Regulars and “Irregulars”: British and Provincial Variability among Eighteenth-Century Military Frontiers

Abstract

Historical studies have detailed the joint service of provincial and British regular soldiers during the Seven Years’ War (ca. 1754–1763) in colonial North America. The complex relations between these communities and their effect on the material record of military settlements, however, have not been fully addressed within historical archaeology. An analysis of British and provincial domestic structures at New York military sites employing lead shot and ceramic data reveals small-scale material variation between these two groups. The effect that different scales of analysis will have on the nature of this variation is recognized, and a preliminary spatial model of provincial-British relations is developed. The model assumes significant distinctions will characterize small-scale provincial and British contexts, while larger frames of reference may demonstrate similar or conflicting material patterns based on the historical relationship between the two communities. The context for this analysis is informed by recent critiques of large-scale core/periphery perspectives in the archaeology of frontier settlements.