Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020
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.
Other Keywords
Plantation Archaeology •
Plantation •
Zooarchaeology •
Public Archaeology •
slow archaeology •
Collections •
Public Interpretation •
Taphonomy •
Slavery •
Plantations
Temporal Keywords
Nineteenth Century •
Early 19th Century •
Antebellum •
PLANTATION •
19th Century •
Eighteenth century •
Historic •
18th-19th century •
19th and 20th centuries •
18th and 19th century
Geographic Keywords
Coahuila (State / Territory) •
New Mexico (State / Territory) •
Oklahoma (State / Territory) •
Arizona (State / Territory) •
Texas (State / Territory) •
Sonora (State / Territory) •
United States of America (Country) •
Chihuahua (State / Territory) •
Nuevo Leon (State / Territory) •
Delaware (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)
- Documents (9)
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African-American Foodways at Early American Plantations: A Comparative Zooarchaeology of Monticello and Montpelier (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Several decades of zooarchaeological research at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier provide an opportunity to compare the food experiences of the enslaved communities at these Virginia Piedmont plantations. These observations are key to understanding the African-American roots of American cuisine. In this...
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Archaeology at Oatlands: The Past, Present and Future of Archaeology at an American Plantation (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Oatlands Plantation has been the subject of several archaeological excavations since 1975, ten years after the property was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Undertaken by a variety of investigators, each using their own set of methods to answer their own set of research questions, these archaeological...
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Bringing Black Chefs into the Lab: A Call for an Interdisciplinary Public Approach to Zooarchaeology (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Zooarchaeology has, historically, used approaches based in fast-science to study foodways. It can often fail to provide a comprehensive understanding of the foodways of enslaved peoples, however. This is because faunal analysis is often conducted and interpreted separately from studies of the knowledge and experience of the enslaved...
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The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery: A Case Study in Slow Archaeology (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In keeping with the theme of this session, we consider the juxtaposition of Slow Archaeology with “data-centric” research, and what gets lost in framing the two as oppositional. The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS, www.daacs.org) is a web-based initiative designed to foster comparative research on...
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Enriching the Narrative: Slow Archaeology and the Interpretation of Life at Kingsley Plantation (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Kingsley Plantation holds a pioneering place in African Diaspora archaeology as the site where plantation slavery was first intentionally examined. However, initial excavations in the 1960s and 1980s were limited in scope and resulted in few meaningful interpretations of plantation life. In 2006, a team from the University of...
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Making Time for Tea(wares): Slow Archaeology, Enslaved Life, and the Poetics of Consumption (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The study of enslaved people’s consumption practices often relies on ‘fast science,’ reducing these acts to a reflection of socioeconomic structures or a medium for agency and self-expression. What often gets lost is the effects these actions had. My paper builds on Édouard Glissant’s discussions of the ontological and ethical...
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Monticello's South Yard: A Case Study in Evaluating Time Averaged Deposits (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Between 1979 and 2016, Monticello’s Department of Archaeology conducted excavations in the South Wing, South Pavilion, and adjacent yard areas with diverse research goals, methods, and collection strategies. These spaces underwent significant modifications over the course of Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime. Several paths and roadways...
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Symbiosis of Fast and Slow Archaeology: A Retrospective Analysis of Historical Archaeology on the Georgia Coast (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Antebellum Georgia was the epicenter of an intertwined multiplicity of international and oftentimes antithetical narratives. On the Sea Islands, we see materialized shadows of the colonial Chesapeake, Igboland in West Africa, and British colonial sugar plantations. We see the effects of mature plantation systems that reciprocally...
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Uncovering and Interpreting Plantation Life through Long-Term Collaborative Efforts at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest (2020)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plantation Archaeology as Slow Archaeology" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Over the past three decades, archaeologists have engaged in a sustained research program to explore the history and archaeology of Poplar Forest plantation. This includes several long-term archaeological research projects which, over time, have provided new opportunities to partner with the local African American community. These...