Beads from the Hudson's Bay Company's Principal Depot, York Factory, Manitoba, Canada

• Main Authors: Karklins, Karlis, Adams, Gary F.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: SURFACE at Syracuse University 2013
• Subjects: Archaeological Anthropology; History of Art; Architecture; and Archaeology; Science and Technology Studies; Social and Cultural Anthropology; Hudson Bay; Canada; Hudson; York Factory
• Online Access: https://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol25/iss1/6; https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context=beads

There is no other North American fur trade establishment whose longevity and historical significance can rival that of York Factory. Located in northern Manitoba, Canada, at the base of Hudson Bay, it was the Hudson's Bay Company's principal Bay-side trading post and depot for over 250 years. The existing site of York Factory is the last of a series of three posts, the first of which was erected in 1684. Completed in 1792, York Factory III functioned as the principal depot and administrative center for the great Northern Department until the 1860s when its importance began to wane. It then entered a long period of decline which ended in 1957, when the post was finally closed. Subsequent archaeological work at the site has revealed many structural features and associated artifacts including a large and varied assemblage of beads, mostly glass, which are the subject of this report.