Dear Histarchers,

One privy I excavated on Norfolk Island belonging to a Bounty Mutineer
descendant family had some lovely evidence about where ceramics came from.
The earliest layers in the privy contained a mixture of ceramics dating
from the penal settlement phase of the Island (found when they arrived) and
ceramics taken with them in 1856 from Pitcairn Island (some had 'PI"
scratched on the back of the plates, saucers and mugs, others had names of
the owners of the plates scratched on the back).

The Pitcairn Island plates were mostly oddments probably due to charity
parcels sent to Pitcairn Island by well-wishers in the USA and the UK.  So,
some people's unwanted ceramics ended up on these remote Pacific islands.

Most of the ceramics appeared to belong to the actual family living at the
house (names sometimes scratched on the back) but sometimes there were
plates belonging to close relatives, perhaps given to the newly married
couple. From about the 1860s the evidence was that the family began buying
dinner sets. Even then the odd plate turned up in the privy belonging to
someone not closely related, no doubt the result of a family friend
'bringing a plate' for some celebration (as is still the custom there).

Regards,   Robert



         Archaeologist  &  Heritage  Consultant
ph:  + 61 + 2 43882169     fax: + 61 + 2 43898450
    http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/6559
31 Wombat St  Berkeleyvale NSW Australia 2261