Personal Adornment in the Context of Antebellum Slavery at Poplar Forest (1830-1858)

Author(s): Lori Lee

Year: 2013

Summary

Objects classified as personal adornment are often vested with meanings that reveal significant insight into their owners because they are personal. The context in which objects are used is critical to understanding potential meanings. This essay considers the recontextualization of personal adornment items, particularly glass beads, a pierced coin, and an alloy fastener, used by enslaved laborers at antebellum Poplar Forest plantation. The enslaved mobilized these forms of material culture in shared and idiosyncratic ways to gain varying degrees of control over elements of their daily lives, such as health, well-being, family life, and self-definition.

Cite this Record

Personal Adornment in the Context of Antebellum Slavery at Poplar Forest (1830-1858). Lori Lee. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428433)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 647