Dear Colleagues,
 
Quite a while back I received a query from a historian, David J Hancock,
requesting information about archaeological evidence for Madeira
consumption in the northeastern colonies/states.  I keep meaning to send
him some information from my site in Newbury (contained in an as-yet
unpublished manuscript), and will certainly do so shortly.  I thought
perhaps that others of you out there might have information you would like
to share with him.  To this end I insert below an extract from his letter
to me, which gives some information about his research and what he's
looking for from archaeologists.  I suspect his study will in turn be
useful to archaeologists trying to interpret drinking paraphernalia.
 
If you have info to share, you can contact him off list at
[log in to unmask] I imagine that a compilation of information on
this topic would be of use/interest to a large number of historical
archaeologists.
 
M. Beaudry -- extract of inquiry from D Hancock follows:
 
***************
 I am writing a history of wine in the Atlantic during
the period 1703-1807; I am focusing primarily on Madeira, in large measure
because it was the import wine favored by most Americans who drank wine,
although my search has been quite broad and the book will not be just a
case study of Madeira.  The project has three components -- production,
distribution, and consumption.  The last, as you can imagine, is the most
difficult.  What people actually drank and ate is hard to ascertain.
There are millions of anecdotal accounts, many manuscript collection
references in business papers, etc.  But the two main sources I am going
to use for the consumption section are probate inventories (1703-1713 &
1797-1807) from five different colonies, one of which is Massachusetts,
and then archaeological and material remains.  Working with Henry Miller
and a guy at CW, I have been able to piece together the findings of a
number of archaeological studies that contain hints of drinking
(especially wine-drinking) patterns from Maryland southward.  I am however
a bit thin on northern studies.  What I am looking for are studies that
contain information on the presence of wine bottles, wine decanters,
seals, bottle or decanter tags.  When these items appear  in American in
any preponerance, and when they change in reflection of the changing
status of the wine are some of the matters I am considering.  The
rise of supporting paraphernalia (like wine coasters or screw drivers
is a particularly interesting side aspect of all this).  These
kinds of material remains, when coupled with the probate inventories and
newspaper advertisements, are really the only way to gauge consumption
patterns.  (Of course, from my customs records distribution figures I can
track exactly what was shipped in legally and when.)  Some of the southern
sites have actually given up bottles with wine still in them; more reveal
the changes in bottle design.  The bottle seals are particularly good in
tracing out competing distribution systems.
 
If you know of any studies that I
could get copies of which detail bottles, bottle seals, glasses etc. for
the Boston (a city whose distribution infrastructure I am highlighting),
Salem or New England, please feel free, at your convenience, to let me
know.  I would be greatly appreciative.
 
Sincerely,
 
David Hancock