Artifact Studies

3.7 Conclusion

This chapter has considered the analysis of artifacts from shipwreck and other underwater archaeological sites such as jetties. It suggests that maritime archaeologists need to consider the possible meanings of things. It also argues that cargo artifacts can reveal ingrained cultural behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate cultural continuity between the parent culture and the translocated colonial culture, at least in the early years of settlement. Material culture is used by people for individual, psychological reasons such as to reassure themselves about their place in the world, to validate choices and to make themselves happy. Colonial settlements were dependent on supplies of consumer goods carried by sea that allowed newly arrived immigrants to establish themselves within a consumer society. These objects helped immigrants to confirm in their own minds that they had made the right choice when they decided to undergo the difficulties and dislocation associated with nineteenth century migration. Finally artifacts were, and are, actively used in the establishment, maintenance and negotiation of social relations, and insights into the nature of cultural exchange can been seen, for example, in the types, quality and quantity of collected objects found aboard HMS Pandora.