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Thesis
Metal to Machinations: Nail Production Refinement as an Analog to the Technological Means of Social Control in Pensacola, Florida, 1559-1821
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
Metal technologies have long played an important role in the social control of populations in frontier settings, with social control being defined as the inducement of conformity in humans. The historical colonial sites of Pensacola, Florida offer an unmatched focus for archaeological inquiry into this phenomenon. The area represents the earliest multi-year attempt at permanent settlement by Europeans in what is now the United States, with the colonial period extending some 262 years. The lengthy temporal span is ripe for a comparative technological analysis that attempts to understand the relationship between objects of control and human socio-cultural structures. “Metal to Machinations” is a theory-heavy thesis rooted primarily in Latourian actor-network theory. In order to address the topic methodologically, three architectural nail populations consisting of 30 nails each from three local archaeological sites were analyzed using x-ray imaging, optical microscopy imaging and analysis, and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) to characterize the internal structures of the nail specimens, particularly metal grain size and elemental composition. These findings were then related to changing methods of nail manufacture during the period and linked to an actor-network perspective of social control. The three collections studied were from the Luna Settlement (8ES1), with occupation dated from 1559 to 1561 AD, the Presidio Santa Maria de Galve (8ES1354), 1698 to 1719 AD, and the Spring Lake sawmill complex (8ES982), 1810 to 1815 AD. An actor-network theory analysis of this study was also included to understand how the conclusions were constructed.
Details
- Title
- Metal to Machinations
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- John E. Worth (Committee Chair)Danielle L. Dadiego (Committee Member)Amy Mitchell-Cook (Committee Member)Ramie A. Gougeon (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 250
- Copyright
- © 2025 Nicholas Monroe Reagan
- Identifiers
- 99381437833306600
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida