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Sherds of Paradise: Domestic Archaeology and Ceramic Artefacts from a Protestant Mission in the South Pacific

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James L. Flexner  and
Andrew C. Ball
James L. Flexner*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Andrew C. Ball*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*
[email: james.flexner@sydney.edu.au]
[email: andrew.ball@anu.edu.au]
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Abstract

Postmedieval protestant missionaries working in exotic locations used objects both as a marker of their own ‘civilisation’ in contrast to that of the local populations and as a means of engaging these communities with Christianity. European things were displayed and conspicuously used to encourage a consumer mindset and interest in capitalism, thought to be crucial steps on the path to full conversion. Excavations at a Presbyterian mission house on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, recovered a remarkable assemblage of nineteenth-century British-made transfer-printed ceramics for such a remote location. These objects reflect multiple, complex meanings including performance of a ‘civilised’ British identity, romanticized ideals of pastoral landscapes, and conceptions of death and rebirth in the afterlife. These meanings were complicated by the context of cross-cultural interactions that were necessary to the missionary project.

Les missionnaires protestants en mission au bout du monde faisaient usage d'objets pour manifester leur appartenance à un monde ‘civilisé’ par rapport aux populations indigènes mais aussi pour attirer ces communautés vers le Christianisme. Les objets d'origine européenne étaient exhibés pour encourager des valeurs de consommateurs et un intérêt pour le capitalisme, considérés comme essentiels pour une véritable conversion. Les fouilles d'une maison appartenant à une mission presbytérienne sur l'île de Tanna au Vanuatu ont révélé un ensemble remarquable de faïence imprimée d'origine britannique. Les multiples et complexes significations de cette vaisselle mettaient en valeur, entre autres, une identité britannique « civilisée », des notions idéalisées de paysages bucoliques, et une certaine conception de la mort et de la résurrection. De plus les relations interculturelles nécessaires au succès du projet missionnaire rendaient ces divers sens encore plus compliqués. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Die protestantischen Missionare der frühen Neuzeit, die in den weit entfernten Winkeln der Erde arbeiteten, nutzten ihr Hab und Gut, um ihren ‘zivilisierten’ Status gegenüber den einheimischen Bevölkerungen auszudrücken aber auch um diese Gemeinschaften zum Christentum zu bekehren. Gegenstände aus Europa wurden zur Schau gestellt und wurden für die Förderung einer Verbrauchermentalität und eines Interessen in Kapitalismus eingesetzt, da man sie als einen entscheidenden Schritt auf dem Wege zur Bekehrung betrachtete. In einer Ausgrabung einer presbyterianischen Missionsstelle auf der Insel Tanna in Vanuatu ist eine bemerkenswerte Sammlung von mit Abziehbild verzierter Keramik aus Großbritannien zutage gekommen. Der Sinngehalt dieser Gegenstände ist vielfältig und komplex und wurde, u. a. durch eine ‘zivilisierte’ britische Identität, ein Bild einer romantischen, idyllischen Landschaft und eine Vorstellung von Tod und Wiedergeburt im Jenseits vermittelt. In diesem Zusammenhang haben die interkulturellen Wechselwirkungen, die für den Erfolg der Missionsinitiative wesentlich waren, diese verschiedenen Auffassungen auch verkompliziert. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

Oceaniapostmedieval archaeologynineteenth centurycolonialismBritish identitytransfer-printed ceramicsmissionsOcéaniearchéologie postmédiévaledix-neuvième sièclecolonialismeidentité britanniquefaïence impriméemissionsOzeanienArchäologie der frühen Neuzeitneunzehntes JahrhundertKolonialismusbritische Identitätmit Abziehbild verzierte KeramikMissionen
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , 2016 , pp. 728 - 754
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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