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

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.

Fear of a cannibal island: Colonial fear, everyday life, and event landscapes in the Erromango missions of Vanuatu

“…Building materials such as window glass, lime mortar, and iron nails were used to build civilized domestic spaces that could be contrasted with native buildings of bamboo and thatch. Refined white earthenwares (Figure 6), buttons from Western clothing, and coins reflect the need to express civilized identities in the hostile mission field of Erromango, in addition to being media through which everyday acts of conversion could take place (Flexner, 2016: 162–163; Flexner and Ball, 2016). Missionaries demonstrably had a deep-seated need to assert how civilized they were in this most different of places, despite the fact that this could only be accomplished at great cost and with great difficulty.…”

Archaeologies of Island Melanesia: Current Approaches to Landscapes, Exchange and Practice

“…One of the common threads of these encounters is material exchange, which mediated the relationships between Melanesians and Presbyterian missionaries. European-derived material culture both provided a sense of identity for the missionaries themselves, and was intended to serve as 'curiosities' to draw Melanesians into the sphere of missionary influence (Flexner and Ball 2016). In contrast, introduced items in surrounding Melanesian villages were remarkably uncommon, despite what mission-era documents suggest about the importance of material exchange to the work of conversion .…”

“…Unfortunately, their fortunes were not much better than the Gordons' and they had to flee in February 1862. Excavation of the site revealed a dense abandonment deposit containing a remarkable assemblage of artefacts, including a matched set of transfer-printed ceramics with pastoral motifs (Flexner and Ball 2016). Essentially, as they fled, the Mathesons appear to have left most of the domestic material culture in place.…”

An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu

“…The most impressive finds from Imua were the ceramic artefacts (Flexner and Ball 2016). Included among these was a ceramic sheep's head (Figure 3.24).…”