"From the Sea, Work": Investigating Historical French Landscapes and Lifeways at Anse à Bertrand, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

• Main Authors: Livingston, Meghann, Losier, Catherine
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB) 2024
• Subjects: French fisheries; landscape archaeology; Saint-Pierre et Miquelon; History of Art; Architecture; and Archaeology; atlantic cod; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://orb.binghamton.edu/neha/vol50/iss1/7; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/viewcontent/NEHA_50_2021_07_LivingstonandLosierpp75to93.pdf; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_1_The_small_French_archipelago_Saint_Pierre_et_Miquelon.tiff; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_2_Two_fishing_rooms_with_graves.tiff; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/2/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_3_The_excavation_area.tiff; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/3/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_4_The_late_17th_and_18th_century_archaeological_features.tiff; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/4/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_5_The_19th_and_20th_century_archaeological_features.tiff; https://orb.binghamton.edu/context/neha/article/1556/filename/5/type/additional/viewcontent/Figure_6_The_BasleÌ_family_saline.tiff

Given its history and changing role within the French salt-cod fishery, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon was essential for French colonial expansion throughout the Atlantic World. Saint-Pierre’s sheltered harbour paired with the archipelago’s proximity to the Grand Banks made these islands an ideal locale for carrying out shore-based activities associated with the salt-cod fishery. In this way, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon can be viewed not only as an integral component of the French presence within the greater region but also as a unique cultural landscape within its own right. With particular reference to Anse à Bertrand, a site located on the southeastern edge of the Saint-Pierre harbour, this paper pieces together historical and archaeological data to explore the archipelago’s maritime cultural landscape during the 300-year life history of the site. Through analysis of historical records, archaeological features, and over 19,000 artefacts, this study is an initial documentation of the “way of life†of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon’s historical inhabitants from the establishment of permanent European settlement during the late 17th century through to the collapse of the Northeast Atlantic cod fishery in the late 20th century.