Lisa Marie Anselmi

Native Peoples Use of Copper-based Metals in Ne North America: Contact Period Interactions Lisa Marie Anselmi

Smelted copper-based metals were introduced into NE North America by a series of European groups in the form of finished kettles and sheet metal during the Early and Middle Contact periods (ca. AD 1480/1500-1690, respectively). Once acquired, Native metalworkers transformed this metal into various objects which were more meaningful to themselves and their communities. This book explores 1) the manufacturing techniques used to craft these pieces, 2) the differences in manufacturing techniques used chronologically and ethnically and 3) the forms of the objects themselves. Differences in both the manufacturing techniques used and forms created were observed chronologically and ethnically supporting the assertion that smelted copper-based metalworking was a newly developed industry primarily adapting existing Native technological practices to this material rather than a complete set of practices adopted en masse from Europeans. This analysis should be useful to researchers investigating Contact period interactions between Native peoples and Europeans and anyone interested in broader questions of technological change.