The Meanings of Things

Abstract

Each of the four vessels discussed in this book represents a slightly different facet of the long-distance carriage of goods to the early Australian colonies. These goods need not necessarily have been made in Great Britain since the British were tied into a burgeoning global economy. The cargoes could, and did, include goods from many parts of the British Empire as well as foreign sources from what was becoming a globally derived material culture. Furthermore, these cargoes were selected in different parts of the British Empire: India, Canada, as well as Great Britain itself.

From an archaeological perspective, finds from accurately dated shipwrecks provide unique closed, uncontaminated contexts that are seldom found on land. The opportunity also exists for the study of intact pottery vessels, which seldom occurs on terrestrial sites, thus providing reliable foundations for accurate typologies. So far, however, many important groups of ceramics finds from closely dated shipwrecks have received little or no attention.

(Marken, 1994: 1)