Relations of production and exchange in 17th-century New England: interpretive contexts for the archaeology of culture contact

This chapter develops a form of enquiry into the archaeology of culture contact by examining the utility of the concepts of mode of production and the articulation of modes of production as a means of identifying and coming to terms with the variability and discontinuity engendered by culture-contact relationships. For illustrative purposes, the presentation examines relationships between English settlers and Native American groups in southern New England during the years of early contact between AD 1620 and AD 1676.