“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2023
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
Archaeological research of the post-Columbian era has been underway in the Caribbean since the earliest years of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This work has been influential to the study of the African Diaspora, but it has not always been inclusive. This symposium is an introduction to contemporary projects dedicated to reclaiming aspects of Black pasts in the Caribbean. Talks here will discuss archaeological field schools conducted in villages once occupied by enslaved Africans, community-engaged excavations with local Afro-Caribbean residents, digitized archival research conducted in former colonial capitals, and landscape surveys of surveillance. The focus of this symposium is the United States Virgin Islands (former Danish West Indies), but the goal is to reclaim aspects of Black folklife (folkeliv in Danish) through the archaeological investigation of documents, objects, and spaces created by African ancestors while interrogating the multifaceted, intersectional role of African diaspora research in the 21st century.
Other Keywords
Field School •
Community •
community archaeology •
St. Croix •
Environment •
Plantation •
Housing •
Plantations •
Black Studies •
African American
Geographic Keywords
Caribbean •
West Africa •
Americas •
St. Croix, USVI •
Caribbean, North America
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)
- Documents (7)
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An Archaeology of Redress: Freedom as Impossible Praxis (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Black studies critical theorizations have much to offer the field of archaeology both in theory and practice. For Saidiya Hartman (2008) redress entails confronting formations of epistemic violence that undergird the archival record; it is a praxis that is always incomplete....
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Archaeology with an Attentive Eye: African Americans, Archaeology, and Cultural Regeneration (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Archaeology in the United States is slowly undergoing a paradigmatic shift. While it is difficult to discern which direction the profession will take, ethical, demographic, and economic forces are moving archaeology into a space it has not previously occupied. Decades of...
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The Cape Verdean legacy on the West African Coast - A legacy told in maps, buildings, language, fabrics and art 1500-1800. (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Today the Cape Verde islands are an independent country with a distinct culture encapsulated in the Kruolu/Kriol language. In the colonial past this culture extended to regions of coastal West Africa through a trading network whose reach was beyond that of Afro-European...
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Exploring Anthropogenic Causes of St. Croix's Environmental Conditions (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In the 21st century St. Croix (of the U.S. Virgin Islands) is a difficult place to live. Present day Crucians, many of whom are descendants of enslaved Africans (who were brought to the island to work on sugar plantations), regularly endure droughts and lack access to...
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Plantation Laborer Housing at the Bethlehem Sugar Factory, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Sugar was manufactured at Estate Lower Bethlehem Old Works plantation from the mid-eighteenth century, soon after the Danish colony of St. Croix was founded, until the Central Factory closed in 1966. Throughout this period, plantation laborer housing was situated north of the...
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St. Croix Youth Archaeology Field School (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Archaeology programs make a difference in how citizens perceive their cultural heritage and science. Archaeology in the Community, in partnership with SBA has been facilitating a youth field school in St. Croix, USVI. This project has operated for 5 years with the intend of...
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Working With Under-Represented Archaeological Heritages of St Croix, USVI (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "“Folkeliv” and Black Folks’ Lives: Archaeology, History, and Contemporary Black Atlantic Communities", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This paper will present initial findings from fieldwork on St Croix as part of a Danish-funded, multi-year, heritage project that began in early 2020. When funded, this project was intended to work with the NPS, who have established projects on the island, to examine the...