The sweet history of sugar
A comparative study of the emergence of the sugar industry in the Dutch
Republic
Master Thesis (Archaeology of Northwestern Europe)
University of Amsterdam
Supervisor:
Prof. Dr. J. Symonds
Student:
Lukas Kleij
Table of contents
Table of contents
1
Introduction
2
Chapter 1: The history of sugar
5
Chapter 2: Evidence for sugar production
15
Chapter 3: Comparison and interpretation
35
3.1: Spatial distribution and quantity
35
3.2: Chronology
41
3.3: Typology
48
Chapter 4: Conclusion
50
Bibliography
54
Introduction
In Dutch history, there is one period in which the country enjoyed an exceptional period of prosperity. The combination of different factors led to rapid economic development in the Dutch Republic,
attaining the status of global economic superpower for nearly a century.1 Most
Dutch people instantly recognize this period as the Golden Age, even if they have little interest in history . This can be explained by the relatively large amount of attention that the 17th century
receives in Dutch basic history education due to its major role in the development of the Republic. For me the Golden Age has always been a fascinating period since it was a time of discovery and an important phase in the development of the fully globalized society we live in today. For this reason I decided to dedicate my thesis to this period.
The Dutch Golden Age is a very broad and complex subject and needs to be narrowed down for the purpose of this thesis. I have chosen to do this by only focusing on one type of product that was part of the global trading system. Being technologically advanced in terms of navigation and ship-building, 15th century Portugal led the way for European powers to utilize the sea in order to set up and supply
a system of worldwide demand for products that were only found in certain regions. European maritime powers were able to control global trade while only having to compete with each other, resulting in centuries of profit. One could argue that this period of economic growth was mainly possible due to two factors: the existence of high demand products that are only found in certain regions and the way the Europeans used their monopolist-like position to profit from this. Every type of tradable product is part of the foundation on which the Golden Age was built. By gaining a better understanding of these products and their industries, we can ultimately create a better
understanding of the Golden Age in general.
In this thesis I will focus on one particular agricultural commodity: sugar. Sugar interests me the most since it played a key role in the transition from the Middle Ages to the colonial era. The industry was important throughout the entire Dutch Golden Age (1580-1670) and, unlike many other industries which experienced steady or steep decline after the 1660’s, remained successful well into the 18th
century.2 To further narrow down my research, I will focus specifically on the sugar industry in the
Dutch Republic and its surroundings.
The main goals of my thesis are to reveal when, where and in what way, the early sugar industry emerged in the Dutch Republic. Amsterdam is known to have been an important centre for the sugar trade and production in the 17th and 18th century.3 But how does Amsterdam relate to the Republic’s
other towns in this period? Did the industry appear rapidly in one place – Amsterdam? Or did it emerge simultaneously in towns across the Dutch Republic? If this was not the case, then are there regions where the industry emerged more slowly? Was Amsterdam the only important production centre in the Republic? Are there other important centres of production?
My basic research question has been formulated as follows: In what way did the sugar industry emerge in the Dutch Republic?
In order to answer this question I will be using information from documentary sources, as well as excavated material culture from the period. As 17th century sugar is seldom found on archaeological
sites, it is necessary to focus on the sugar related objects that can be examined. An important source of information will be the (ceramic) material remains that relate to sugar production and/or
consumption. In the course of this research I have examined published sources, and have also attempted to trawl through unpublished client reports on commercial archaeological investigations. Given the extent of the commercial archaeological work that is undertaken each year in the
Netherlands this proved to be a daunting task and far beyond the scope of an MA thesis. In an effort to streamline data gathering and to ensure that I have not missed any key archaeological information on sugar related ceramics I have therefore contacted all of the municipal archaeologists currently active in the Netherlands and asked them for specific information on sugar-related artefacts or sites in their areas. This information has allowed me to find obscure or previously unpublished material. It has also made it possible for me to make a comparison between different towns and regions. I have also incorporated evidence from the Belgian towns of Antwerp and Ghent in this study. Although previously pre-eminent for its sugar trade, many merchants and other refugees with interests in the sugar industry fled Antwerp and relocated to Amsterdam following the Fall of Antwerp in 1585. The first chapter in the thesis will outline the historical framework for my investigations and will briefly touch upon the development of the sugar industry in general. I will then explore evidence from the Early Modern Age in more detail, focusing on the Dutch Republic and Flanders. The sugar production process will also be described in order to better understand the practical side of the industry. In this way I hope to create a better understanding of relevant sugar-related material culture that has survived in the archaeological record, in contrast to the elusive product of sugar itself.
In the second chapter I will investigate the direct archaeological evidence for sugar production and/or consumption in the Dutch Republic. As explained above, a distinction will be made between different regions, including the situation in Flanders (in a brief and general sense). Apart from the artefactual evidence I will use historical sources to create a more complete picture of the situation. The third chapter will be a comparison and interpretation of the data generated in chapter two. Here I will link the information from chapter two to historical regions and compare the different regions with each other. I will search for differences and similarities between the sites regarding chronology, scale and if possible in typology. I will proceed by drawing together my various lines of evidence and provide an interpretation of the data that has been assembled. In this way I hope that some patterns will appear that can be used to broaden our understandings of the way in which the sugar industry was introduced to the Dutch Republic.
Finally, chapter four will be a conclusion where I will assess the data further and summarize my findings. Returning to my initial research question, I will attempt to provide answers to the following big questions. What places in the Dutch Republic had access to sugar first? Where were the main production sites? How did socioeconomic status relate to consumption of sugar in the 17th century?
Did this pattern change over time as the price or availability altered? Where there shifts in urban or regional production with the Dutch Republic over time? Does the practice of sugar refining change over time? Is it possible to find archaeological evidence for sugarcane refinement in seemingly less important regions that have hitherto received little attention in historical accounts of the industry? To aid in the interpretation of the results, these questions will be answered using a combination of both archaeological and historical data.
From its discovery onwards, sugar has played an important role in many aspects of human life.4 With
sugar often being a very valuable commodity, it has been a driving force behind many political conflicts and geographical expansions throughout time. The first known form of sugar use by humans originates from New Guinea and its surrounding islands in the South West Pacific region. In this region, humans first started to chew on sugar cane roughly 15,000 years ago,5 a practice that still
exists today. By chewing the cane, a sweet juice was obtained that could be consumed directly or used to add flavour to food.
With the emergence of maritime contact and trade, the use of sugarcane gradually spread across south Asia, eventually becoming part of human culture in the regions of modern day India, Southeast-Asia and Indonesia.6 Not much is known about the timeframe in which sugar spread across
south Asia but the first mention of sugar cane is in the Hindu holy book of Atharvaveda of which the text was compiled around 1200 – 1300 BCE.7
At a certain point in time, humans discovered how to produce crystal sugar by using a simple press to extract the sweet juice from the cane and concentrating it into a thick mass by boiling it. It is not known when and where this early form of sugar refining appeared but the first evidence for the production of crystal sugar comes in the form of Sanskrit texts (500 B.C.), indicating that it happened somewhere in northern India.8 The texts reveal, in rather vague terms, that several types of sugar
were produced and that these were mainly used for medicinal purposes. This supports the idea that in ancient times, sugar functioned not just as a sweetener, but it also had a spiritual and medicinal side to it. Records of sugar in ancient Greek and Roman texts also describe sugar as a form of
medicine, Pliny the Elder (1st century A.D.) writes: ‘Sugar is made in Arabia as well, but Indian sugar is
better. It is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut. Sugar is only used for medical purposes.’9. This also reveals that sugar
was already being produced in the Arabic world during the 1st century A.D.
Marco Polo, who visited China from 1270 to 1295, described the existence of many ‘sugar factories’ in Southern China. It is important to note that the method of production was still relatively primitive. During the period that Marco Polo visited China, new refining methods were introduced by immigrants from Cairo.10
As stated above, sugar was already being produced in the Arab world in the 1st century A.D.
4 Sato 2014, pp 1 5 Nastari 1983, pp 13 6 Kleij 1994, pp 14
7 Prinsen Geerligs 1924, pp 1 & Witzel 2001, pp 6 8 Galloway 2000, pp 442
9 Faas 2003, pp 149
However, it was not until 600 A.D. when people from Persia (modern day Iraq) succeeded in making a type of crystal sugar that was similar to what we know today.11 In the years following the founding of
Islam, an agricultural revolution took place in the Middle-East. During this period, the Arabs played a key role in introducing Asian crops to the Mediterranean. In the case of sugar cane, they borrowed existing Mediterranean technology for extracting olive oil. Screw presses were used to obtain as much juice from the sugar cane as possible. The juice was then clarified and boiled to the point of crystallization. Although this technique was nothing new, the Arabs added another step to the production process: the sugar-like syrup was placed in conical pots. These pots had a little hole on the pointy bottom so the molasses would slowly drip from the syrup, eventually leaving a loaf of sugar in the pot.12 The Arabs used slaves from Africa to work on the sugar plantations.13 The
risk of frost in the Mediterranean, as well as the need for irrigation, confined the cultivation of sugar cane to regions in the Levant, North Africa, Cyprus, Crete, Sicily and Andalusia. For Sicily we know that the Arabs introduced the crops in AD 703. Two centuries later, in 900, the Arabs were exporting Sicilian sugar to Northern Africa. Andalusia’s first contact with sugar was in AD 755, and the industry prospered in this region for centuries. Because of the Arabs, the Mediterranean became the centre of world sugar production. In its Mediterranean phase, however, the industry was still small-scale and labour-intensive when compared to later periods. Sugar therefore remained a luxury product.14
During the Mediterranean phase, the sugar industry remained relatively unknown in Northern Europe. This changed when the crusaders introduced sugar as medicine and sweetener to non-elite Europeans. The lucrative nature of the sugar industry was quickly recognized and adopted by the Christian knights. Tyrus, in modern day Lebanon, became an important centre for the sugar-trade and multiple knightly orders raised vast plantations in the Holy Country, Antioch Syria and Cyprus.
During the 13th and 14th century sugar was being
produced throughout the whole Mediterranean coast, from Asia minor to Morocco and Spain. Sugar surplus in these countries was sold in the Italian ports of Venice, Pisa and Genoa. Because of the crusaders, the demand for sugar in the North grew. This caused the appearance of an important trade route between the Italian ports and Northern Europe.15 The lucrative period in which Italian ports
provided Europe with sugar produced in the Mediterranean and the Near East lasted for roughly three-and-a-half centuries but ended abruptly with the conquests of the Turks at the beginning of the
16th century. Initially the crusaders lost some of their territories in Asia Minor, this
11 Kleij 1994, pp 14 12 Galloway 2000, pp 443 13 Mintz 1985, pp 27 14 Galloway 2000, pp 443
merely caused the centre of production to shift to other territories. Cyprus and Egypt, for example, greatly increased their production in order to meet the demands from the Italian ports. In 1453 Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, followed in 1461 by Trebizond and other, even more economically-important cities in Asia Minor, as well as the Genoese colonies near the Black Sea. Under Turkish rule the sugar industry quickly vanished and trade between Asia Minor and Europe greatly reduced. At this time the Europeans were not able to move their production since other suitable territories like Egypt, Venice, Rhodes and Cyprus were lost to the Turks in the early 16th
century.16 The Mediterranean sugar industry was damaged beyond repair and the economic damage
for the Italian ports was devastating. It was partly due to these events that Lisbon took over Venice’s position as a world harbour.17 Since the Turks occupied most of the territories which climatologically
allowed sugarcane production, the Portuguese knew that they had to broaden their horizon and find new territories to produce sugar cane.
While the second half of the 15th century is characterized by religious conflict and loss of
territory from an Italian perspective, the Portuguese were already exploring the world in search of alternative locations to grow sugarcane. Geographically, the Iberian Peninsula was the perfect candidate to take the lead in the upcoming European westward expansions. The technological advancements in ship-building and navigation made it possible to sail into previously unknown
waters. The
first island the Portuguese would encounter was Madeira, 700 kilometres off the coast of Morocco, which they colonized in 1419. The Portuguese colonists introduced sugarcane to the island and they soon found out that the new colony was indeed highly suitable for the production of sugarcane. After colonizing Madeira and exploring the African coast southwards, the Portuguese took control of the Gulf of Guinea. From here they exported slaves to Madeira to work on the sugarcane plantations.18 To
obtain slaves, the Portuguese used the already existing slave trade-system that was set up by the Muslims on the Atlantic coast of Africa.19 The use of forced labour in the sugarcane industry would
become a phenomenon for centuries to come. The Portuguese exported huge amounts of sugar from the island to the Italian harbours. Hungry for more land the Portuguese conquered the Azores in 1439, with Cape Verde following in 1462. A decade later this trend continued with the colonization of the islands of São Tomé, Príncipe and Annobón in the Gulf of Guinea.
Whilst the Portuguese were busy colonizing islands in the Atlantic, their Iberian neighbours also became involved in the
colonization of the Atlantic. Their first goal was the Canaries islands. The islanders were not easily
16 Prinsen Geerligs 1924, pp 5 17 Kleij 1994, pp 15
18 Prinsen Geerligs 1924, pp 361 19 Walvin, 2011, blz. 24.
subjugated and resisted Spanish rule for years. Eventually the Spanish succeeded and conquered Palma and Tenerife in 1492 and 1493. Following the Portuguese example, the Spanish (with help of the Genoese) quickly introduced sugar production on to the islands.20 A year before the conquest of Palma and Tenerife, the famous Genoese visionary Christopher Columbus persuaded Ferdinand and Isabella to support him in his projected journey into the Ocean Sea. Columbus, who had a sugarcane plantation on Porto Santo, an island off the coast of Madeira,21 was authorized in 1492 to ‘discover
and acquire islands and mainlands in the Ocean Sea’.22 Columbus discovered America and soon after that, the Spanish established the first sugar plantations on the island Hispaniola, today Haiti and the Dominican, near the new town they had founded, Santo Domingo. From 1508 onwards, the colonists began the settlement of neighbouring islands. The settlement of Puerto Rico began in 1508, Jamaica followed in 1509 and in 1519 the port of Havana was founded on the northern coast of Cuba. Havana would replace Santo Domingo as the main port of the Indies. In the next two decades the Spanish established themselves throughout large areas of the continent. The conquerors saw themselves as the ones to reshape and ‘improve’ the new lands. This mentality can be detected in the words of Fernández de Oviedo (founder of Santo Domingo): ‘We found no sugar mills when we arrived in these
Indies, and all these we have built with our own hands and the industry in so short a time’.23
Just like the Spanish, the Portuguese also ‘discovered’ America by accident. It was Pedro Álvares Cabral, a member of the King’s household, who sailed down Africa’s coast and was pulled westward by the natural winds and currents of the South Atlantic, eventually reaching the Brazilian coast in 1500.24 The Portuguese established their first
colony in Brazil in 1532 (St Vincent). During the second half of the 16th century the demand and price
of sugar rose due to the increased use of refined sugar in jams and other recipes. Because of this, Portuguese investors became interested in setting up sugar cane plantations in Brazil (early sugarcane experiments made clear that Brazil has an ideal climate for sugarcane cultivation). This resulted in several private settlements being founded throughout the whole length of the Brazilian coast.25 The
investors set up sugar plantations, exporting existing production and organisation techniques from
the Canaries and Madeira to Brazil. Despite the industrial organization, most of the production
processes were done by hand: agricultural labour, heating and clarification, and purging; complex machinery, powered by water or animals, was only used to crush the cane.26 The crushed cane was
boiled in water, from which a sweet brown syrup was obtained, the dirt and scum being extracted at 20 Elliott 2008, pp 158-159 21 http://www.museucolombo-portosanto.com/museu_colombo.html 22 Elliott 2008, pp 160 23 Elliott 2008, pp 203 24 Johnson 2008, pp 253-254 25 Johnson 2008, pp 255-261
intervals. The syrup was then poured into cone shaped pots, shaped in a way that the heavier
molasses could be collected at the base of the pot. A hole at the bottom of the mould was blocked for about a week after filling, until the sugar had crystallized and could be separated from the molasses. At this time the hole was opened so the molasses would drain out, leaving a solid sugar loaf above.27
During the 16th century, mills used large milling stones, horizontally or in an edge-runner arrangement
(Fig. 1), to extract the juice from the cane. However, this method required a second stage of extraction using screw presses. The method was expensive and inefficient since the impurities produced by the crushing process made the subsequent clarification process more difficult.
A major technological advancement took place in the early 17th century with the introduction of the vertical three-roller mill (Fig. 2). This type
of mill eliminated the need for secondary presses whilst making the crushing process more efficient and reducing the cost of establishing a mill. This technology allowed smaller producers and marginal areas to enter the industry at a lower cost.28
27 Gutiérrez 2007, pp 75 28 Schwartz 2004, pp 163
Figure 1. Early example of a sugar mill in the New World. Various stages of the production process are represented, from the cutting of the cane and the crushing in an edge runner press to the clarification process and filling in the forms. In the distance is a waterwheel probably driving a two-cylinder press in the shed; in the foreground is an edge runner press. (Source: Schwartz 2004, pp. 97)
Due to the increasing price and demand of the product, sugar production in Brazil expanded rapidly after the 1550s. So much sugar was grown that by the end of the 16th century, north-eastern Brazil
had become one of the most prosperous regions in the world. This trend continued into the 17th
century. In 1624, however, hostilities between Holland and Spain led to new problems for the Portuguese and their colonies since the Spanish ruled Portugal after 1581. During the 1620s, the Portuguese merchant fleet was targeted by the Dutch and hundreds of ships were sunk or captured. In 1630 the Dutch captured Pernambuco. The fighting temporarily disturbed the sugar industry in the area and removed a large part of the production from Portuguese control. While many Portuguese planters remained on their property under Dutch control, 60 of the 166 mills in North-eastern Brazil were put out of operation and were confiscated by the West Indische Compagnie (the Dutch West-India company). These mills were resold to Dutch and Jewish merchants hoping to enter the industry. The WIC sought to stimulate the recovery of the industry through a system of loans and credits. This strategy seemed successful since the production and export of sugar in the area grew rapidly, from 5000 crates in 1637 to 15.000 crates in 1644.29 The economic growth would not last long for in 1645,
a revolt against the Dutch broke out in which Portuguese residents (secretly aided by their
Government) destroyed and confiscated Dutch mills. The Dutch lost control of the countryside and were progressively forced to abandon Brazilian territories, eventually abandoning Pernambuco in 1654.30
In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch also established colonies along the coast of
Guyana, of which the fort Kijk-Over-Al along the Essequibo river, could resist the Spanish and
29 Schwartz 2004, pp 169
Figure 2. The earliest known on-the-spot drawing of the recently invented vertical three-roller sugar mill, worked, presumably, by enslaved Africans. Frans Post, Pressoir à sucre au Brésil (ca. 1640). © Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Inv. 4060 / 2888. Photo: Grafisch Buro Lefevre, Heule.
Portuguese attacks. From this core Dutch sugar plantations spread along the Guyanese coast.31 After
the end of the Revolt against Spain in 1648, the Dutch saw no reason to continue their fighting in the Atlantic. While the attempt by the WIC to build an Atlantic empire had been unsuccessful, economic interest in the Atlantic had only increased. From the mid-17th century until the end of the 18th
century, roles were reversed and Dutch military action in the Atlantic was mainly in the service of private organizations. For example, in 1664 the States General sent Michiel de Ruyter to West Africa in order to recapture WIC forts from the English. Another expedition in 1667, organized by the Admiralty of Zeeland, took the rich sugar colony Surinam, the country next to Guyana, from the English. The trade and processing of New World products had simply become too important not to defend.32
The efforts by the Republic to defend its interests in the New World were not only to protect
merchant profits, another important reason was the way the industries were embedded into the local economy. Although sugar was already processed in the New World and on Atlantic islands before being exported, an extra stage of refining took place once the sugar arrived in Europe. European refineries took the raw sugar and refined it further into lighter-coloured sugar that was more popular on the European market. From the mid-16th century onwards, sugar began to arrive in northern
Europe in large quantities. Initially sugar was imported via Lisbon but by the end of the century it was shipped directly to Antwerp (and to Amsterdam, London and Hamburg to a lesser degree).33 In 1550
there were nineteen refineries in Antwerp. However, the prosperous period ended abruptly in 1585 when the city fell to Spanish troops during the Dutch war of independence (1568-1648) and 8000 citizens were slaughtered. With the fall of Antwerp, many protestant and Jewish craftsmen and merchants fled to the Dutch Republic in search of religious freedom, taking their knowledge of the industry with them.34 At the same time, pirate activities by the Dutch against Portuguese and Spanish
ships increased. Most of the stolen goods were shipped to Amsterdam. In its first 13 years, the WIC seized no less than 547 Spanish and Portuguese ships and unloaded most of the loot, 40,000 chests
of sugar, in the ports of Holland and Zeeland.35 For Amsterdam, this
was all that was necessary to take over the role of Antwerp as Europe’s dominant sugar refiner. By the early 17th century Dutch sugar refining had become one of the most dynamic sectors of industrial
growth and capital accumulation. The number of sugar refineries in Amsterdam grew from about 3 in 160536, to over 66 in 1661, about half the total for the whole of Europe.37 Another dozen or so
31 Israel 1989, pp 64, 107 and 326 32 Heijer 2014, pp 161 33 Walvin 2017, chapter 3 34 Gawronski 2012, pp 36 35 Schwartz 2004 pp 272 36 http://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-dutch-economy-in-the-golden-age-16th-17th-centuries/ 37 AAR 79, pp. 9 & Israel 1989, pp 265
refineries appeared in Rotterdam, Middelburg and Dordrecht. Even when the Dutch plantations in Brazil where destroyed in 1645, the Dutch filled the gap by importing raw sugar from Lisbon. In the 1660s, however, mercantilist measures by the French, the Danish and the Swedish to protect their own sugar industry, had a severe impact upon the Dutch sugar industry and by 1670 there were only 34 refineries left in Amsterdam. Despite this setback, the technical sophistication of the Dutch refining industry ensured that it remained the largest sugar processing industry in Europe. Even when England became the largest importer of raw sugar at the end of the 17th century, London still
re-exported most of its sugar to Amsterdam for refining.38 After the dip of the 1660s the Dutch industry
continued to grow and in 1770 there were about 110 refineries in Amsterdam.39 Sugar imports
increased from 1.5 million kg to 7.5 million kg in the period 1683-1713. Due to the Amsterdam artisanal capacity that made it possible to take the lead in the processing of sugar, sugar prices fell (from 80 cents a pound in 1650/54 to just under 50 cents in 1664/67 to around 35 cents in 1670/7940)
making this once exclusive luxury available to a much larger population.41
The economic and cultural importance of sugar production and refining has often been understated. Sugar is often ranked behind other colonial commodities, especially spices. The reason for this is partly due to the fact that the boosts that the sugar industry gave to other industries may not be taken into consideration. The processing of tobacco, for example, may have employed more workers than sugar refineries, but sugar production also created jobs in other industries. To understand this we have to take a look at the refineries themselves. Refineries were installed in huge, five to six floor buildings and housed thousands of pots made specifically for sugar production (Fig. 3), and this heavily stimulating the building industry and the pottery industry. On top of this, despite a relative small workforce in the industry itself, the industry generated a large proportion of municipal tax income. For example, in the period 1672-1700, despite employing only 1500 workers (1.5% of the Dutch industrial workforce) and causing heavy pollution in the city, municipal records show that 20 percent of the municipal taxes came from sugar.42
38 Israel 1989, pp. 265 39 Walvin 2017, chapter 3 40 Vries 1995, pp. 385-386 41 Gawronski 2012, pp 71 42 Schwartz 2004 272-275 12
In this chapter, I have briefly described the development of the sugar industry and its spread and growth in northern Europe. It is clear that the industry was of major importance to the Dutch Republic’s economy in the 17th and 18th centuries. But the image and the timeframe that I have
provided for the spread of the industry to the Dutch Republic has thus far been almost exclusively based on historical sources . In the next chapter I will therefore turn to archaeological evidence, in the hope that it will be possible to create a more complete picture of the Dutch industry by
embedding the evidence from archaeological work .
Since sugar itself is seldom well preserved in the archaeological record, we need to make use of a different archaeological source that can be linked to the sugar industry. As described above, each refinery housed thousands of ceramic vessels that were specifically used for the refining of sugar. During the refining process, the imported raw lumps of sugarcane were heated until it thickened. The hot sugar-syrup was then poured into cone-shaped ceramic cylinders which had 5-6 mm hole in in their pointy bottoms. The cones were placed onto pots and during the cooling process the sugar-syrup crystallized. The sugar-syrup would drain into the lower pot through the hole, leaving only a lump of crystalized sugar, a ‘loaf’, in the upper cone. Sugar could be boiled up to three times to improve refinement, the price varying accordingly.43 The loafs of sugar were taken out of the cone and
wrapped in blue paper especially made for the sugar industry before being sold on the European market (at the time it was believed that the colour blue kept insects away, kitchens in the 17th and
18th century were often coloured blue because of this).44 The syrup was poured into special syrup jars
to be sold as a cheap alternative to sugar.45 Besides ceramics being preserved very well in the
archaeological record, the cones, the pots and the jars were at first not used for anything other than sugar production. This makes these ceramics a perfect material to study when doing research on the
43 Gutiérrez 2007, pp 75 44 Kleij 2017, pp 18 45 AAR 79, pp 9
sugar industry, although it must be taken into account that a secondary use of the cones and pots for another purpose is possible. The sugar-related ceramics will be the focus of the following chapters.
Chapter 2: Evidence for sugar production
In this chapter I will collect data regarding the archaeological evidence that can be linked to sugar production and/or consumption. The data has to be useful in respect to the research question (In
what way did the sugar industry emerge in the Dutch Republic?), so the way I collect data is
important. For this thesis I chose to do this by splitting up the Netherlands into different regions and comparing data between regions. Every region within the modern day Netherlands will be
incorporated so the archaeological situation can be examined as a whole, including the lesser-known regions that receive little historical attention. Antwerp and Ghent will also be included due to their geographical location and relevance for the Dutch sugar industry.
Besides museum collections, archaeological reports and historical sources, an important source for my data will be the knowledge of municipal archaeologists. This chapter’s division of the Netherlands into different regions is therefore based on municipal borders, with each region representing the area of responsibility of a municipal archaeologist. In the Netherlands there are currently 59 municipal archaeologists, each having responsibility over one or more municipality’s. With the inclusion of Antwerp and Ghent the total number of regions I will investigate is 61. In the next chapter I will combine the municipal regions that have provided the data into a few bigger regions based on the historical situation in the 17th and 18th century.
Figure 4. Sugar related ceramics found in Amsterdam. At the far right we see two syrup jars, the vessel left to the top jar is a sugar cone. At the left and bottom we see four syrup pots of various sizes. (Source: AAR 79. pp 10)
As we have seen in the previous chapter, there is some historical information available regarding sugar production in The Republic. As an archaeologist I can use this information to get a better understanding of the industry itself, but the main goal is to create new data regarding the archaeological situation so historical accounts can be compared with the archaeological reality (ultimately updating our understanding of the past). For sugar-related ceramics there is some archaeological information available but the information is far from complete. In archaeology the information is often incomplete because only certain areas get examined/excavated and on top of that only a fraction of the material culture survives the test of time in the first place. Besides this, the generation of new archaeological data is to some degree influenced by the historical knowledge of the local archaeologists. With sugar-related ceramics I believe this is especially the case. For example, we know historically that Amsterdam in the 17th century was an important region in the Republic
regarding sugar trade and production while some other regions who have no clear connection with the sugar industry at all. Amsterdam archaeologists are therefore more likely to be more familiar with the material than their colleagues in the eastern part of the country. Sugar-related ceramics are red in colour and part of the ceramic group known as redware. The pots and jars have the most chance to be preserved intact while the cones (being the most typical sugar-related ceramic form) are much more fragmented due to their open shape and thin walls46 and can easily be mistaken for flower
pots . A typical archaeological context containing sugar-related ceramics would therefore consist of partly fragmented redware pots- and jars and a lot of small fragments belonging to the cones. With redware being the biggest ceramic group by far, archaeologists who are not familiar with sugar-related ceramics will interpret finds as described above as just some more redware pots and jars with some sherds that cannot be attributed to a certain form since they are too fragmented. With this in mind, it is possible that sugar-related ceramics found in the eastern part of the country are often overlooked or misinterpreted since they do not fall in the line of expectation or are simply not recognized at all. In Amsterdam and other coastal municipality’s however, these finds are more likely to be recognized and thus correctly interpreted. In other words: our image of the past influences the
way we interpret new finds, confirming our image of the past. In order to
overcome the problem described above I have contacted every municipal archaeologist, explaining the goal of my thesis, asking if they are familiar with sugar-related ceramics (providing them with a clear description and a picture) and if they have ever been found in their municipality. This way I hope to generate my data in a direct way. Hopefully this will generate new data that was previously
overlooked or misinterpreted, contributing to a better understanding of sugar-related ceramics in the
Netherlands. As expected the degree of
familiarity with the material varied greatly between municipalities. Some archaeologists who were
not familiar with the material had never seen it in their municipality while others did recognize the specific forms but admitted they never knew that such ceramics were sugar-related. The latter explained that ceramics of that type were often simply documented as redware vessels or redware fragments.
Every region where sugar-related ceramics have been found will briefly be discussed below. An overview of the relevant information received from different regions of the Netherlands can be found at the end of this thesis (appendix 1).
Alkmaar
For the region of Alkmaar, no redware sugar-related ceramics have been found. However, the municipal archaeologist did mention a white-faience syrup jar (fig. 5), the jar is dated 1660-1680 and was probably produced in Delft. Based on the shape of the jar and the fact that it is made of faience, the jar was probably used as dinnerware and not for transport. It is possible that sugarcane syrup from the typical redware syrup-jars was poured into jars like this before being served. However, the jar might just as well been used for apple syrup or honey.
Although this jar is a possible indication of sugarcane syrup consumption, this cannot be said with any certainty. Therefore this object is not relevant for this study and will not be addressed any further.
Amsterdam
Archaeological research in the region of Amsterdam has provided us with a large amount of redware ceramic material that can be linked to the sugar industry. From the Amsterdam Archaeological Rapports (AAR) there are 572 of such objects known: 290 pots, 277 sugar-cones and 5 syrup-jars (Fig. 6).47 The majority of the material is from the rapports 79 and 90. Ceramic material from
rapport 79 was found at the location Schoolstraat 5-19 and can be linked to a number of pottery workshops that were in business during the period 1662-1847.48 The material from rapport 90 comes
mainly from two layers of city waste dumped into the Uilenburgergracht between 1700 and 1730 in order to create dry land. Based on the degree of fragmentation the material is thought to be a primary dump, suggesting the material came from a nearby refinery.49
AAR no. Minimum no. objects Dating
42 1 pot 1700-1800
48 11 pots 1600-1800 (except 2 pots: 1600-1700)
50 1 pot 1600-1700
56 1 jar 1600-1625
47 AAR 28, 42, 48, 50, 56, 58, 59, 61, 67, 79, 81, 89, 90 and 95. 48 AAR 79 pp 29
49 AAR 90 pp 99-100
58 3 cones, 1 jar 1600-1700
59 2 jars 1600-1650
61 1 jar 1600-1700
67 1 pot, 11 cones 1600-1850
79 61 pots, 153 cones 1750-1800 (except 2 cones: 1600-1675, 19 pots:
1675-1700 & 1 pot: 1675-1700-1750)
81 1 pot 1575-1850
89 1 pot 1600-1700
90 210 pots, 109 cones 1700-1730 (except 31 pots & 19 cones: 1750-1875)
95 3 pots, 1 cone 1575-1625
Total 290 pots, 277 cones, 5 jars 1575-1875
Figure 6. An overview of the amount of sugar-related ceramics described in the Amsterdam Archaeological Rapports (AAR).
Apart from the material that has been described in the AAR, archaeological research on the construction of the North/Southline has also provided us with a large amount of sugar-related ceramic fragments. The North/Southline is a construction project, that lasted from 2003 to 2018, during which a metro-tunnel was dug from the southside to the northside of the city. Part of the trajectory ran through the historical IJ-harbour and the (nowadays filled-in) river the Amstel and was subject to archaeological fieldwork from 2003 to 2012. During fieldwork at the location of the Rokin station (part of the historical river, filled in in 1937), large amounts of sugar-cones and syrup-jars and -pots were discovered. Although exact number of specific objects are missing (the material is not published yet), we know that 20,384 fragments of sugar related ceramics have been registered.50
The sherds were found concentrated at the parcels Rokin 83-89 and can be historically linked to the sugar refinery ‘Drie Suikerbrooden’. This refinery was established in 1611 by the Antwerp emigrant Hans Pelt, in 1651 it changed its name to ‘Vier Suikerbroden’ and after that it expanded several times until the production stopped in 1842.51 Apart from the link with the refinery, differences
in spatial deposition between types of objects provide information about their differences in function and practical use (Fig. 7). The syrup-pots and sugar-cones were densely concentrated in front of the former refinery (Rokin 83-89) while the jars were found much more spread out, with the main concentration somewhat to the north (at the Wijde Lombardsteeg). This can be explained by the fact that the pots and cones were solely used in the production process while the jars were used as containers to store and sell sugar-syrup.52 The concentration of jars at the Wijde Lombardsteeg
50 Gawronski & Kranendonk 2018, pp 29 51 Gawronski 2010b, pp 83-84
suggests that this spot might have been an historically unknown point of sale or distribution of syrup.53
Antwerp
For the region of Antwerp I received all the information digitally available from their databases. The objects found in this region that were described as syrup-pots, syrup-jars or sugar-cones can be found in figure 8. Most of the site-codes could be linked to an excavation, the ones that could not be linked just have their site-code in the table. Information regarding chronology was only available for thee
sites. The
material from the Sint-Pauluskerk (1995) is described as a minimum of 30 objects from a box full of sugar-cone/syrup-pot fragments. Although information regarding the ratio between cones and pots is unavailable, I still incorporate these objects in the study since we do know that the total minimum
number of objects is 30. The
sugar-related material from the Jan Van Rijswijcklaan 174-192, is described as: 1 bottom-fragment of a sugar-cone, 3 rim-fragments of sugar-cone(s), 37 rim-fragments of sugarcones and/or flowerpots and 474 wall-fragments of probably sugar-cones and syrup-pots. Since the only reliable information from this site is one bottom fragment and the three rim-fragments of sugar-cone(s), the minimum number of objects from this site is one (sugar-cone).
Another site where sugar-related ceramic material was found is A091 (Stadsparking, 1979). Here the finds are described as ‘a box full of ceramic fragments from mainly syrup-pots and jars’. For this site it is not possible to identify the minimum number of objects and thus the site will not be taken into account.
53 Gawronski & Kranendonk 2018, pp 25
Figure 7.Spatial distribution of syrup-jars (top) and syrup-pots (bottom) at the Rokin. (Source: Gawronski & Kranendonk 2010, pp 178).
In total, 13 syrup-pots 19 sugar-cones and 30 pots or cones could be identified. In reality the number of objects is probably higher for reasons described above. For this study I decided to only work with the numbers of objects that are certain since my data would otherwise become too speculative and unreliable. Although this will often result in less objects per region, this is not so much of a problem considering I am consistent in this way of generating data (every region will have less objects so they are still comparable).
Site No. objects Dating
A016 2 pots, 4 cone 1500-1700
A123 Raapstraat/Lange Noordstraat (1994) 3 pots, 5 cones 1700-1800
A149 Koolkaai 13-15 (1997) 1 pot 1600-1800
A129 Sint-Pauluskerk (1995) 30 pots/cones
-A000 Bredestraat (1989) 1 pot
-A385 Oude Leeuwenrui (2013) 3 pots, 1 cone
-Brabo2_Italielei 2 pots
-A025 1 pot
-A104 Schoytestraat (1991) 5 cones
-Brabo2_Operaplein_Rooseveltplaats 2 cones
-A274 Blindestraat (2007) 1cone
-A442 Jan Van Rijswijcklaan 174-192 1 cone
-Total 13 pots, 19 cones, 30 cones/pots 1500-1800
Figure 8. An overview of the sites where sugar-related objects were found with the code of the site (if available with the name and year of the excavation), the minimum number of objects and, if available, the period in which the objects are dated.
Arnhem
In Arnhem there is one object that has been recognized as a possible syrup pot (Fig. 9). The pot was found buried into the floor of the cellar of Kleine Oord 81 in Arnhem. Due to the pot being buried into the floor, it is believed that the (possible) syrup pot has had a secondary function as a mousetrap or an ashpot, used to store hot ashes overnight (although no traces of ash have been found inside). An amateur archaeologist rapport54 revealed that the floor, in which the pot was buried, dated back
to the 15th century. Although this context seems too old to be associated with a syrup-pot, the pot
itself is believed to be younger as it could have been dug into the floor at a later period than the construction of the floor.55
The most striking aspect regarding the shape of the pot are the handles. There are no other syrup pots known to have handles and that makes this object an unique but also a confusing find. Apart from the handles, a heavy footring (to provide stability when the cones were placed into the pots) is also missing. Instead the pot has flanged feet. This can be explained when looking at the size of the pot. From Amsterdam contexts there are thee standard sizes of syrup-pots known, the smallest and most common pots have a height of max. 24 cm while the medium and large sized pots have a height of respectively 35 and 45 cm. The small and medium sized pots known to have a footring but only the large sized pots can either have a footring or five
flanged feet (Fig. 4).56 Although the exact height of
this pot is hard to determine precisely (the ruler for scale is placed too much in front of the jar), but it must be somewhere around 45 cm. This makes the pot fall into the category of large sized pots and thus the flanged feet cannot only be explained, but serve as an indication that this pot is indeed a syrup pot. However, when we take a look at the handles, the amount of glazing on the outside (which is uncommon for syrup pots), and the shape (tapered too much to the bottom compared with typical syrup pots), suggest that the pot is an extinguisher.
Delf
There are no clear examples of sugar-related ceramics from the region of Delft. However, some objects in the collection (Fig. 10) look very similar to syrup pots. The pots are described as ashpots and were thought to be produced primarily for this goal but after receiving my email, the municipal archaeologist wondered if these pots might have been syrup pots that had a secondary function as ashpot.
When we take a look at the drawings of the pots, they initially look somewhat similar to syrup pots but, just like pot from Arnhem, they are all somewhat different. The left pot contains no rim to place the cone on, the middle pot contains handles that are not known to exist on any other syrup
55 Interview Martijn Defilet 56 AAR 79, pp 11
pots and the pot on the right has the same shape as the pot from Arnhem, tapered too much to the bottom. The pots therefore were probably ashpots or extinguishers.
Den Bosch
Two syrup-pots and at least four sugar-cones have been found in the municipality of Den Bosch. The sugar cones were found in a layer containing 17th century material during an excavation at the
Volderstraat. Although the cones were very fragmented, at least four different objects were identified. In one of the cone fragments a ‘V’ was scratched in before firing. One of the syrup-pots, glazed on the inside and with a footring, was found among a waste dump in the city canal. Although most of the dump’s material was dated 19th century, there were some older finds as well and this jar
is probably one of them. The other syrup-pot was found in a house at the Snellestraat 30 this pot was glazed on the inside and identical in shape to the r-pot-72 (see fig. 3). The pot is believed to have been secondary used as ashpot and is therefore loosely dated to the 17th-19th century.
Although these finds have not been found in the context of a sugar refinery, one or more refineries are known to have existed in Den Bosch from the 17th until the 19th century57 Historical
sources confirm this and reveal that in 1671, a refinery called ‘de Groote Engel’ was set up by Dirk van Bree.58 Other evidence is from 1754, when Johan van Hanswijk bought two houses that were both
described as sugar refineries.59
Den Haag
57 Interview Ronald van Genabeek 58 Sasse van Ysselt 1911, pp 351-353
One fragment of a possible a sugar cone has been found in the Den Haag region. The fragment was found inside a cesspit during an excavation in 1995 at the Spui 39-43 and belonged to a redware, conical-shaped object that was glazed on the inside. The fragment measured 12 cm in diameter at the top and 2 cm at the bottom. Unfortunately, an image is not available so the degree of
completeness is unknown. This makes it is hard to say whether the top-diameter is measured at the rim of the object or not (this is important since the smallest cones known from Amsterdam are 14 cm in diameter at the rim60). In the archaeological report the process of syrup and water leaving a cone
through a hole in the bottom is described but there is no mention of a hole being present in this particular fragment.61
Although the exact measurements of the original object are unknown and hole in the bottom is probably not part of the fragment, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that we are still dealing with a sugar cone. This is especially true if we take the chronology of the context into account, a cesspit dated 1575-1675 (based on the finds inside). However, the glazing on the inside of the fragment is one aspect that is very uncharacteristic of sugar cones. Sugar cones are known to be fully unglazed so the moisture from the syrup could not only escape through the bottom hole, but also trough the walls of the cone.62 The uncertainty regarding the measurements and the presence of a hole in the
bottom, combined with the glazing of the inside, makes me believe that this fragment might have been misinterpreted. In any way, there is too much uncertainty regarding the fragment and therefore it will not be incorporated in this study.
Deventer
The region of Deventer is familiar with the sugar-related ceramic examples I presented and they have surely been found here in the past. Unfortunately, at the time the objects were not recognized as such and as a result they cannot be traced back in the databases or the archaeological reports.63
Dordrecht
A large amount of sugar related ceramics have been found in Dordrecht, on a terrain at the Dordwijklaan during the construction of a water reservoir in 2006. During the digging activities, members of the local amateur archaeologist group (AWN Lek- en Merwestreek) spotted a large amount of red ceramic material (Fig. 11). The red ceramic material was part of the filling of a ditch, other finds from the filling have been dated 16th-18th century and therefore the ditch was probably
filled in at the end of the 18th century (the sugar-related ceramics can therefore roughly be dated
60 AAR 79 pp 10 61 Dorst 2003, pp 17-18 62 AAR 79 pp 9
1750-1800). Unfortunately, the site has not been excavated so the exact number of objects remains unknown. Despite this, local archaeological volunteers did manage to pick up some materials from the surface as well as taking pictures of the sherds in situ (Fig. 11). Since only a part of the material was picked up, no solid conclusions about numbers and ratios can be made. However, the relatively large amount of sugar related ceramics suggest that we are dealing with a deposition from a bankrupt refinery (the sugarcane industry got replaced by the sugar beet industry during the end of the 18th
century and the 1st half of the 19th century) that has been used as filling or drainage-material (since all
the objects seem to be broken into small fragments deliberately). After
the fragments were collected from the site, the minimum number of objects was calculated per type of vessel. The way the AWN decided to do this was by counting the number of (partially) complete pot-bottoms and cone-points. The wall and rim fragments were only used to reconstruct the measurements in height and diameter. It is important to note that during the collection of the fragments, the amateurs deliberately searched for rim and bottom/point fragments while leaving most of the wall-fragments at the site. In the end at least 27 syrup-pots and 46 sugar-cones were identified.
Although the material from Dordrecht is dated 1750-1800, we know historically that the refining industry in Dordrecht started much earlier. As in Amsterdam, the refining industry was stimulated by the influx of immigrants from Flanders. In 1620, a quarter of the 18.000 inhabitants of Dordrecht consisted of immigrants from Flanders.64 Before the start of the 17th century,
sugar-refineries in Dordrecht were located at the Vest, the Vuylpoort, the Spuipoort, the Pelserbrug, the Wijnstraat and in the Houttuinen. Another historical mention of a sugar-refinery in Dordrecht is from 1605, the refinery was located at the Heer Mattijsstraat-Kolffstraat and owned by Andries Adriaenz.65
64 https://blokland.dordtenazoeker.nl/suiker_deel07.htm
Figure 11. A large number of sugar-related ceramics found at the Dordwijklaan. (Source: AWN Lek- een Merwestreek)
Foodvalley regio
For this region there was no familiarity with sugar-specific material. However, after having presented examples of sugar-related objects there were two objects that got recognized as possible syrup-pots. The pots are located in the cellar of museum Casteelse Poort in Wageningen, where they are
exhibited as container pots used in the kitchen. After I received an image of the pots (Fig. 12), it became clear to me that these are indeed syrup-pots, if they ever have been used as container-pots in the kitchen it would have been their secondary function. To find out more about the pots and how they came to be exhibited in the kitchen of a castle, one would normally do some research on the context from which these pots
came. Unfortunately there is nothing known regarding the location where the pots were originally found. All that is known is that they were given to the museum in 1965, after the
museum was just established. The pots came from the collection of the Historisch Museum
Wageningen.
Ghent
Archaeological research in the city of Ghent, in the Flemish region of Belgium, has provided us with two sites where sugar-related ceramics were found.
The first site is from 1983 and was situated in a house at the Zandpoortstraat in the western part of the historical city centre. During the excavation, one sugar-cone fragment and four syrup-pot fragments were found. The fragments were dated 1750-1800 based on other material found in the same layer as the fragments. Earlier digging activities at the location, by the owner of the house, has provided us with the remains of eight other syrup-pots. On one of the pots, white slip was used to create a decorative letter ‘P’ at the shoulder of the pot (Fig. 13). So far this is the only example of a syrup pot containing slip decoration and it is suggested that the P stands for Poelman, who had a sugar refinery at this location from 1774 to 1801. The fact that the material dates from the 2nd half of
the 18th century is no coincidence, after the peace of Aachen in 1748 the import rights on refined
sugar were raised while the rights for importing raw sugar were lowered. This, and the accessibility of 25
Figure 12. Two syrup-pots from the museum Casteelse Poort in Wageningen.. (Photo by S. Jongma)
Ghent for seafaring ships from 1753 onwards, caused Ghent’s sugar refining industry to flourish during the 2nd half of the 18th century.66
The second site is from 2012 and was part of a large scale archaeological excavation preceding the construction of a library. The terrain, de Waalse krook within the historical centre of Ghent, has a strong historical connection with the tanning-industry.67 In the filling of a cellar of one of
the buildings (at the Grote Huidevettershoek) on the terrain, 27 ceramic fragments were found. From these fragments, a minimum number of two sugar-cones and two syrup-pots were identified (based on rim fragments). Apart from the rim fragments, six syrup-pot bottoms were found as well. This increases the total minimum number of pots from two to six.68
Historically it is known that François Bracq started a sugar refinery at this location in 1798, in 1801 he expanded with a second location at
the Coupure. The family Bracq is also known from another sugar refinery which they started in 1777 at the nearby Sint-Jansvest. Normally these kind of objects are dated to the 18th century, but based on the historical information the material from the Waalse Krook is dated 1800-1850.69
Kampen
In the region of Kampen, sugar-related ceramics have been discovered during an excavation in 2005 carried out by the Archaeological Research and Consultancy (ARC bv). The excavation was prompted by the expansion of the harbour, which required the complete removal of a house platform. The platform was located at the Haatlanderijk in Kampen. Although we know that house platforms in this region were constructed from the 12th century onwards70, the first building on this exact location
appears around 1600. The building functioned as manor for the local elite until it appears on the
rent-list from 1654, from this year onwards the building is believed to be in use as an inn.71 The
excavation revealed a lot of ceramic material from the early modern period. At least five syrup-jars were identified among the finds: one was dated 1575-1700, two were dated 1625-1650 and the last two were dated 1625-1725 (based on context).72
66 Laleman 1985, pp 20-23 67 Vermeiren 2013, pp 159-160 68 Interview Maarten Bekers 69 Interview Maarten Bekers 70 Jager 2004, pp 105 71 Blom 2007, pp 13-18
Leidschendam
Until the late 1980’s, sawmill ‘De Salamander’ used to be located at the Schoorlaan in Leidschendam. The predecessor of the mill was built in 1643 and the mill itself in 1773. At the end of the 1980s, due to city expansion, the mill was deconstructed and moved to a location 100 meters to the northeast.73
The former location of the sawmill was studied in 1996 by the local archaeological amateur group (ALVW). During the study the amateurs encountered a layer of city waste which contained a lot of materials (mainly clay pipes). The clay pipes were used to date the layer: the earliest pipes were from the 2nd half of the 17th century but most were dated 18th century.74 Among the other finds there
was one syrup-jar. The jar was of the type r-kan-74 and was dated 1625-1675 based on similar finds from Amsterdam.75 Considering the context in which the jar was found a more appropriate dating for
this object is 1650-1800.
Maastricht
73 https://molendatabase.nl/nederland/molen.php?nummer=1040
74 https://www.awlv.nl/onderzoek-van-de-gevonden-kleipijpen-rondom-molen-de-salamander/ 75 Interview R. Zalmé (ALVW)
Figure 14. Two syrup jars (find no. 56 and 58) from the excavation in Kampen. (Photo by L. de Jong)
For this region, I received a picture from the fragments of (a minimum number of) four sugar cones that had been traced in their databases (Fig. 15). Unfortunately there was no additional information available regarding the context of these objects and there are no publications regarding sugar-refining in Maastricht.76
Rotterdam
The municipal archaeological service from Rotterdam (BOOR) has one syrup-pot in their depot (Fig. 16). The pot was found during an excavation in 1990 (location: Rotterdam Spoortunnel Hoogstraat). The pot is dated roughly 17th-18th century due to the pot being found inside the filling of the River Rotte, among other finds ranging in date from 1300 to 1870.
The Rotterdam Museum collection has a large number of sugar-related ceramics: 95 syrup-pots, one syrup-jar and two sugar-cones.77 From the 95 syrup-pots, ten were very squatty in shape (Fig. 17). Although these ten objects are surely syrup-pots, their shape is unlike that of any other syrup-pot found in the Netherlands. According to the descriptions, the syrup-jar was found in the river Waal and is dated 1700-1750. For the cones and pots there is no information regarding context, four of the pots are dated 1700-1875 while the two cones and 91 other pots are dated 1700-1850. The lack of context can be explained by the fact that the objects were discovered, most likely not by
76 Interview Sjoerd Aarts
Figure 15. Thirteen fragments of sugar-cones from Maastricht, the minimum number of objects is four based on bottom fragments. (Picture by Sjoerd Aarts)
archaeologists, during post-war rebuilding efforts in the city.78 Due to the lack of context, contextual dating is not possible and therefore I believe that the pots and cones can better be dated
typologically: 1600-1850.
Apart from the Rotterdam Museum, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has two syrup-jars in their collection.79 Even though the jars are not recognized and described as such, their shape, size, glazing on the inside and dating (both 1600-1700) , make clear that these objects are indeed
syrup-jars. The
lack of context of the objects from Rotterdam make it hard to determine when the town’s industry started. Fortunately, the historical sources reveal that there were already three refiners active in Rotterdam in 1594. It was Reynier Maertensz who was the owner of two refineries (‘Het
Moriaenshoofd’ en ‘Suykerhuis’ at the Moriansteeg), Pieter Claesz. Winter, who had a refinery at the Kalverstraat, and Pieter Michielsz. Van der Heyde, who owned a refinery at the Hoofdsteeg.80
Tiel
For the region of Tiel there are four objects known that can be associated with the sugar industry. A sugar-cone that was found during an excavation in 2013, about 4 kilometres to the northeast of the historical centre of Tiel. During the excavation a mound was discovered with traces of a farm from the Modern Age. The cone was found inside a pit located on the mound, among 19th century materials. A
78 Interview Cees Herweijer (municipal depot Rotterdam) 79 Inventory numbers: F-4089 and F-2713
80 http://rjb.x-cago.com/GARJB/1918/12/19181231/GARJB-19181231-0095/story.pdf
Figure 17. One of the syrup-pots with a very distinctive, compact and squatty shape (inventory no. 3180). Photo from Rotterdam Museum.
Figure 16. The syrup-pot from the BOOR depot. (Photo by Cees Herweijer)
map from 1824 reveals a haystack and a barn on the location of the pit and therefore it is thought that the cone was (secondary) used as a mousetrap. The cone is dated 1800-1850 based on its context and is seen as an indication of contact between Amsterdam and the farm.81
Another object, a syrup-pot, was located in the office of a local amateur archaeologist club. Unfortunately the only thing known regarding the context of the object is that it is from Buurmalsen. Since Buurmalsen is also a small agrarian settlement, it is likely the pot was used for something similar as the cone from Tiel.
Finally there are two syrup-pots82 in the collection of the Flipje en Streekmuseum Tiel.
Unfortunately, any information regarding their context is missing.
Utrecht
For the region of Utrecht there are three mentions of sugar-related ceramics in the databases. examples of redware sugar-related ceramic fragments. One of the mentions is a Westerwald ceramic pot that might have been used to store sugar, but is not relevant for my study since it is not linked to sugar-production itself. The other two objects are a syrup-jars found during excavations at the Jan Meijenstraat in 1979-1981 and the Nieuwekade in 2001. The syrup-jar from the Niewekade is dated 1600-1650 but apart from this there is no additional information available about the objects.83
Apart from these objects, ‘some fragments’ of sugar-cones84 have been found at the
lucasbolwerk in the context of a sugar refinery from the 1st half of the 18th century.85 These fragments
have just not been incorporated in this study since I was unable to receive any additional information regarding the material.
Walcheren regio
For this region there are five sugar-cones registered in The Zeeuws Archeologisch Depot. Four of the objects were not recognized and thus not listed as sugar-cones.86 Unfortunately, due to the objects
coming from a very old collection (Koningklijk Zeeuws Genootschap der Wetenschappen), there is
81 Brink 2014, pp 50, 77
82 Inventory numbers: 00682 and 00676 83 Interview Edwin van Hagen
84 Mark 2002, pp 165 85 Dielemans 2017, pp 11
little information regarding their context. What is remarkable is that the four cones all have traces of barnacles attached to them (Fig. 18). This at least suggests that the objects have been found in a maritime context.
The last sugar-cone87 is was found by an amateur at the Dorpsweg 34 in Wissenkerke. The
object was described in a 1993 journal.88 The journal stated that it is unknown whether sugar-ceramic
production existed in the area but there were several sugar-cones and syrup-pots discovered earlier during a study on the drowned city of Reimerswaal.
Zaanstad
For the region of the Zaanstreek, sugar-related ceramic material was found during an excavation in 1998/1999 at the Hogendijk in Zaandam. Here five slipways were discovered dating from 1590-1630. Upon the slipways a layer of waste was placed to raise the ground level. Inside the layers of waste
87 (Inventory number: 2334-1)
88 https://tijdschriftenbankzeeland.nl/issue/arc/1993-01-01/edition/0/page/238?query=Pokken %20Gehad&sort=relevance
Figure 18. One of the cones from the ZAD collection, the barnacles attacked to it are clearly visible. (inventory number: 790-27)
hundreds of ceramic fragments have been found, including sugar related ceramics mixed with parts of flowerpot. The sugar related material consists of mainly rim- and wall fragments of sugar cones but also fragments of syrup pots were discovered. From the flowerpots a lot of rim and wall fragments were excavated. The minimum number of sugar-related ceramic objects is 15 (13 cones and 2 pots), based on rim and bottom fragments. The fact that de sugar related earthenware was mixed with fragments of flower pots, that it looked if the objects were never used and the fact that very little fragments could be fitted together suggest that this material is waste material from a pottery where rough-red earthenware ceramics, like sugar pots, sugar cones and flowerpots were made. Since the layer was found on top of the slipway, the material has been dated 1630-1800. In the Zaanstreek potteries have never existed so the waste material must have come from outside the region. Since historical evidence for sugar-refining activity in this region is also lacking, the ceramic fragments are thought to be from the nearby city of Amsterdam which had a lot of potteries and a lot of sugar refineries.89 In other nearby towns like Haarlem, Alkmaar of Purmerend potteries have been known to
exist but sugar refineries have not thus it is not likely that the waste material comes from these towns.
In the village of Wormer (north of Zaanstad, within the area of jurisdiction of the Zaanstad municipal archaeologist), four syrup jars (Fig. 19) are known from an amateur archaeologist (Mr. Götz)
collection. Not much is known about the context in which these jars were found. All we know is that
they were found in Wormer between 1970 and 1990.90
Zutphen
The region of Zutphen is familiar with the syrup-jars and pots I presented and they have surely been found here in the past. Unfortunately, just like the region of Deventer, these objects were not recognized as such and as a result they cannot be traced back in the databases or the archaeological reports.91
89 Interview Piet Kleij 90 Interview Piet Kleij
Figure 19. Four syrup-jars from Wormer, found between 1970 and 1990 (Photo by Nora Leijen – Museum Boymans-van-Beuningen).
Chapter 3: Comparison and interpretation
For this chapter I will divide the Republic into six regions based on historical provinces (the coastal region of Holland and Zeeland, the northern Republic, the eastern Republic, the southern Republic, the central Republic and the coastal region of Flanders). This way the regions become historically meaningful. The data I generated in Chapter 2 will, per town, be placed in one of those regions. The regions then will be compared with each other. The patterns that appear will then be interpreted and, if possible, explained by using historical and archaeological information.
