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Lead Seals From Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, Diane L. Adams
Lead Seals From Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, Diane L. Adams
Masters Theses
Archaeologists have routinely identified small lead seals found on sixteenth- to eighteenth-century sites in North America as "bale seals." An analysis of the lead seals from Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, (1715-1781) was conducted to determine whether the seals are actually cloth seals from individual textiles.
Four lines of evidence were examined in order to clarify the function(s) of lead seals: documentary sources, quantitative analysis of archaeological data from Fort Michilimackinac, comparative data from site reports, and cloth imprint analysis.
Available evidence supports an interpretation that most lead seals are cloth marks. Lead seals served as indicators of quality, ownership, …