Jerome S. Handler, The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities,Charlottesville, & The Center for Archaeological Investigations, SouthernIllinois University
In the early 1970s, archaeological research in several plantations addresseda variety of issues in the sociocultural life of early Africans and theirdescendants in Barbados, once England's wealthiest and most populous NewWorld colony; this research ultimately focused on the Newton plantationslave cemetery. Over the years, the Newton research has been extensivelyreported, and is well known to scholars of the early African Diaspora inthe Caribbean 2. Although the 104 burials recovered from Newton representa small percentage of the total number interred at the cemetery, there wasa diverse artifactual inventory that included coffin hardware, clay pipes,pottery, metal jewelry and knives, metal and bone buttons, and many differenttypes of glass beads. Some of these artifacts are unique to New World Africandescendant sites (see Handler 1997).
This paper focuses on two virtually identical small glass objects ofapparent European manufacture. Each was found associated with a differentburial. Although the objects were excavated in May 1973 and published in1978 (see Handler and Lange 1978: 119-122, 306 for more details on the objectsand their burial contexts), as far as I am currently aware no similar objectshave been reported from other African descendant sites.
Both objects are of translucent glass that, relative to modern glass,is unusually heavy or hard; they are virtually identical in size, shape,weight, and number of facets. Roughly conical in shape, they have circularflat bases and faceted sides (Fig. 1). The facets (six in the center, 12on the outside) are irregularly and crudely shaped. Under magnification(100x), they show no signs of grinding or chipping, and air bubbles suggestthey were pressed or mold-made. The objects are very small (3.6 mm highand about 8.0 mm in diameter at the base) and light (one weighs 0.3368 grams,the other 0.3813 grams).
Figure 1: Two identical glass objects were recovered from burial contextsat Newton Plantation. (Check Back Later)
The objects were associated with two different, albeit roughly contemporaneous,coffinless burials located relatively close to one another in the same 3-metersquare excavation unit (see Handler and Lange 1978: 117-123). The burialswere probably interred sometime in the 18th century.
Burial 60 was an older female. When her leg bones were removed, a 4.5cm pipe stem section was found close to the right knee. One of the glassobjects was found next to this pipe stem (see Handler and Lange 1978:119,fig. 13). The pipe stem fragment was clearly not the pipe's original mouthpiece,and was not attached to a bowl or additional stem fragments; that is, nowhole pipe was associated with Burial 60-- as occurred in the other glassobject described below. Although the Burial 60 object appears to have beenclosely associated with the pipe fragment, the fragment may have been disturbedafter interment; thus, the object's association with the pipe stem may havebeen accidental. However, the other glass object was more certainly associatedwith a pipe.
Burial 55 was an older male interred with two complete long-stemmed whiteclay pipes, dating roughly 1710-1750 (based on bore-stem diameter; medianbowl date was 1705; a maker's mark suggested 1700-1740; see Handler andLange 1978: 123, 255, 270). One of the pipes was found over the chest, theother by the pelvis; a glass object was found lying, apex down, exactlyat the mouthpiece end of the pipe by the pelvis (Figs. 2 and 3; also, seeHandler and Lange 1978: 120, fig. 14; 259, fig. 34). Both the pipe and glassobject were apparently undisturbed since the original interment.
Figure 2: Plan indicating location of the glass object associated withBurial 55. (Check Back Later)
Figure 3: In situ location of glass object, Burial 55. (Check BackLater)
Although the objects were almost certainly manufactured in Europe, theiroriginal function is uncertain. European-manufactured glass beads were associatedwith both burials: Burial 60 had about 290 of various types around the neck,while 8 were found with Burial 55. But the glass objects were not beads;they were not perforated and were not associated with other beads.
Ivor Noel Hume (personal communication, Oct. 1975) provisionally suggestedthe objects may have "been from an item of paste jewelry and wouldhave originally been backed with metallic foil or perhaps by colored paper.[They] could come from a finger ring or possibly from a shoe buckle"--perhaps dating from the second half of the 18th century.
In January 1998, over twenty years later, several curators in the Departmentof Metalwork at London's Victoria and Albert Museum (Clare Phillips, pers.comm., Jan. 1998) gave the following opinion after personally examiningone of the objects : "The object is clearly shaped to imitate a rosecut diamond. It is therefore of a kind found in the jewelry--perhaps a buckleor brooch--of the late 17th to late 18th century . . . . It is odd thatno trace of a mount has survived." The curators had "no meansof dating it more precisely," and "although England was famousfor making glass stones for jewelry, so too was Paris." Since Barbadoshad such an intimate long-standing trade and colonial relationship withEngland/Britain, it is assumed the objects are of English/British, not French,origin.
How the enslaved at Newton originally obtained these objects is unknown,and neither burial had associated rings, shoe buckles, brooches, etc.; thus,the use of the objects was secondary. The secondary use of European-manufactureditems recovered from African descendant sites is now well known in his-toricalarchaeology, and some of these artifacts may have been modified by slavesand used in their own cultural contexts, perhaps following West Africanpatterns (cf. Handler 1997:122 and references cited therein; Orser 1994;Wilkie 1997). Although the two objects were closely associated with claypipes (one case more certain than the other), there is no historical orarchaeological evidence from Barbados or elsewhere that the objects hadany functional relationship to pipes or pipe smoking. It is therefore morelikely that they were placed with the burials because of their personalvalue to the decedents and/or had some other role in slave mortuary beliefs.However, from the early 1970s - when the objects were excavated and originallyanalyzed - to the present, I cannot offer an explanation or suggestion fortheir role in slave culture: the use or meaning of these objects among Barbadianslaves remains problematical.
I bring these objects to the attention of this Newsletter's readershipin the hope that someday similar objects may be found at other archaeologicalsites or contexts; perhaps with a wider data base we will be able to resolveanother small enigma in the lives of early Africans and their descendantsin the Americas.
Notes
1: A version of this paper was presented at the 1998 SHAmeeting in Atlanta. In the 1970s, Frederick Lange played a crucial rolein the archaeological research strategies and data interpretation whileCrawford Blakeman and Robert Riordan actually excavated the objects discussedhere; I rely on their field notes for descriptive materials on the objectsin situ. Jen Ho Fang (X-Ray and Optics Laboratory, Southern Illinois University),using a refractive index determination, initially identified the glass compositionand weighed the objects, and John Richardson (Office of Scientific Photography,Southern Illinois University) provided additional details through microscopicanalysis. I am also grateful to Clare Phillips, Richard Edgcumbe, AnthonyNorth, and Tessa Murdoch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London for theirassistance in identification. One of the objects is in the Barbados Museum(with other Newton artifacts); the other is in my possession, pending furtherinvestigation, and subsequent delivery to the Museum.
2: Principally, Handler and Lange 1978; more recent publications,which cite many of the earlier ones in archaeology, history, and bioanthropology,include Handler 1996, 1997.
References Cited
Handler, Jerome S.
1996 A Prone Burial from a Plantation Slave Cemetery in Barbados, WestIndies: Possible Evidence for an African-Type Witch or other NegativelyViewed Person. Historical Archaeology 30(3): 113-119.
1997 An African-Type Healer/Diviner and His Grave Goods: A Burial froma Plantation Slave Cemetery in Barbados, West Indies. International Journalof Historical Archaeology 1(2): 91-130.
Handler, Jerome S., and Frederick W. Lange
1978 Plantation Slavery in Barbados: An Archaeological and HistoricalInvestigation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Orser, Charles E., Jr.
1994 The Archaeology of African-American Slave Religion in the AntebellumSouth. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 4:33-45.
Wilkie, Laurie A.
1997 Secret and Sacred: Contextualizing the Artifacts of African-AmericanMagic and Religion. Historical Archaeology 31(4):81-106.
Be WARNED: If you have not paid your 1998 subscription, this will beyour last issue of the newsletter. The mailing label indicates the lastyear paid according to my records. CHECK IT! Be sure to contact me ASAPconcerning any discrepancies.
Thanks for the words of encouragement and support so many of you haveoffered in writing or in person. Keep the submissions coming. Look for Issue21 in May.
Chris Espenshade, TRC Garrow Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA
In a series of recent reports on plantation sites on the Wando Neck areaof coastal South Carolina, Wayne and Dickinson (1990, 1996a, 1996b, and1996c) have presented Mean Ceramic Date (MCD) calculations (after South1972, 1977) that include a date of 1780 for Colonoware. This date is supportedby a vague reference to Anthony (1986) that Wayne and Dickinson contendplaces the production span for South Carolina colonoware at 1730-1830. Themidpoint of which, 1780, is being used as the mean date for this ware incalculating MCDs. Beyond possibly misrepresenting Anthony's comments, thisapproach would appear to be fatally flawed at several levels. It is arguedhere that there cannot be any meaningful mean date for Colonoware, and thatthe use of Colonoware in arriving at MCDs is potentially misleading.
The concept of an MCD, as applied to European ceramics, is based on thefollowing premises (South 1977):
An MCD approach should not be used for Colonoware because points 1-4do not apply to this ware. The presence and frequency of Colonoware on aspecific slave row, for example, will be dependent on a number of factorsincluding presence of a potter, access to materials, implicit permissionof the planter to produce or use Colonoware, availability of suitable substitutes,planter concern over slave hygiene, degree of acculturation, and degreeto which African lifeways (subsistence, healing, religion) were followed.These factors did not change through time on a single schedule shared byall African Americans. Each individual community had its own productiontrajectory. For example, recent excavations at three slave rows in BeaufortCounty, South Carolina, shows Colonoware production continued after 1830(and possibly until the Civil War), on some slave rows (Eubanks et al. 1994;Kennedy et al. 1994; Pietak et al. 1998). The mean date for Colonoware andits use in calculating MCDs, as proposed and applied by Wayne and Dickinson,should be abandoned as misleading and uninformative.
References Cited
Anthony, Ronald W.
1986 Colonwares. In Home Upriver: Rural Life on Daniels Island, BerkeleyCounty, South Carolina, edited by M. A. Zierden, L. M. Drucker, andJ. Calhoun. Report prepared for the South Carolina Department of Highwaysand Public Transportation. Carolina Archaeological Services and the CharlestonMuseum, Charleston.
Eubanks, Elsie I., Christopher T. Espenshade, Marian Roberts, and LindaKennedy
Data Recovery Investigations of 38BU791, Bonny Shore Slave Row, SpringIsland, Beaufort County, South Carolina. Report prepared for the SpringIsland Company. Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta.
Ferguson, Leland
1992 Uncommon Ground: Archaeology and Early African America, 1650-1800.Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
Kennedy, Linda, Marian D. Roberts, and Christopher T. Espenshade
1994 Archaeological Data Recovery at Colleton River Plantation (38BU647),Beaufort County, South Carolina: A Study of an Early Nineteenth CenturySlave Settlement. Report prepared for Colleton River Company, L. P.Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta.
Pietak, Lynn, Christopher T. Espenshade, and Linda Kennedy
1998 Isolation and Slave Rows: Archaeological Data Recovery at 38BU5,Spring Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina. Report prepared forthe Spring Island Company. TRC Garrow Associates, Inc., Atlanta.
South, Stanley
1972 Evolution and Horizon as Revealed in Ceramic Analysis in HistoricalArchaeology. The Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers 6:71-116.
1977 Method and Theory in Historical Archaeology. Academic Press,New York.
Wayne, Lucy B., and Martin F. Dickinson
1990 Four Men's Ramble: Archaeology in the Wand Neck, Charleston County,South Carolina. Report prepared for the Dunes West Development Corporation.Southarc, Inc., Gainesville, Florida.
1996a Starvegut Hall Plantation, Charleston County, South Carolina.Report prepared for the Dunes West Development Corporation. Southarc, Inc.,Gainesville, Florida.
1996b The Parsonage Tract, Charleston County, South Carolina.Report prepared for the Dunes West Development Corporation. Southarc, Inc.,Gainesville, Florida.
1996c Ruins of an Old Settlement: Archaeological Data Recovery at38CH1082, Charleston County, South Carolina. Report prepared for theDunes West Development Corporation. Southarc, Inc., Gainesville, Florida.
John P. McCarthy, Greenhorne and O'Mara, Inc., Greenbelt, MD
While the city of Alexandria, Virginia is well-known for its programof public participation urban archaeology, the program's long history ofinterest in African-American archaeology is less known. The city's archaeologystaff began exploration African American life at residential sites in 1978,and over the last 20 years, a total of 25 homes of free blacks, two slaveresidences, and three manufacturing sites where most of the laborers wereAfrican American have been investigated.
That Alexandria archaeology is largely African-American archaeology shouldcome as no surprise. Alexandria, like most southern cities, had a considerableAfrican-American population, both free and enslaved. Freemen, in particular,were a significant part of the population: by 1845, they numbered 1,627and by 1860 half of the city's African-American residents were free.
This exhibit reflects the wide range of material circumstances withinthe African-American community. Some of the most striking artifacts exhibitedinclude a Chinese export<!--plsfield:description--> porcelain latticefruit basket and a willow-pattern transfer-printed platter. These were amongthe materials recovered from the home of a former slave named Harriet Williams.Williams lived on South St. Asaph Street from 1849 until at least 1861.Other materials recovered from a brick-lined shaft feature at the site includeda wine glass, an ink bottle, a clay tobacco pipe, a porcelain candlestick,and the ornament from a brass bedpost.
Based on the apparent wealth this assemblage reflects it has been speculatedthat Williams may have enjoyed a warm relationship with her owner, SamuelLindsey, who lived just three doors away. Williams seems to have receivedcostly hand-me-downs as fashions changed.
In marked contrast, artifacts from the nearby home Moses and Nancy Hanless,who were free blacks, were much more modest. Ceramics from that site includeda plain white tea cup and a white pitcher. In addition to domestic materials,the exhibit also includes artifacts from a sugar house, pottery, and glassworks.
The exhibit is presented in cases around the perimeter of the city'susually busy public laboratory facility which is housed in the Torpedo FactoryArt Center on the Potomac River in Old Town. Here most Saturdays and Sundaysthe city's dedicated volunteers can be found hard at work processing anddocumenting collections while they await warmer weather and fieldwork opportunities.
The exhibit, which is expected to run through at least March 31st, providesa excellent introduction to the goals and methods of historical archaeology.Its focus on poorly documented African Americans makes a strong case forthe archaeology of minority and disenfranchised communities.
John P. McCarthy, Greenhorne and O'Mara, Inc., Greenbelt, MD
Organized and chaired by Ywone Edwards-Ingram of Colonial Williamsburg,this workshop featured summaries of current research by several speakersfollowed by a lively and stimulating discussion.
Jo Anne Bowen noted the persistent and conservative nature of foodways.As much as 40 percent of African-American assemblages are wild, with lotsof fish represented. Yet variability can be seen reflecting specific choicessuch as small fish over large fish.
Elizabeth Reitz discussed evidence for a "cultural filter"on the natural environment. Humans are not random scavengers even thoughwe are omnivores. Many ethnic/cultural differences are manifest in the contextof food consumption/preparation behavior.
Michael Blakey discussed aspects of physical anthropology that can reflectnutritional stress. Diet can also effect bone and dental chemistry.
Steve Morozowski pled for more emphasis on environmental reconstruction,including pollen and floral studies. Small differences in these indicatorscan reflect major variability in the nature and quality of past environments.
Barbara Heath also mentioned the importance of the local environment,but she focussed more on the consumer aspects of foodways: slaves made useof many wild and grown foodstuffs as a source of cash for use in the marketeconomy. This money was only rarely used for meat; it was more often usedfor whiskey, sugar, spices, and coffee.
Amy Young briefly summarized ongoing research at Seragasso Plantation.One of her students, Michael Tuma, has been involved in a study of cooperativehunting in a contemporary community at the site. This male activity wascontrasted to female gardens.
The discussion made clear that foodways are an important area of researchabout which much remains to be learned.
Timothy E. Baumann, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
A archaeological field school was jointly operated by the Missouri ArchaeologicalSociety (MAS) and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) at the BrownLodge/Caldwell Pottery Site (23SA451) in Arrow Rock, Missouri between July14 and August 8, 1997. The field school operated as a public archaeologicalproject in cooperation with the Friends of Arrow Rock and the Arrow RockState Historic Site and was partially funded by a grant from the MissouriDepartment of Natural Resources.
Arrow Rock is a Missouri River town located in Saline County, Missouri.Saline County is situated in west-central Missouri in Missouri's "LittleDixie" region, named for its inhabitant's southern heritage and Democraticviews and the diverse agricultural system which operated during the antebellumperiod with enslaved African-Americans. After the Civil War, many of theseenslaved African-Americans fled their masters and moved into towns likeArrow Rock to start their own segregated communities.
African-Americans settled the north side of Arrow Rock along Morgan andnorth Second streets. The Brown Lodge/Caldwell Pottery site is situatedon Block #30, located on Morgan Street between Sixth and Seventh streets.The history of Block #30 includes five components: a stoneware pottery factory(1854-1870s), three African-American residences (1882-1950s), an African-AmericanOdd Fellows lodge (1891-1900), an African-American Masonic lodge (1881-1931),and an African-American restaurant and bar (1881-1950s).
The 1997 field school continued archaeological work started in the 1996MAS field school (Baumann 1997a, 1997b, 1997c, 1998; Baumann and Krause1997). The 1997 excavation goals were to evaluate the archaeological resourceson Block #30, assist in the restoration of the Brown Lodge as an African-Americanheritage center, and determine if Arrow Rock's listing on the National Registerof Historic Places should be amended to include its African-American heritage.The 1997 field school excavated 12 3 x 3 foot units and 89 posthole tests,recording seven new cultural features and collecting 424 bags of artifacts.
Excavations and surface mapping recorded numerous features associatedwith both the pottery factory and the African-American occupation. Featuresassociated with the pottery factory included the remains of a circular,downdraft kiln and a brick foundation interpreted as a pottery workshop.Features associated with the African-American occupation included structuralfeatures linked to both the Brown Lodge and a residence on lot 121. Limestonepiers and a midden were identified as the remains of a two story additionbehind the Brown Lodge. Limestone piers, a cement sidewalk, a cistern, andtwo cellars were recorded and partially excavated of the lot 121 house.
Artifacts collected from the 1997 excavations are currently being processedand analyzed in the Historical Archaeology Laboratory at the Universityof Tennessee-Knoxville. Deb Krause, a graduate student in Art History andArchaeology at the University of Missouri-Columbia is writing her master'sthesis on the stoneware pottery component of this site. Tim Baumann, a doctoralstudent in Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, is writing his dissertationon Block #30's African-American heritage. Initial interpretations of artifactsand features associated with the African-American component are describedbelow:
The ceramic assemblage collected during the 1997 field season came fromtwo general proveniences; the lot 121 house site and the Brown Lodge. Ceramicsaround the lot 121 house were plentiful including decorated whitewares,porcelain, ironstone, and salt-glazed, slipped, and bristol-glazed stoneware.The most unique ceramic pieces from the house site included a porcelainmustache cup, and an ironstone plate with a monogram "B" standingfor the Bush family who occupied this site between 1903 1941. Identifiedmakers' marks all date after 1890. Most of the house site ceramics werecollected from a cistern and a root cellar behind the house.
Very few ceramics were collected from the Brown lodge. The Brown Lodgeis a two story frame structure with a Masonic hall on the second floor anda restaurant and bar on the first. The Masons were active on this site between1881 and 1931. The restaurant and bar was in operation into the 1950s. Thefew ceramic sherds found around the lodge suggests that first floor establishmentwas used more as a bar than a restaurant or that meals were not served onor prepared in ceramic dishes.
Construction materials collected or observed from this site includedbrick, shingles, plaster, vinyl flooring, and limestone piers. In the 1880s,when African-Americans began to purchase their own property and build homesin Arrow Rock, they had little money to buy construction materials, consequently,many of the first African-American houses were constructed of scrap or recycledmaterials. These houses were generally constructed of wood frame, on a limestonepier foundation, with a central brick chimney. The Brown Lodge, a communalstructure built in 1881, was likely constructed with better materials thanmost houses. The Brown Lodge is constructed of a wood frame, cut nails,a continuous limestone foundation, and a brick chimney.
Brick concentrations and limestone piers were visible around both thestanding Brown lodge and the lot 121 house site. The brick and limestoneconcentration behind the lodge was identified as a razed two story rearaddition that housed a kitchen on the first floor and an external stairwayand second story entrance to the Masonic Hall. Some of the brick from therear concentration had heavy salt glazing suggesting that bricks were recycledfrom the earlier pottery kiln that was found archaeologically adjacent tothe Brown Lodge.
Examples from the lot 121 house site varied greatly and included soda,whiskey, wine, medicine, milk, and perfume bottles. Glass containers collectedfrom the Brown Lodge included mostly whiskey bottles, shot glasses, andtumblers. Again, the high frequency of alcohol related glass artifacts suggeststhat the lodge's first floor was used more as a bar than as a restaurant.
Faunal remains from the Brown Lodge include both wild and domestic speciesrepresenting two activity sets: 1) human food consumption and 2) non-humanscavenging. Oral history of the Brown Lodge states that pork, fish, rabbit,and chicken were served in the first floor restaurant. The human food consumptionis represented by carp, the most common, followed by pig and cattle bones.The remaining animal bones of opossum, rabbit, bird, and mole have heavygnawing and have been attributed to small carnivorous scavenging (i.e. dog,cat, raccoon, opossum). While some of these bones may have been scavengedsubsequent to human consumption of the meat, no cut marks were identifiedon these bones.
The best preserved floral remains came form the cellar fill behind thelot 121 house site. A cursory analysis identified corncobs, peach pits,and charred wood from cooking and heating.
Hinges, furniture tacks, tin cans, tools, wire, and indeterminate rustedmasses were collected from both the lot 121 house site and the Brown Lodge.The most interesting metal objects include an abundance of tin cans andpaint can openers collected from the cistern and cellar behind the lot 121house. Oral history and census data indicate that Franklin Bush, who livedon this property from 1903-1931, was a painter, plasterer, and wallpaperhanger. These tin cans, some still containing paint, and painter's keysare likely related to Mr. Bush's occupation.
A general list of objects found in this category include: buttons, marbles,lead seals, glass beads, a chandelier crystal, pipe fragments, and keys.
Buttons collected from the rear lodge midden when were diverse when comparedto buttons from other areas excavated on Block #30. These buttons were variedand represented coat, shirt, fraternal, and military types manufacturedfrom metal, cloth, wood, bone, plastic, and porcelain material. A blackplastic fraternal button with a crescent moon and star is the only artifactdirectly associated with the Masonic hall. A World War I general army servicebutton also was collected. This button may have belonged to WWI veteranLewis Hodges, who is buried in Arrow Rock's African-American cemetery. Thislarge button assemblage may be explained by patrons losing buttons whileremoving their coats upon entering the establishment. Recovery of a thimblealso suggests the manufacture or repair of clothing in the kitchen or onthe back porch.
Lead seals embossed with "Boonville, MO" also were collectedaround the Brown Lodge. These seals have been associated with packages ordeliveries made to the lodge from Boonville, Missouri. At this time, weare unsure of these packages' contents.
The chandelier crystal and glass beads were found around the lot 121house site. Chandelier crystals and quartz crystals have previously beenfound on African-American sites, particularly in slave quarters. Similarchandelier crystals were recovered by Amy Young from slave quarter rootcellars on the Locust Grove plantation in Kentucky (Young 1994, 1995, 1996,1997). Young interpreted these crystals along with perforated coins, beads,and "X" marked artifacts (marble, spoon) as religious or ideologicallysignificant objects to African-Americans. These objects were often wornas pendants for good luck charms or to ward off evil.
One blue and one yellow bead were also recovered from the lot 121 housesite. Blue beads and the color blue have also been associated with African-Americans,and, like crystals, were supposed to ward off evil spirits (Stine et al.1996). Often doorways and windows were outlined in blue to keep spiritsfrom entering the house. Perhaps significantly, the standing Brown Lodge'sfront door and windows are outlined in blue paint.
Investigations of Arrow Rock's African-American heritage at the BrownLodge/Caldwell Pottery Site reflects African-American struggles for freedomand equal rights after slavery in Missouri. This struggle is imbedded inthe first property, houses, and personal objects bought and used outsidethe context of slavery
Future plans include a MAS/UTK field school on Block #30 and along northSecond Street in May 1998. Excavations on Block #30 will concentrate onthe Brown Lodge to better define its architectural integrity for its eventualrestoration. North Second Street contained African-American structures ofseven households, a church, a schoolhouse, and a bar. Investigations atSecond Street will include mapping of surface features and posthole testingto expand our knowledge of the entire African-American community and ultimatelyamend Arrow Rock's National Register Listing to include its African-Americanheritage. More information on this program is found on page 11 of this issueof A-A A.
References Cited
Baumann, Timothy E.
1997a The 1997 MAS Archaeological Field School at the Brown Lodge/CaldwellPottery Site. Missouri Archaeological Society Quarterly 14(1):8-13.
1997b The Brown Lodge/Caldwell Pottery Site, Arrow Rock, Missouri. African-AmericanArchaeology 18:3-4.
1997c The Brown Lodge/Caldwell Pottery Site (23SA451): A Public ArchaeologicalProject in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Paper presented at the Plains AnthropologicalConference, Boulder Colorado.
1998A Cornerstone of the Community: Excavations of an African-AmericanMasonic Lodge in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Paper presented at the Societyfor Historical Archaeology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Baumann, Timothy E. and Deb Krause
1997 The 1996 Missouri Archaeological Field School: Excavations atthe Brown Lodge/Caldwell Pottery Site (23SA451) in Arrow Rock, Missouri.Paper presented at the Missouri Archaeological Society Missouri Associationfor Professional Archaeologists, Columbia, Missouri.
Stine, Linda, Melanie Cabak, and Mark Groover
1996 Blue Beads as African-American Cultural Symbols. Historical Archaeology30(3):49-75.
Young, Amy L.
1994 Change and Continuity in African-Derived Religious Practiceson an Upland South Plantation. Paper presented at the 1994 joint SoutheasternArchaeological Conferences and Midwest Archaeological Conference, Lexington,Kentucky.
1995 Risk and Material Conditions of African-American Slaves at LocustGrove: An Archaeological Perspective. Ph.D. Dissertation, Departmentof Anthropology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
1996 Archaeological Evidence of African-Styled Ritual and Healing Practicesin the Upland South. Tennessee Anthropologist 21(2):139-155.
1997 Risk Management Strategies Among African-American Slaves at LocustGrove Plantation. International Journal of Historical Archaeology1(1):5-37.
Internet for Africanists and Others Interested in Africa. (Roger Pfister,1996) is a useful and clearly written 140 page guide. Available for $11.00(US) from Basler Afrika Bibliographien, CH-4001, Postfach 2037, Switzerland.
An African-American Cemetery in South Jersey is discussed at http: //loki.stockton.edu/~whitew/left_cemetery.
The Scout Report for the Social Sciences presents information on researchmaterials, conferences, etc. of wide interest. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci. This site recently recognizedthe web version of A-AA! Issues from Spring 1994 can be found onthis site.
Deborah L. Rotman, Archaeological Resources Management Service, BallState University
The agricultural history of east central Indiana is unique in that manyof the first pioneers were African-American farmers. Many Quakers also migratedto this region, often bringing with them recently manumitted or fugitiveslaves as well as free persons of color. Antebellum African-American andQuaker farm settlement in Randolph have recently become the focus of archaeologicaland historical investigations which are examining the dynamic relationshipwithin and between these cultural groups.
Indiana was admitted to the union as a free state in 1816 and a significantmigration of African-Americans and Quakers from southeastern states soonfollowed. Settlement in this period in Randolph County included the communitiesof Greenville, Cabin Creek, and Snow Hill. African-American and Quaker settlersassisted fugitive slaves on their way north and cooperated in the establishmentof a school. These communities seem to have largely disappeared in the 1860s,and only the school building, the Union Literary Institute, is the onlyextant structure associated with these communities.
To date, investigations of these communities have included primary sourceresearch and a reconnaissance level survey of nearly 1,000 acres. Thirty-threehistoric sites were identified and 14 of these appeared to date before 1850.All of the early historic sites were associated with African-American landowners.
Some of the assemblages recovered from these sites reflected characteristicscommonly associated with rural African-American sites. The assemblages includeonly small numbers of artifacts (e.g. N=20), and those recovered were ofmodest cost, including aqua glass, undecorated whiteware, utilitarian stoneware,and architectural elements, suggesting only brief occupation by poor tenants.
Other sites appeared to represent relatively wealthy individuals andfamilies. These assemblages consisted of greater quantities of material(N=130) and diversity of artifacts of greater cost including an array oftransfer-printed and other decorated wares. Brick scatters at two of thesites suggested that some homes were more substantial than others were.The archaeological evidence indicated that there was broad variation inthe economic circumstances of African-American farmers in these communities.Thus, these cooperatively organized communities were also clearly economicallystratified to some extent.
The transformation of the agricultural system in east central Indianacoincided with deteriorating race relations as the Civil War drew nearer.The migration of black farmers out of the settlements in Randolph Countymay have been motivated by decreased economic opportunities in farming ormarginalized social position as a result of the changing political climateor perhaps both.
Through these investigations, the social, political, and economic contextof farm life during the early to mid-19th century in east central Indianawas revealed. Three tentative conclusions were reached during this firstphase of research: 1) the communities operated with some degree of cooperation,2) stratification existed within and between these cultural groups, and3) these agricultural settlements were abandoned as a result of economicand political conditions.
Elizabeth Isichei, 1997. A History of African Societies to 1870.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York. x + 578 pp. Maps, tables,notes, bibliography, and index. $69.95 (cloth), $24.95 (paper).
This is a well-balanced work that reflects the current status of Africanhistorical studies. It is nuanced, and comprehensible, yet not at all simplisticin either its organization or content. Isichei presents what she calls "conversations"with differing versions of the African past, with her own voice prominentamong many others (p. 3).
The work is Africa-centered, with little mention of European explorers.The Boer history in South Africa, for example, gets much less space thandoes the Khoisan. It is also an inclusive history, discussing "stateless"peoples who have been little studied by historians, as well as the GreatStates and Big Men. In this effort, she draws heavily on ethnographic literature.
Her approach is fluid. Chronologically, the book is divided into threeperiods: prior to 1000 CE, up to the 16th century, and finally through ca.1870, although these dates are never absolute markers. Along the way Isicheidraws forth half a dozen themes to provide focus, while at the same timethe continent is subdivided into regions, although her definition of theseregions is not consistent throughout.
Prominent among the themes is an emphasis on the way environment hasshaped social, political, economic, and religious institutions. Droughtand fam-ine have been constants in African history and remain so. Of considerableinterest the treatment of the historic interaction between gatherer-hunter,pastoral and agricultural societies: the roles of craft producers, domesticslaves, and the gender division of production are discussed in relationto political and religious power structures.
Hans M. Zell and Cecile Lomer, 1997. The African Studies Companion:A Resource Guide and Directory. 2nd revised and expanded edition. HansZell Publishers, London. xi + 292 pp. Bibliography and index. $85.00 (cloth).
This reference volume provides annotated listings of major referencetools, including current bibliographies and continuing sources; journalsand magazines; major libraries; publishers with African studies lists; dealersand distributors of African studies materials; the major regional and internationalorganizations. Accordingly, it is an incredibly useful and important researchtool.
The volume is arranged in 11 sections, carefully broken into subsectionsaccording to geography and specialization. Section I brings together a largenumber of key reference tools, primarily in English, organized from a broadinternational perspective.
While at $85.00 the volume is perhaps an extravagance for an individualresearcher, it would make a useful addition to any institutional collection.
Philip J. Schwarz, 1996. Slave Laws in Virginia. Studies in the LegalHistory of the South. University of Georgia Press, Athens. xvi + 253pp. Bibliography and index $40.00 (cloth).
Schwarz explores how the interactions between "African Virginiansand European Virginians" (p. xiv) shaped the political and culturallandscape of the state and, in the process, helped to shape that state'slaws during the era of slavery. This is not comprehensive survey of Virginialaw during the slave regime, nor is it meant to be. It is, instead, a seriesof essays exploring how European Virginians set about the task of constructinga system of laws that would legitimize their domination of enslaved Africans.
Central to Schwarz's argument is the belief that, "it is usefulto analyze the intersection or interaction of the behavior of owners andof the enslaved" (p. 5). Law, in this sense represents a codificationof the day-to-day interactions of historical actors.
Schwarz focuses particularly on the ways the enslaved influenced lawmaking.He takes the position that Africans brought to America were not mere objectsto be acted upon, but arrived with their own norms and values, and thattheir humanity constantly asserted itself. African responses to captivityintruded upon, and helped to shape, the expectations of those who enslavedthem.
The interaction between masters and slaves gave rise to the "customary"laws of slavery, the informal rules of masters/slaves relations that alsoinfluenced relations among slaves. While these rules existed in the privatesphere, and were dependent upon specific circumstances and the personalitiesof those involved, both master and slave were still subject to the formallaws of Virginia.
In this public realm, legislators and judges were concerned with protectingproperty and slavery as an institution. Even so, the everyday exigenciesof managing the slave population resulted in laws conceived in responseto European perceptions of, and reactions to, enslaved Africans' behaviors.In effect, the slaves acted, and the masters reacted.
The focus on agency among both free and enslaved is this volume's strongestfeature. There is much here that might be used to inform archaeologicalanalysis of enslaved African-American populations, and not just those ofcolonial Virginia.
Wilma King, 1995. Stolen Childhood: Slave Youth in Nineteenth-CenturyAmerica. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, xxi + 253 pp. Illustrations,appendix, notes, bibliography, and notes. $27.95 (cloth).
Here King discusses enslaved children and youth (males under the ageof twentyone and females under the age of eighteen) as they lived in thefamily and community. These children engaged in work and play, receivedtemporal and spiritual education, experienced the traumas of slavery, andsought and gained freedom.
Documentation is drawn from a wide range of primary sources and the WPAslave narratives. It is worth noting that many of the former slaves interviewedin the 1930s had experienced slavery as children in the 1840s and 50s, providingdirect access to childhood under slavery.
King's essential argument is that slavery robbed African-American childrenof a childhood. Yet, free children on farms labored under the directionof patriarchal fathers, orphans and delinquents served under indenture,and children in factories and small shops were a source of cheap, unskilledlabor, as the notion of a sheltered and protected childhood was only justemerging among the middleclass in the early 19th century. In light of theseissues, perhaps the most innovative chapters in King's book are those dealingwith play, leisure, and education. Her analysis of play stresses its relationshipto reality as children observe and imitate procedures, ideals, and values.Much of King's discussion resonates with the small finds of domestic sitesthat are the material reflections of children in the archaeological record.
Call for Papers: National Identities is a new international/interdisciplinaryjournal that seeks to address identity as one of the principal forces thathas shaped history. Contact the U.S. editor: David Hooson, Geography Department,University of Calf., Berkeley, CA 9420 for more information.
Kentucky African-Americans in the Civil War: A Defining Moment in theQuest for Freedom was an exhibit at the 1997 state fair sponsored by theKentucky Heritage Council, the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission,and the Kentucky Humanities Council. The accompanying pamphlet includesarchaeological and historical essays by A-A A subscribers William H. Mulligan,Jr. and Kim A. McBride.
Caribbean Cultures Summer Program: Virginia Commonwealth University willbe conducting its 2-course (6 credits) Caribbean Cultures Program this July18-August 8. The team-taught program consists of "Peoples and Culturesof the Caribbean" and "Caribbean Perspectives on the African Diaspora".Principal instructors are Dan Mouer and Bernard Moitt. The course includeslectures, field trips, and cultural programs. Students will participatein a number of activities related to Crop Over (the Bajan carnival-equivalent)and Emancipation Day celebrations.
In addition, "Research Projects in Caribbean Arch-aeology and Ethnography"is offered for 3 credits. This course is designed for advanced undergraduateand post-grad students who wish to participate in Dr. Mouer's research inBarbados, or who would like his guidance in setting up individual or groupprojects dealing with culture history or popular culture in Barbados.
Fees for the 6-credit Caribbean Cultures program will be $2990, and $2445for the 3-credit research course, inclusive of airfare (round-trip fromWashington, DC), tuition, room, and all program costs. They do not includethe cost of meals or out-of-pocket incidental expenses. Tuition fees arethe same for in-state, out-of-state, graduate or postgraduate students.Arrangements can be made for transfer credit. For more information contactDan Mouer at dmouer@saturn.vcu.edubefore June 10, 1998.
Field School at Arrow Rock, Missouri: The Missouri Archaeological Society(MAS) and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) will hold a fieldschool May 20 to 31, 1998. See Tim Baumann's article in this issue of A-AA for more information about this 19th-century African American settlement.Students can enroll for a non-credit one-week session through the MAS orfor a two-week session for 3 credits through UTK. Contact Melody Galen ofthe MAS at (573) 882-3544 or by e-mail: archmg@showme.missouri.edu,or contact Tim Baumann at (423) 974-4408 or by e-mail: baumann@utkux.utcc.utk.edu, or you can visit our webpage: http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/ baumann/field/field.html.
The Southeastern Archaeological Conference 1998 will be held November11-14 in Greenville, South Carolina, at the Hyatt-Regency. Contact Ken Sassaman,conference coordinator at 803-725-1130 for more information.
Baker, T. Lindsay
1996 More than Just "Possum" n Taters: Texas-African Foodwaysin the WPA Slave Narratives. In Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-AmericanFolklore, edited by Francis E. Abernethy, Carolyn F. Satterwhite, PatrickB. Mullen, and Alan B. Govenar, pp.95-128. University of North Texas Press,Denton. Published in October 1997 despite the 1996 date.
Groover, Mark D., and Timothy E. Baumann
1996 "They Worked Their Own Remedy": African-American HerbalMedicine and the Archaeological Record. South Carolina Antiquities28(1&2):21-32.
Forthcoming:
Baker, T. Lindsay, and Julie P. Baker, editors
1998 The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives, University of OklahomaPress, Norman. March, $24.95 paper.
1998 Till Freedom Cried Out: Memories of Texas Slave Life. TexasA&M University Press, College Station. February, $29.95 cloth.