592).
in
very popular, The Art of Glass, published
Italian in 1612 and later translated into English,
which
sometimes gave clues about manufacturing

Since the
procedures and bead terminology.
notaries were probably not very familiar with
centuries the word enamel meant, quite on the

contrary, a lower grade of opaque or colored
glass.
There were
inventory of Jehanne Gourlin in 1573 lists all

four types:
crystalline of several colors in
the form of tubes or rods ("canon de plusieurs
Minutier
Central
des
(Archives Nationales,
Notaires
20
1573:IX-154,
[ANMCN]
October).
The rather high price of crystalline beads indi
the specialized vocabulary, they sometimes went
cates theywere made of high quality translucent
to the trouble of defining certain terms.
glass and were manufactured of the same mate
not
the
is
and
the
rial that was used to make crystal drinking
very large
sample
Although
information contained in the inventories sketchy, glasses. Not surprisingly, the same word is used
to designate beads and glasses?for
it does give a general idea of the occurrences
example, the
of materials,
The
shapes, sizes, and colors.
bead materials listed in the inventories and their
proportions are very similar to those found in the
Jardins du Carrousel
the
archaeological
collection (Table 2). As
collection,
glass,
enamel,
in
and
jet are the primary materials, followed by shell,

amber, coral, cornelian, chalcedony, rock crystal,
wood, horn, bone, copper, and ivory. The only
difference is that there is a larger variety of
materials in the inventories and a larger propor
tion of glass, enamel, and jet beads. Glass and

enamel represent more than half (51.5%) of the
beads listed in the inventories, a figure slightly
higher than that of the Jardins du Carrousel
In keeping with the practice
collection (44%).
followed in the inventories, glass and enamel are
separated even though enamel is really a form

of glass. According to Bussolin's
19th-century
is used to
treatise, the term enamel ("email")
designate high-quality glass beads, also known

under the Italian word conteries (the brilliance
is enhanced by the addition of lead oxide),
glass ("verre") is used for

and
cheaper types of beads, sometimes
ordinary
A care
called rocailles (Karklins 1990:69-70).
ful examination of the post-mortem inventories
indicates that during the 16th and early 17th
whereas
the word
lists 60
inventory of glass-maker Jean Delamare
of
"cristallin"
1574:IX-155, 26
(ANMCN
glasses
were
beads
manufactured
January). Crystalline
with quartzite pebbles containing high quantities

of silica (up to 98%).
These pebbles were
heated and ground into a fine white powder,
and then mixed with fluxing agents?especially
sodium carbonate (that made from the ashes
TABLE 1
POST
MATERIALS
OF BEADS FROMPARISIAN
MORTEM
INVENTORIES 1562-1610
28.5%
Glass
23.0%
Enamel
16.3%
Jet
6.6%
Shell
4.8%
Amber
4.8%
Coral
4.4%
Rock Crystal
2.4%
Cornelian
Chalcedony
Wood
1.2%
1.2%
0.8%
Bone
Horn
Copper
Ivory

0.8%
0.4%
0.4%

of Syrian or Egyptian sea-weed was considered
the best), as well as some calcium, potassium,
The mixture was placed in a
and magnesium.
and heated at approximately
furnace
reverberatory
800?C for a few hours. The now liquid masse
was poured into crucibles and heated at 1,200?C
in the main furnace for one to two days. At
they are present early?the inventory of Jacques

1562, contains
Leroy, drawn up in December
1562:LIX
large numbers of them (ANMCN
Parisian bead makers used
25, 28 December).
specialized terms to designate the shapes of the

beads:
olive ("olive") for oval, flute ("flute")
or canon ("canon") for tubular, cut ("taille en
this stage, manganese or metal oxides could be

miroir," "taille a facette" or "taille en plein")
added to color the glass or enhance transparency. for
faceted, blackberry ("mure") for the corn
The molten glass was then ready to be blown or
bead (Wild
according to the Kidd classifica
drawn into rods or tubes (Trivellato 2001).
tion, Figure Iq, r), and glandular ("facon de
The less expensive glass and enamel beads
gland") for the acorn shaped beads (Figure \dd).
with cruder
would have been manufactured
"Strawberry" beads ("a la fraise") may have
vitrifying and fluxing agents, and they would
been the melon shaped ones because the word
have been fused for a shorter period of time,
strawberry was used in 16th-century France to
and fuel generally
given that raw materials
designate the fashionable high collared ruffs
represented three-quarters of the production costs
shaped like a melon (Figure Ibb). The nota
of finished crystal and glass objects (Trivellato
ries
very seldom designate medium size beads
The prices of glass and enamel beads
2001).
were
similar and they appear to have the ("moyennes"); but large beads are often described
as big ("grosses"), and small to very small beads
same status. In the post-mortem inventory of
Gabriel Bellanger, the notary priced some of the by terms like grain ("grains"), small ("petites"),
Here
tiny ("menues"), or seed ("semances").
glass and enamel beads together, clearly indicat
to
the
color
is
restricted
basic
were
that
their
values
similar
also,
spectrum
(ANMCN
ing
colors: black, white, red, turquoise, blue, violet,
1 October).
1585:XLV-160,
Regarded as very
the
oval
frit-core
blue
beads
and
poor quality,
green, in that order; yellow is the only other
glazed
with white appliqued lines and dots, so charac
color mentioned and it occurs only once. The
teristic of this early period, are described in the presence
of polychrome
is suggested
beads
inventories as being made of enamel ("olives
the
"tubes of several colors"
by
expression
a cottes mouchetees
aussi d'email")
(ANMCN
however, it
("canon de plusieurs couleurs");
It is legitimate to think that does not occur
1603:1-41, 3 May).
frequently, which leads to the
the frit-core enamel/faience beads would have
conclusion that themajority of beads inventoried
been included in the enamel category since they are monochrome.
were fired and had an enamel type glaze.
In
Some beads are described as imitations of
the case of the characteristic blue oval bead,
Italian models
and others as being imported
the raised white appliqued lines and dots appear
from Venice or Milan.
Jeanne Gourlin had in
to have been applied to the glaze.
Fine white
her shop some 43,000 "turquins of the manner
glass thread was likely fired onto the bead with
of Venice,"
in the
indicating they were made
an oil lamp to produce the motif. These frit
Venetian style. The word "turquin" is defined
core beads are not mentioned
in the Bussolin
in dictionaries of the time as a "Turkish [hue]
treatise probably because they were no longer between
blue and azure" or "Venetian blue"
being manufactured in the 19th century. There
(Cotgrave 1950; Desainliens
1970). In the post
are other examples of mid-19th-century terminol
mortem
inventories, they are almost always
ogy not applying to the 16th century?certain
designated as blue. Some beads were imported
terms, such as conteries and rocailles, are never
from Italy because
the same inventory also
mentioned in the 16th-century notarial records.
lists 100,000 "false glass pearls from Venice"
Beads were worked into all sizes and shapes:
1573:IX-154, 20 October).
(ANMCN
Likewise,
oval, round, circular, discoidal, tubular, melon,
the shop of Judith Rousselin, wife of the
and faceted. As in the Jardins du Carrousel
deceased Pierre Rousselin, had in it 17 pounds
round and oval appear to be the and 2 ounces
collection,
of marguerites ("margueritaires")
preferred shapes; faceted beads are also preva
fromMilan (ANMCN
1584:XCI-130, 22 March).
lent. Tubular beads are less frequent; however,
In Bussolin's
19th-century treatise, marguerites

68
small Italian embroidery
(daisies) designated
In the
beads of enamel and colored glass.
French dictionaries
of the late medieval period

the 16th century the definition is more
restricted?the marguerite is described simply
as a fine white and round pearl (Huguet 1961;
and
Godefroy 1982). These references to imported

beads in the inventories are exceptional.
The
vast majority of the beads were made by the
bead makers themselves because the inventories
often refer to equipment and tools used in the
manufacturing process: marble or clay furnaces
("fourneau de marbre" or "fourneau de terre")
to fuse glass; iron pestles and morters ("mortiers
et pilons de fer") to crush materials for making
the frit; slabs of marble or stone ("planche
de marbre blanc" or "pierre de Lyon") with
of at least four different categories of beads:

organic turned beads, drawn glass beads, mold
pressed glass or enamel beads and lamp-wound
glass beads. Half a dozen were specialized in

the production of turned beads made of organic
Their workshops appear to be small
materials.
and equipped with simple tools for cutting,
a workbench,
turning, and polishing beads:
knives, chisels, files, grindstones, a turning
wheel ("rouet" and sometimes the word "moulin"
is used), iron drills ("forets"), and threaders

("enfileurs"). Hugues Marchonaye had nothing
more than a workbench, a turningwheel, a mold,
several files, and a "grindstone from Tripoli
19
for polishing jet" (ANMCN
1579:XX-135,
May). Most of these paternosterers concentrated

on one type of material?for
example, Hugues
irons
for
and
Marchonaye, Denis Hende, and Gregoire Saulsaye
("mollets")
retrieving
gathering
for worked jet whereas Jehan Pieron favored shell.
marvering the glass; pincers ("tenailles")
or
canes
iron
His inventory listed more than 500 shell beads,
molten
into
rods;
drawing
glass
12 whole shells, three grinding wheels equipped
molds ("rouelles de fer") for molding glass or
with belts, and 37 oak molds of different lengths
enamel cakes; lamps ("lampes")
and bellows
7
to hold the beads (ANMCN
for making
1581:XX-128,
("soufflets")
lamp-wound beads;
to
Jehan
and
de
tumble
copper pans ("ecuelles
Dulaye
January).
Only
Crespin
cuivre")
to turn out beads of
beads; tin screens ("sasets de fer blanc") for Hebert were equipped
several types of materials:

scissors and tongs ("paires de
jet, coral, shell, and
sorting beads;
cut
amber.
to
knives
and manipulate
them;
ciseaux")
to cut
The majority of the bead makers manufactured
and chisels ("ciseaux")
("couteaux")
organic beads; turning wheels ("rouet") to turn drawn glass and enamel beads, which demanded
and polish beads; wooden oak molds for shaping more equipment and labor than the organic
beads. Although the production of drawn beads
turned beads ("moulures de bois de chene avec
remained a cottage industry,with the workshops
leur rouet"); and files ("limes") to facet them.
located in the homes of the bead
The Parisian bead-makers were part of a
generally
it
1897
makers,
[2]:96-97)
required at least one furnace to melt
recognized guild (Lespinasse
as paternosterers
the frit and a fair amount of space to draw the
still designated
and were
molten glass into tubes or canes. With an iron
loan word from Italian
("patenostriers")?a
blow pipe, the glass maker would blow a pocket
beads
makers?because
bead
rosary
meaning
in late-medieval
Italy almost
rosaries.
for
By the second
exclusively
making
half of the 16th century, paternosterers were
manufacturing beads and related products for a
beads for rosaries, but
large variety of uses:
had been
used
also for rings, bracelets, necklaces, belts, dresses,

and hats. They manufactured glass earrings,
buttons, and cupids, even glass tooth-picks.
Although
as
most
paternosterer,
simply designated
some
hinted
at
themselves
a more
special
ized type of activity by using terms such as

paternosterer of jet or paternosterer of enamel.
An examination
of the equipment and tools
listed in the inventories indicates the Parisian
bead makers were involved in the manufacture
of air into the mob of molten glass, and two

helpers would quickly grasp the fusing glass
with gathering irons and pull it by running in
opposite directions, forming a perfectly uniform
tube with a hollow cylinder in the middle cre
Once hardened, the

ated by the air pocket.
were
cut
into
the
desired
tubes
lengths and the
a
off
with
ends rounded
grinding instrument to
To make oval or round
make tubular beads.
beads, the tubular pieces of glass were mixed
with sand and charcoal in copper or iron pans,

heated in the furnace, and stirred continually
with an iron rod. The longer the beads were
stirred, the rounder they got. The beads were
then set aside to cool, screened to separate them


from the sand and charcoal, polished in bags of
sand and bran, and threaded on strings according
to size and quality(Kidd 1979; SmithandGood

1982; Sprague 1985; Opper and Opper 1991).
Both Giorgio Agricola and Antonio Neri

May).
indicate that the largerworkshops were equipped
with three furnaces:
the first for turning frit
Several of the bead makers of our sample appear

to have been fusing glass and drawing it into
The shop of the
tubes in their workshops.
deceased Pierre Rogerel contained 684 pounds of
sodium carbonate ("soude"), commonly used as a
into molten glass, the second for re-melting

the glass cakes to manufacture glass products,
and the third for slowly cooling the glass
objects to prevent them from breaking (Agricola
The smaller
1912:586-589; Neri 1662:239-249).
workshops would have two or only one furnace,
enamel/faience in a mold (Sprague 1985:95-97).

The glass variety were made by pressing plastic
glass factories rather than manufacturing them

themselves.
Jehanne Gourlin's
inventory lists
some 1,112 lb. (504 kg) weight of crystalline
fluxing agent, and 290 pounds of coloring agents

(ANMCN
("preregot autrement dit couleur")
11 March).
1573.XCI-124,
beads were formed of glass or
Mold-pressed
glass into molds, often in a pliers-like device,

of the desire size and shape. When cooled they
were removed and the mold
seam might be
ground and polished. The enamel/faience type
were made of wet paste of quartz fit with an
alkaline flux in metal or wooden molds. The
holes were made by wires which was removed
after the bead was dry. They were then fixed
in a furnace and given a salt glaze. Parisian
bead makers
often combined the production of

drawn and mold-pressed beads because the two
processes used many of the same tools.
The 1584 inventory of Georges Ferre, which
lists enamel beads, had all of the equipment and
tools necessary to draw or mold glass beads:
two furnaces (a large and a smaller one), cru
cibles, three workbenches, two chairs, a marver

ing stone from Lyons with its gathering iron,
seven pincers, boards to set the tubes on the
ground during the cooling process, perforated
iron plates, an iron pestle and morter, nine dozen
iron molds ("rouelles de fer"), two threaders,
files, boards, and small wooden boxes ("layettes")

for storing beads (ANMCN
6
1584:XCI-130,
Ferre may have employed as many as a
April).
dozen workers. Benoit Vincent's workshop was
even bigger?his
inventory lists three furnaces,
four workbenches, molds, many iron plates, two

pairs of scales, and a turning wheel ("rouet").
He was specialized in the production of enamel
and glass beads because the 50 square and round

boxes, made of white spruce, as specified in
the inventory, contained primarily these types of
beads. His inventory also mentions 80 lb. (36
kg) weight of enamel tubes of different colors
and 40 lb. (18 kg) weight of white enamel in
tubes as well as in cakes (ANMCN
1603:1-41, 3
in which all three operations would have to be

carried out. Some paternosterers seem to have
been purchasing glass and enamel tubes from
and enamel canes
in cases and only one small

her
furnace, suggesting
operation was specialized
in transforming the canes into tubular or rounded
beads
1573:IX-154, 20 October).
(ANMCN
The manufacture of lamp-wound beads was
much less common.
These were made with
solid glass canes of various sizes heated with a
lamp and a bellows used to direct and increase

the temperature of the flame. The heated glass
cane would wind itself around the iron wire as
itmelted and form a rounded bead. The bead
could be further shaped by the movement of

the worker's fingers or the use of small molds
according to Bussolin (Karklins 1990:74). Only
two inventories listed lamps and bellows. Symon
Grue's 1584 inventorymentions a workbench, a
bellows ("soufflet"), a lamp ("lampe"), and iron
wire, but also a furnace, threemorters and three

pestles, iron boards, chisels, pincers, and other
tools usually employed in the manufacture of
drawn beads (ANMCN
1584:IX-111, 23 Octo
ber). The inventory suggests a hybrid opera
tion combining the production of drawn and
lamp-wound beads. Anthoine Grandsire's oper
ation seems to have been more specialized;
his workshop
contained only a bellows "for
bead makers" ("de paternostrier") and a work

bench with "several lamps" ("plusieurs lampes")
22 March).
Interest
1630:XLII-77,
(ANMCN
ingly, two display panels of beads are listed
as exhibited in his "boutique" which contained
enamel as well as "faience" (frit-core) beads.
Since these are the first inventories to mention

bellows and lamps, they suggest that it is around
this time that lamp-wound glass beads began
to be manufactured in Paris. According to Bus
solin, the technique for making these types of

70
beads was
invented in Venice in 1528 (Karklins

1990:75); it is not surprising that it took some
time before they were introduced into France,
given the secrecy surrounding the manufacture
of glass beads in Venice.

The numbers of bead makers seem to increase
during the second half of the century as they
become progressively more
involved in the
clothing industry. Boniface Marquis, an active
of the guild, gave paternosterer as his

28
1562:IX-25,
profession in 1562 (ANMCN
was
as
but
haberdasher
December),
designated
France became a major center for the manu

and trade of beads during the 16th
of the court and wealthy
century. Members
facture
merchants encouraged Italian glass bead makers

to practice their trade in France. Glass factories
were established in Lyons, Nevers, Paris, Rouen,
Nantes,
and Bordeaux.
tury, they were present

French cities (Barrelet
By the end of the cen

in most of the major
1953:62-65,
91-95).
factories
glass
produced colored glass in
the form of rods and canes on a large scale and
sold them to paternosterers who worked them
member
These
in his post-mortem
("mercier")
inventory of
14
1581 (ANMCN
1581:IX-162,
February).
Several of the inventories of the last quarter
of the century listed sewing goods along with
into beads of different forms and sizes. France

exported large quantities of beads to England
(Kidd 1979:29); they were

merchants
for the North American
purchased by
at
beads:
La
trade
Rochelle
thread, needles, thimbles, scissors, ribbon,
(Archives Departementales
1578:111-437, 13 July; des Charentes-Maritimes 1565:3E 2149, 20 June),
lace, and cloth (ANMCN
at Bordeaux
10 January; 1578:XCI-130,
22
de la
1580:111-191,
21
March;
1603:1-41, 3 May;
1610:X-13,
June). Gironde [ADG] 1587:3E 5428, 5 February) and,
In some cases, gloves, belts, and purses are
1599:3 November).
primarily, at Paris (ANMCN
as being embroidered with beads,
described
Merchants in the provincial cities were often sup
which is an indication that clients were leaving plied by Parisian bead makers or haberdashers.
in shops to have beads sewn Charles Chelot, one of the most prominent bead
these accessories
them (ANMCN
1569:111-436, 2 May;
19 Febru
1570:111-322, 30 May;
1572:LIX-27,
use
to
The
of
beads
decorate
garments
ary).
became widespread during the 16th century with
onto
fashion of
the development of the Renaissance
embellishing clothing with precious stones and
it is this new
beads (Boucher 1996:191-203);
and growing market that probably explains the
upsurge in the number of bead makers rather
than simply the manufacture of rosaries. Beads
embellished hats, gloves, boots, belts, shirts, and
coats, and ever more frequently bed canopies,
cushions, altar cloths, and chasubles (De Farce
1982; Wolters
1890:37; Rocher
1996:36-39).
Costume books attest to the increased associa
tion of beads and precious stones with costume
the second half of the 16th century

1590; Glen 1602). Amer
(Bruyn 1581; Vecello
indian traders likely saw them on the bodies and
the clothing of ship captains or even ordinary
sailors. Mariners often wore shell necklaces
or bracelets as proof of their travel to distant
lands and also perhaps as a way of identifying
It was a well-known
themselves with the sea.
custom among seamen to wear a spiral brass
during
earring to protect oneself against bad eyesight
1966:205).
(Witthoft
and North America
merchants (mercer/haberdasher) in Paris, provided

beads to Guillaume Delamarre of Rouen, Samuel
of La Rochelle,
and Pierre Bore of
Georges
all merchants actively involved in
Bordeaux,
the early trade to Canada (ANMCN
1610:X-13,
21 June).
The presence of shell beads in the post-mor
tem inventories as well as at the Jardins du
Carrousel collection is an important find because
it has been assumed by most North American
bead researchers that shell beads were exclusively
of Aboriginal
1901; Ceci
origin (Beauchamp
1989; Sempowski 1989; Hamell
1996). Several
in the manu
Parisian bead makers specialized
facture of shell beads, commonly called porcelain
("porcelaine") in French, a term derived from the
Italian porcellana which designates the cowry
shell (Hamell 1992:464; Greimas 1992). When
the word porcelain is used in the inventories,
there is no question that the notaries are refer
ring to shell beads and not frit-core or faience
shells or scraps of unused shell

are mentioned, but none of the
("coquilles")
tools needed to manufacture glass and frit-core
beads are listed (ANMCN
1570:111-321, 30 May;
7 January; 159LXXIII-135,
13
158LXX-128,
June). When the terms enamel and porcelain are
beads; whole


sometimes used together in the same inventories; important to have more information on the dif
the notaries are clearly referring to different
ferent types of French shell-beaded objects and
the ways in which they were used in France.
beads because the latter are always more expen
sive than the former, or than most other beads
There is a substantial body of information on
for thatmatter. Furthermore, the word porcelain Native American uses of shell bead, but surpris
is used to designate shell beads in all of the
French
ingly little on their usages in Europe.
travel
French
literature
of
North
America
have
early
practices may
inspired Amerindian adapta
tions and innovations. Although such a research
(Vachon 1970:260; Karklins 1992:13) as well as
in the royal charters (Lettres patentes) of the agenda is beyond the scope of this article, it is
Parisian bead makers
1892[2]:109;
(Lespinasse
Franklin 1895 [16]:156).
Some of these shell
beads were making theirway to North America.
Charles Chelot, who had strong ties to many
worth mentioning that the inventory of Jehan

in the manufacture of
Pieron, who specialized
shell beads, lists a belt made of white shell
trader (ANMCN
3 November).
1599:XCIX-65,
Lescarbot also specifies, in his travel account,
that the Indians "make great use of Matachiaz,
[theMicmac word is employed here to designate
marine shell beads] which we bring to them
have been the precursor of the North American

Beaded
belts appear to have
wampum belt.
been fashionable at the time, several have been
encountered in the inventories: a belt garnished
outfitting ships to Canada,

in 1599
sold large quantities of shell beads
to Pierre Chauvin, a well-known Canadian fur
of the merchants
from France"
Since
(Lescarbot
1612:732).
shell beads were already ornamental and valued
objects for most First Nations groups of the
Northeast, it is not surprising that they would
have been attracted early on by this familiar
and, at the same time, exotic object of European
Shell beads remained an important
origin.
French trade item throughout the colonial period.

stores in Quebec City always kept
large quantities of shell beads on hand and they
were much more expensive than glass beads.
The King's
beads ("corps de ceinture de porcelaine blanche")

7 January). The use
1581:XX-128,
(ANMCN
of the word "corps" (body) in French suggests
the beads were braided into the belt. This may
with enamel grains ("grains d'email en garniture

de ceinture," ANMCN
20 Octo
1573.IX-154,
a
small
of
belt
white
and
black
enamel
ber);
with
small
beads
paternoster
garnished
("petite
ceinture d'email noir et blanc garnie de petits
6 April);
1584:XCI-130,
patenostres," ANMCN
and a belt of enameled gold stones containing
121 round pearls ("une ceinture de pierres d'or
emaillees contenant 121 perles rondes," ANMCN
16 June).
Shell beads were
1631:VI-210,
also used to decorate purses.
Jehan Dulaye's
inventory lists five purses embroidered with

to Nathalie Hamel, one shell bead
white shell ("cinq escarcelles faites de coquilles
According
was worth 1,224 glass beads during the period
blanches brodees," ANMCN
1570:111-321, 30
1720-1760
Likewise,
(Hamel
1995:13-14).
May).
shell beads always far outnumber glass beads in
the inventories of trade goods from the trading A Chronology
for French Trade Beads
in
of
the
the
17th
Northeastern
North
America
posts
Chesapeake during
century
(Miller, Pogue, and Smolek 1983:127-130).
It should be possible to visually distinguish
The evidence of trade of French marine shell
the Native manufactured
shell beads from the
is an invitation to open up North American bead
ones.
The latter would have been
research to other types of beads, and to all
European
manufactured with iron drills and should have
European trade goods for that matter, in order
more regular forms and shapes. Unfortunately,
to gain a better understanding of the
chronology
it appears that chemical trace element analysis
of contacts and their impact on First Nations
will not be very helpful in identifying the geo
groups. Although glass beads were a major
of
the
shell
accord
trade item, they appear rather late on North
because,
graphical origins
to
Claassen
and
Samuella
American
contact sites, long after shell and
ing
Cheryl
Sigmann
are
most
beads
not
beads
for example, and their use as a
(1993:336,
345),
large copper
to
reliable
data.
time
marker
has
led us to assume that trade
enough
provide
To better understand the cultural transfer of before glass bead period I
(ca. 1580-1600)
shell beads from France to America, it will be was quantitatively insignificant and, therefore,

72
There has been a tendency to
unimportant.
concentrate on the larger collections of glass
beads and to forget the isolated shell beads, the
rolled copper beads, and the few scraps of iron
found on earlier sites. These first small and
shell beads back into the prehistoric period.

If
the introduction of marine shell were a contact
related phenomenon, then these sites could just
as easily be placed in the early historic period.
The Iroquoians may have acquired shell beads

from Europeans
or, while waiting for them,
apparently trivial objects may have had a more
from coastal Algonquian
significant impact on Native groups than has
groups who began
been assumed until now. Our attention is now manufacturing beads at about the time of these
turned to this earlier period and hypothesize that first contacts (Ceci 1989:72; Fenton 1998:226).
the European presence was felt very early in From the information provided by the Jardins
the 16th century and that French trade goods
du Carrousel
collection, it appears legitimate
to hypothesize that the discoidal and marginella
increasingly circulated in Northeastern North
America from the time of the Verrazzano and
shell beads were of European
origin and the
Cartier voyages in the 1520s and 1530s.
tubular shell beads (proto-wampum) were of
In the Northeast, marine shell beads are the North American provenience.
Native groups
first exotic objects to appear on Native sites of
encountered Europeans
during the very first
the interior. They are all but absent from the decades
of the 16th century when English,
French, and Portuguese fishing vessels began
archaeological record during the late prehistoric
era (A.D. 1000 to 1500), a period of profound
establishing shore stations to dry cod (as early
showing little if any archaeological

of trade or contact between groups
Most of the beads found
(Bradley 1987:25).
on these sites are made with local materials:
localism
evidence
freshwater shell, animal bone, deer phalanges,

and mammal
teeth (Wray
1987:147; Ceci
Lennox
and
1989:68;
Fitzgerald 1990:423; Rams
den 1990:370-371).
The late prehistoric sites
a
few discoidal
where
and/or tubular marine
shell beads have been excavated are, in fact, so
to date from
late, they could be considered
one bead on the
the early historic period:
Seneca Alhart site (1440-1510)
(Hamell 1977),
another on theMohawk Elwood site (1475-1500)
three on the
(Kuhn and Funk 1994:78-79),
Huron Kirche site (ca. 1495-1550)
(Pendergast
1989:98), nine on the Saint Lawrence Iroquoian
Mandeville site (ca. 1500) (Chapdelaine 1989:102,
Figure 7.15) and a dozen on the Onondaga
Barnes
Fur
site (ca. 1500) (Bradley 1987:42).
the
these
dates
indicated
for
sites
thermore,
are those given by the authors at the time of
the study. In recent years, dates of sites in

western New York have been advanced in time?
to
for example, Alhart to 1500-1550, Elwood
and Barnes to 1540-1560
1500-1535,
(Lenig,
Since marine
shell has been
pers. comm.).
assumed until now to be of Native American
origin and the presence or absence of European
trade goods has been the primary criterion for

dividing the prehistoric from the historic periods
(Hamell 1992:458), there has been a tendency
to push the dates of sites containing marine
as 1501) and when explorers such as Gaspar

Corte Real (1501) and Thomas Aubert (1509)
not only encountered Indians along the coasts,
but also brought some back to Europe to be

sold as slaves or exhibited as curiosities (Quinn
These voyages were followed
1977:123-131).
those
of
Verrazzano
(1524), Gomes (1525),
by
and Cartier (1534-1542).

Verrazzano exchanged
gifts, including "azure crystals" (bright blue
glass beads) (Winship 1905:15-16), with several
Native groups of New England,
and Gomes
traded European
goods for sables and other
valuable furs with the First Nations of Cape
Breton Island (Quinn 1979[1]:274).
During
his first voyage in 1534, Cartier presented the
Micmacs
he encountered in Chaleur Bay with
hatchets, knives, beads ("patenostres"), and other
wares; a few days later, he gave the group of
Iroquoians at Gaspe "knives, glass beads, combs,
and other trinkets" (Bideaux
1986:112,
114).
During his second voyage in 1535-1536, Cartier
again distributed large amounts of French goods
in the form of gifts: he gave the women of
Stadacona
City) knives
(present-day Quebec
and glass beads, and the chief two swords and
two large brass wash basins; on the way to
Hochelaga
(present-day Montreal), he distributed
knives and beads; at Hochelaga,
he provided
the men with hatchets and knives, the women
with beads and other "small trinkets," and the
children with rings and tin agnus Dei (Bideaux
1986:139, 143, 149, 150, 155). Upon returning
to Stadacona
the same year, he gave the men


knives "and other wares," and a tin ring to each
of thewomen. Throughout the long winter spent
there, Cartier exchanged knives, awls, beads, and
other "trinkets" for foodstuffs (Bideaux 1986:159.
162). These represent fairly large quantities of

beads and other goods, thus some should appear
in the archaeological record.
Narratives of the European presence certainly
circulated quickly and widely, and Indian groups
must have traveled to the coasts to see these
strange creatures. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians
encountered by Cartier on the Gaspe Peninsula
in 1534 had likely come with this intention;
indeed, the absence of Iroquoian material culture
in the archaeological
record of the area points
towards a recent and sporadic occupation rather

than a long-lasting seasonal migratory movement
The small amounts of

(Tremblay 1998:116).
marine shell beads that appear on sites of the
interiormay very well be the first tangible signs
of migratory movements to the eastern seaboard
to establish contacts with Europeans.
Although
groups from the interior may have also been
shell beads through trade

acquiring European
with coastal groups, one should not exclude the
it
possibility of seasonal expeditions because
was undoubtedly important for Amerindians to
see and to have direct contacts with Europeans.
As Cheryl Claassen
and Samuella
Sigmann
have pointed out, there has been
(1993:334)
a tendency in the archaeological
literature to
presume rather than demonstrate that trade is the
transportmechanism responsible for the presence
of exotic materials on sites. The movement of
objects always entails the movement of peoples,
at least to a certain extent.
European copper beads occur on Algonquian
and Iroquoian sites during the second quarter

of the 16th century, slightly before glass beads.
Small pieces of copper cut from kettles, often
rolled into tubular beads, and some rare iron
objects (awls and celts), sometimes found in
association with marine shell discoidal beads,
may be considered a horizon style artifactual
assemblage for this period. As James Bradley
has pointed out, the first European objects on
Algonquian
early contact period sites in New
are
small brass/copper beads as well as
England
small pieces of sheet brass or copper (Bradley
turn up on
These same materials
1983:30).
Iroquoian sites of the interior. Copper beads
and a few iron awls and celts are found on
sites from the early to mid-16th century

The first object, indisput
(Ramsden 1990:373).
of
ably
European origin, to appear in Neutral
archaeological assemblages is a rolled brass bead
Huron
recovered from theMacPherson

site dated to the
of the century (Lennox and Fitzgerald
Further to the south, on the Onon
1990:429).
daga sites, scrap pieces of copper were located
on sites from the 1525-1550 period: one piece
middle
at Temperance House and two at Atwell (Bradley

The Seneca Richmond Hills
site,
1987:69).
dated 1540-1560,
contained a tubular copper
bead, a copper ring, a tiny scrap of sheet copper,
et al. 1987:240; Kuhn

The
Mohawk Garoga site
1991:80).
a
also
had
small but compelling
(1525-1545)
of
two tubular
copper objects:
assemblage
an
a piece
unidentified
and
beads,
ornament,
of scrap (Snow 1995:154-158).
Most of the
shell bead assemblages that appear on sites from
this period are dominated by the same types of
and
iron nail
and Funk
(Wray
found in the Jardins du Carrousel

collection?centrally
perforated small discoidal
beads and an occasional marginella bead (Lenig,
shell beads
pers.
comm.).
This characteristic artifactual assemblage, found

on numerous sites spread over a large part of
the Northeast, very likely corresponds to the

development of trade with French fishermen and
Basque whalers on the Atlantic seaboard in the
1530s and 1540s. The number of French cod
fishing ships outfitted to Newfoundland rose in
earnest during this period.
In the Bordeaux
notarial archives, for example, the vessels outfit
ted for the cod-fishery increased from 1 or 2
per-year in the 1530s to more than 20 per-year
in the 1540s (Bernard 1968:805-826).
These
high levels are corroborated by those of two
other large French ports actively involved in

the Newfoundland cod fishery?La Rochelle and
Rouen.
These three ports alone were outfitting
more than 150 ships a year towards the end
of the 1550s (Turgeon 1998:590-591).
As the
number of vessels increased, they spread out into
the Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf of the Saint
Lawrence, and set up shore stations on land to
dry cod. In the late 1530s, French and Spanish

in
Basques
began fishing and hunting whales
the Strait of Belle Isle; there may have been
as many as 15 to 20 large whaling ships and
1,000 European men on the Labrador coast by
mid-century.
These

vessels would
have had on
74
board copper kettles for cooking meals for crew
members; additionally, each whaling ship would
have carried as many as three or four large
copper cauldrons used in the rendering of whale
blubber into train oil. Fishermen and whalers
had in their possession
all sorts of iron tools
one of their number was
the leader in Canada"

(undoubtedly St. Lawrence Iroquoians). Armed
with bows and arrows and pinewood shields, and
having many boats (undoubtedly canoes), they
claimed to have killed more than 35 of Cartier's
men (Biggar 1930:462-463). The presence of St.
for making ship repairs and Lawrence

and objects?axes
Iroquoians in this area at that time
record;
building shore stations, knives for gutting fish is also supported by the archaeological
the rim sherd of a St. Lawrence Iroquoian pot
and cutting whale blubber, and large amounts of
shelter at Red
nails for constructing wooden docks, platforms, was found inside a collapsed
to
about
and shelters.
Labrador,
mid-century
Bay,
dating
Coastal Algonquians and even Iroquoians from
(Chapdelaine and Kennedy 1990:41-43).
at these
The Basque
their
the interior traded with Europeans
appear to have pursued
in this area, at
trade with the First Nations
seasonal shore stations. At least two of the
least intermittently?the 1557 will of a Basque
groups Cartier met during his firstvoyage to the
St. Lawrence region in 1534, appeared familiar fisherman from Orio mentions cueros de ante
of the Bay
with European trade?the Micmacs
(probably caribou hides) from the "New Found
of Chaleur who made signs to him to come to Lands"
European fishers
(Barkham 1980:54).
and whalers may have been venturing up the St.
shore and held skins on sticks, and theMontag
Lawrence
themselves in search of furs, for in
nais group he encountered on the North Shore
of the St. Lawrence "who came freely aboard
his ships as if they had been Frenchmen" (Cook
1993:20, 31). St. Lawrence Iroquoians from the
Quebec City area were definitely trading with
in the
in the Strait of Belle Isle

the Basques
1530s and 1540s. In the depositions taken from
fishers by the Spanish Crown in 1542
Basque
to inquire about the Cartier voyages to Canada,
a ship's captain from Bayonne, Robert Lefant,
testified that he had been cod-fishing five years
earlier, that is in 1537, in a port called "Brest"
(Riviere St. Paul), where the Indians traded
"marten skins and other kinds of skins" for
He added that the
"all kinds of ironware."
"Indians understand any language, French, Eng
lish, and Gascon, and their own tongue" (Biggar
In order for the First Nations
1930:453-454).
to have acquired even a minimal knowledge of
languages by 1537, trade relations

European
must have been established some time earlier.
from
Another witness, Clemente de Odelica,
a
from
in
set
vessel
sail
Fuenterrabia, who had
St. Jean de Luz in 1542," said that "many sav
ages came to his ship in Grand Bay [Strait of
1610 an elderly seaman refers to ships going to

for the last 60 years, which suggests
had been in the area since 1550
Europeans
Tadoussac
In 1545 the French

(Biggar 1922-1936[2]:117).
Jean
Alfonse
noted
in his sea rutter
navigator
were
available on
that large quantities of fur
the Acadian peninsula and the coast of Maine,
suggesting trade was already taking place there
Fishers were expected to
(Biggar 1901:31).
back
all
types of marketable merchandise
bring
from theNew World, not just fish, train oil, and
whale blubber, as indicated in the hundreds of
charter-parties and supply contracts examined
The following formula appears

from Bordeaux.
in the contracts around mid-century to describe
the return cargoes:
"fish, oil, grease, merchan
. . from theNew Found
and
other
dise,
things .
the stipulation that "the
Sometimes
Land."
master and crew shall neither conceal nor traffic
in anything . . . from the suppliers" was added,
suggesting that fishermenwere illegally portaging
hides and pelts in their trunks. Some North
American pelts were reaching Paris during this
period; in 1545, beaver pelts are referred to for
the first time in the post-mortem inventories of
Parisian furriers (Allaire 1995:82).
In the late 1550s, out of this portage trade,
carried out seemingly on a small scale, grows a
Belle Isle], and they ate and drank together and

were very friendly, and the savages gave them
i.e.
deer and wolf skins (possibly sea wolves,
axes
and knives and other
seals) in exchange for
more sustained commercial activity organized by
trifles." Although dressed in skins, Odelica
men
were
that
merchants supplying vessels with items selected
of skill and
warned that these
were
much
for the fur trade. Notarial records reveal more
further up the river the inhabitants
to
that
than a dozen outfittings for the trade on "the
understand
the same, "for they gave them


coast of Florida" between 1558 and 1574. Since
the La Rochelle and Rouen notarial records have
not been well preserved for this period, the
actual numbers of ships outfitted for "Florida"
must have been much higher. Most of the ves
sels were Norman, from the ports of Rouen, Le
Havre, and Honfleur. The few outfitted at La
Rochelle
and Bordeaux were partly sponsored
or captained by men
Norman
merchants
by
to fish for cod and to Cape

"to Newfoundland
Breton for the fur trade" (Archives Departemen
1
tales de la Seine-Maritime
1563/64:2E1/881,
March).
The example of Jehan de Honfleur indicates
a dual operation with part of the crew setting
up camp in a shore station to fish during the
summer and the others sailing along the coast
and into the main estuaries in search of furs.

as
It is in this fashion that Etienne Bellenger, a
such
de
La
of Norman
origin,
L'Aigle
a
new
ton
in
100
1565
merchant
vessel
bound
of Rouen, skirted the coasts from Cape
Rochelle,
for "Florida to fish for cod and trade goods"
in search
Breton Island to the Gulf of Maine
a
of
furs
in
He
des
Charentes-Mari
with
1583.
returned
rich
cargo
times 1565:3E 2149, 21 May, 22 June).
of hides (probably moose hides), marten, otter,
The "coast of Florida" would seem, at first and lynx pelts, and enough beaver to make
These Norman
glance, to indicate the Northeast coast of the 600 hats (Quinn 1979[4]:307).
Florida peninsula, where the French attempted to traders may have been coasting as far south as
establish a colony from 1562 to 1565 (de Pratter Chesapeake Bay and the Florida peninsula, for
et al. 1996:39^8).
Yet a careful reading of the official Spanish documents claimed in 1560 that
records shows that the Florida trade is always
the French were visiting the southeastern coast
mentioned in conjunction with cod-fishing, which

cannot be practiced south of Cape-Cod.
In fact,
the
for
Spaniards, "Florida" encompassed a vast
territory stretching over North America from the
Florida peninsula and New Spain (Mexico) all
the way to Cape Breton Island. Contemporary
French maps
likewise refer to the "coast of
Florida" when designating

the whole North
American Atlantic seaboard?those
of Le Testu
(1556), Levasseur (1601), and Vaulx (1613), for
instance (Beguin and Beguin
1984:27-28,
33;
Mollat
du Jourdin and La Ronciere

1984:233,
charts 49, 50, 67, 71). The map of
Jacques de Vaulx, who had been part of a
French expedition to map the coasts of North
America between 1585 and 1587, appears to be
more precise; it indicates the shores of present
in and around the mouth of the
day Maine,
Penobscot River, as being the coast of Florida
In theminds of theNorman
(Litalien 1993:134).
Florida
fishermen,
likely designated a larger
244-249,
territory, including the higher latitudes of the

Acadian peninsula, for in 1604, Jean de Ros
signol, themaster of the Levrette from Le Havre,
claimed he was on the Florida coast ("coste de
la Fleuride"), while fishing and trading at Port
Mouton
(near the present-day city of Halifax)

The
(Beaudry and Le Blant 1967:166-172).
coast of Florida did not, however, extend as
far north as Cape Breton Island because
the
notarized charter-party for the Jehan de Honfleur
in 1564 indicates clearly the ship's destination as:
every year to trade (Quinn 1979[1]:217-218).

vessels
carried cargoes of goods
Coasting
selected for trading with First Nations.
The
trade goods making up the cargo of L'Aigle de

La Rochelle in 1565, for example, included white
glass beads ("marguerites"), blue tubular or oval
beads ("canon bleuz"), bracelets ("manilles"),
mirrors, hawk bells ("clochettes"), pendant ear
rings, scissors, bells ("sonnettes"), chaulking irons

"of all sorts,"German knives and axes, billhooks,
haberdashery, and Flemish embroidery material
"of all colors" (Archives Departementales
des
Charentes-Maritimes
1565:3E 2149, 20 June).
Even if the materials
from which the goods
were made, are not specified, the bracelets, the
bells, and the pendant earrings would probably
have been made of brass or copper, which were
common at the time (Trocme and Delafosse
It was undoubtedly these coasters
1952:100).
who were supplying the 6,000 hides and pelts
that Pedro Menendez de Aviles claimed in 1565
were arriving annually at La Rochelle
(Quinn
One should not exclude the pos
1979[2]:400).
sibility of the establishment of a small-scale
portage trade inmarine shell?Norman fishermen

and sailors could have easily brought back whole
shells used to manufacture discoidal beads in
the seaport
America.
mind when
trace their
cities and Paris for resale in North

This possibility should be kept in
doing analysis of shell species to
origin. A shell bead made from a

76
North American shell does not necessarily imply
that itwas manufactured by Native Americans.
This period of "Norman" trade corresponds to
a particular artifactual horizon on contact sites
characterized by a sharp increase in the number

of copper/brass, shell, and iron objects, and
of glass and frit-core beads.
the appearance
The Seneca Adams site, dated 1560-1575, con
in
tained many of the trade goods described
The
list of L'Aigle of La Rochelle.
was
exotic
of
comprised
assemblage
goods
of 594 copper/brass objects
(521 beads, 43
rings and spirals, 15 cones, coils, and discs,
13 bracelets, a knife, a hawk bell); 98 glass
and frit-core beads; 15 iron objects (awls, axes,
knives, swords, and spikes); as well as 1,712
the cargo
The neighboring Seneca

Culbertson site and the not so distant Onondaga
sites from this period contained a similar array
of exotic goods (Bradley 1987:69-90; Wray et
marine
shell beads.
James Bradley and Terry Childs

1987).
(1991) have demonstrated, these assemblages
are characteristic of collections from Southern
and Five Nations
(Susquehannock
Iroquoians
Iroquois), but not of Northern Iroquoian groups
al.
As
(St. Lawrence
Iroquoians, Huron, Neutral, and
Petun), suggesting the mid-Atlantic coast as the
point of entry of these goods rather than the St.
Lawrence.
Perhaps the wars that lead to the
of the St. Lawrence
Iroquoians
disappearance
made trading along the St. Lawrence difficult
involvement
The Mohawk
during this period.
in these wars could explain the relative scarcity
of exotic objects on the sites of this Southern
Iroquoian group during the 1560s and 1570s
seamen
There is also evidence that the St. Malo
from Brittany outfitted as many as a dozen ves
sels for the St. Lawrence fur trade during the
same period (Turgeon 1998:598). Unfortunately,
very little is known about the makeup of the
vessels.
The objects
cargoes of the St. Malo
traded by the Basque, however, are fairly well
recorded. The Basque purchased hundreds of

and La Rochelle.
copper kettles in Bordeaux
a well-known
Micheaux
de Hoyarsabal,
trader
from St. Jean de Luz procured 209 "red copper"
kettles in 1586 and 200 more the following year
3E 5424, 30
for the Canadian trade (ADG:1586
6
1587:3E
5428,
April;
February). The copper
kettles were described as being "trimmed with
iron,"meaning the handles and bail attachments

were iron. Basque cargoes included substantial
quantities of axes, knives, swords, and "other
In 1584, for example, the vessel
ironware."
named
theMarie
from Ciboure counted 1,921

50
and
several swords among the
axes,
knives,
trade goods aboard. Haberdashery of "diverse
as hats, bed linens, jackets
kinds" as well
(ADG 1584:E 5425, 28 April), and, from Scot
land, what was probably a thick woolen cloth
1586:3E
1, 3 May)
5427,
(ADG
("foreze")
the
Some
of the
metalware.
complemented
beads purchased for the North American trade
are identified by name:
jet beads ("patinotes
1584:3E
de gayet")
5425, 28 April),
(ADG
shell beads
(ANMCN
("porcelaine")
1599:XCIX-65, 3 November), and turquoise glass
In 1587, the Basque
beads ("turgyns").
ship
master Johannis Dagorrette bought 50,000 of
these turquoise glass beads (IIa40), paying the
rather
modest sum of ?1 (livre tournois) per
Snow
1995:160-190).
(Rumrill 1991:6-7;
The 1580s witnessed another major shift in thousand, the price of a small beaver pelt at the
time (ADG 1587:3E 5428, 28 February).
French commercial activities in North America
with the development of the Basque

trades along the St. Lawrence River.
and Breton
The disap
pearance of the St. Lawrence
Iroquoians may
have facilitated the reestablishment of trading
in the area, as well as the sharp rise in the
In
prices of furs in Paris (Turgeon 1998:599).
the 1580s there was a dramatic increase in
the numbers of beaver pelts reaching Paris
from different seaports of the Atlantic coast
marine
Most of the durable trade goods making up

the Basque
cargoes are found in assemblages
contact
of
sites from glass bead period I (ca.
1580-1600).
During this period, the quantities
of copper- and iron-made objects, as well as
shell and glass beads increase dramatically. The

Basque metal wares can be distinguished from
those of other European traders by their superior
copper kettles are thicker, the iron
quality?the
axes
The notaries of
of France (Allaire 1995:83).
heavier, the iron knives and swords longer
The
Bordeaux and La Rochelle recorded the outfit
(Fitzgerald et al. 1993; Turgeon 1997).
access
to
these goods, thus
Micmac had direct
ting of 18 Basque vessels from St. Jean de Luz
are
laden with them. For example,
and Ciboure between 1580 and 1587 "for trade their sites
the two secondary burial pits of the Pictou site,
with the savages of Canada," as many specified.


only contained the skeletal remains of
eight adults and a child, had an overwhelming
number of European grave offerings?some 400
glass and frit-corebeads (all of these beads, with
two exceptions [IIa8 or IIa61 and IVb29], are
which
present in the Jardins du Carrousel collection),

232 forged iron spearheads, more than 100 iron
awls, 17 large knives, 11 caulking irons, 14 iron
daggers, 8 large axe heads, 8 two-edged swords,
iron banded copper kettles and the
fragments of at least 7 more, as well as woolen
The
blankets and linen (Whitehead 1993:49-70).
presence of a small green glazed beige ceramic
apothecary jar, very similar to the ceramics
found on Basque sites at Red Bay, Middle Bay,
confirms the Basque
and l'lle aux Basques,
7 whole
As one moves
provenience of the assemblage.
center
from
the
of
trade, European objects
away
are sparser and often broken down into frag
ments. Most of the Basque
iron banded kettles
sites of the interior
found on the Iroquoian
had been cut into bracelets, pendants, rings,
spirals, and tinkling cones (Fitzgerald 1990:424;
As William
Bradley
1987:69-74).
Fitzgerald
has pointed out, the contemporaneous Kleinburg

Huron ossuary in southern Ontario, more than
1,500 km (900 mi.) from the Gulf of the St.
glass, frit-core, and shell beads are

These
found in Northeastern North America.
as
as
new
drawn
information
similarities
well
Parisian
from notarial records has led to the hypothesis

of the existence of four rather distinctive periods
of French trade in Northeastern North America
during the 16th century, each relating to a char
acteristic artifactual assemblage on Amerindian

sites. The firstperiod (1500-1535/40) represents
the initial fishing expeditions and voyages of
exploration which attracted First Nations groups
to theAtlantic seaboard, and is characterized by
the appearance of marine shell beads on these
sites. It has been suggested here that Iroquoians

from the interior acquired marine shell beads
either directly from Europeans
(especially the
or through
discoidal
and marginella
beads)
their encounters with Algonquian

groups along
the coast (the tubular proto-wampum
types).
cor
The second period (1535/1540-1555/1560)
more
to
a
the
of
direct
responds
development
trade in copper and iron with the crews of the

increasing numbers of cod-fishing and whaling
vessels in the Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf
On contact sites, these
of the St. Lawrence.
activities translate into the emergence of scrap

pieces of copper, tubular copper beads made
from kettle fragments, and a few iron objects
Lawrence, where the disarticulated remains of

some 500 people were recovered, contained
like nails, awls, and axes, as well as larger
same
the
types of European objects, but in far numbers of discoidal shell beads and the occa
fewer numbers. The assemblage of unmodified
sional marginella bead. During the third period
there seems to be a shift in
European
objects is limited to 10 iron axes,
(1555/1560-1580),
5 iron knives, 1 tanged iron blade, 1 iron skil
trade from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence to the
The assemblage also mid-Atlantic
let, and 33 glass beads.
region as well as from a small
includes copper bracelets, rings, beads, and other
scale portage trade to a more commercial type
ornaments manufactured from pieces of copper
of activity. Norman outfitters begin supplying
kettles and basins. Although no intact copper
vessels with large quantities of goods selected
containers were recovered from the Kleinburg
for the fur trade, and Amerindian contact sites
some
on
con
a sharp increase inmanufactured copper
have
been
found
the
witness
ossuary,
Milton
Neutral
ornaments, iron objects, and shell beads, and the
temporaneous
ossuary
Heights
The fourth period
appearance of glass beads.
(Fitzgerald 1995:33-34).
is characterized by an apparent
(1580-1600)
Conclusion
decline, but not a complete disappearance, of the
A close examination of French notarial records
and the Jardins du Carrousel
collection from
Paris suggests that France played a major role
in the manufacture and trade of European beads

in Northeastern North America during the 16th
century. There are some striking similarities
between
collections
the Jardins du Carrousel

beads and
from contact sites?most
of the
Norman mid-Atlantic
of the Basque-Breton
trade and the rapid growth

St. Lawrence-based
trade;
the quantities of copper-made objects (including

entire kettles), iron objects, and shell and glass
beads increase dramatically on Algonquian
and
Iroquoian sites of the St. Lawrence and Great
Lakes regions. This very rough chronology is
only meant to be a tool for exploring the impact
of early contact
on First Nations

groups
of
78
It will need to be modified
the Northeast.
and refined as more information about 16th
century European beads, early trade networks
in North America, and assemblages of contact
sites becomes available. It will also have to be
used cautiously so that regional characteristics
are
account.
into
taken
de la Gironde
Departementales
[ADG].
France.
Bordeaux,
1584 Notarial registers, 3E 5424. Bordeaux, France.
1585 Notarial registers, 3E 5425. Bordeaux, France.
Archives
1586 Notarial
1587 Notarial
Archives
for this article
research
from the Social

Sciences
grants
Research
of Canada
and
Council
with
les chercheurs
pour
of Quebec.
Province
the Jardin
with
du
et
Caroussel
the assistance
I'aide
The
was
financed
and
Humanities
from
the Fonds
la recherche
of
inventory of the beads

was
collection
carried
of Dominique
for
Chapelot
out
very
of this
to my
it. My gratitude
also
goes
of
Bernard
Allaire, who did much
in the post-mortem
inventories
research
The
makers.
article
was
like to thank Wayne

Lenig, Martha
Marshal
J. Becker,
William
Fitzgerald,
readers
for
and
the three anonymous
I would
Sempowski,
Peter Cook,
their
invaluable
article;
I am
Francesca
comments
particularly
and
Trivellato,
on
the
indebted
George
first draft
to Karlis
Hamell
of
on glass,
enamel,
frit-core, and
insightful thoughts
I would
like to express
shell beads.
my appreciation
for helping me
refine the ideas and
to Carla
Zecher
to Lucie
for
Morisset
of the text and
language
with
of the beads
slides
the individual
scanning
the
Photoshop
London. Reprinted
The Mining Magazine,
Dover Publications, New York, NY.
1950 by
Bernard
Allaire,
1995 Le commerce des fourrures d Paris et les pelleteries
en France
canadienne
(1500-1632).
d'origine
Doctoral dissertation, Department of History, Laval
University,
Microfilms
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1/881.
Rouen,
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(1568)IX-149;
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aux Basques
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He
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French Beads in France and Northeastern North America during the Sixteenth Century

Author(s): Laurier Turgeon

This content downloaded on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:10:42 PM

French Beads inFrance and

attempts to carry out archival research and to locate reference

are still asking

some very basic

sources and archaeological

sources is supplemented with new

the Louvre Museum

shape, size, and color (Kidd 1970;

networks (Kenyon and Kenyon

very active in the North American bead trade

Cartier, Marc Lescarbot, Samuel de Champlain,

the-Huron (Kidd 1949) have provided invaluable

tory of North America. Unlike Dutch beads, for

archival research and to locate reference collec

Archaeology, 2001, 35(4):58?82.

This content downloaded on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:10:42 PM

This content downloaded on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:10:42 PM

Turgeon?FRENCH BEADS INFRANCEAND NORTHEASTERNNORTH AMERICA 61

round glass, "robins egg," one broken (6 mm dia., 5mm long)

Translucent oval w/white stripes, "Gooseberry" (6 mm dia., 11mm long)

tubular glass (4mm diameter, 47 mm long) Ia2 1

Frit-core (Enamel/Faience) Beads

shell (8-10mm in diameter, 1-2 mm long, line hole 2 mm dia.)

jet (12mm diameter, 5 mm long) 1

faceted jet (12 mm in diameter, 14mm in long) 1

orange round amber (8 mm diameter, 6 mm long, broken at end) 1

Rock Crystal Beads

faceted rock crystal (8.4 mm diameter, 12.1 mm long) 2

(dyed) round polished bone (7.3 mm diameter, 7 mm long)

orange round coral (8 mm diameter, 6.9 mm long)

This content downloaded on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:10:42 PM

HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 35(4)

out elaborate trace element analysis of beads

facturing recipes (Fitzgerald, Knight, and Bain

production center, depending on the provenience

notaries after a person's death, at the request of

an indication of material, color, shape, and size),

(6V2 to 13 ft.) and covering an area of some

clients. Records of purchases of beads and other

occasionally covered with limestone

This content downloaded on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:10:42 PM

Turgeon?FRENCH BEADS INFRANCE AND NORTHEASTERNNORTH AMERICA 63

spread out over time. The 213 coins recovered

the collection is comprised of an

of bead varieties. Most of the beads (65%) exist

implemented at the time of the excavation.

in fairly large numbers:

(30 examples), probably the remains

another; theywere recovered in different trenches

ranged from 1581 to 1599; those bearing

of the assemblage and scattered distribution of

total of 110 beads representing 41 different

If one can rely on the ceramics

(44%), followed by jet (14%), shell (10%),

amber (10%), coral (7%), frit-core (5%), bone

the other hand, the color spectrum of the beads

attached to them, suggesting they were used

There is a strong correlation between the Jar

Most of the glass beads from the

not always easy to identify the beads

The color of those which had