Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Many practitioners of Plantation Archaeology embrace the tenets of Slow Archaeology including: long-term approaches to field, collections-based, documentary, or oral-historical research, social engagements with communities and fellow workers, critical reflections on power relations in the past and present, ethical considerations and consequences of their research, among other issues. Plantation archaeologists, however, have rarely framed their work as slow archaeology, and this session provides an opportunity to do so. Papers in this session examine issues of plantation research as slow archaeology. Some examples might include: long-term research at a particular plantation or plantation locality, engagement with a descendant community and/or other stakeholders, the slowness of documentary or oral-historical research, or the ethics and politics of connecting our research to regional and national discourses. Presenters are encouraged to consider both the benefits as well as some of the challenges and/or shortcomings of slow plantation archaeologies.