The Question of Anomalies in Slave Archaeology: Evidence from an Antebellum Industrial Site

Summary

This thesis asks how anomalies are to be approached within the larger paradigm of African-American archaeology through analysis of the Arcadia Mill Industrial Complex. The author compares historical and archaeological data from two possible slave components for functional similarities and differences. This is then considered alongside evidence from both plantation and non-traditional slave sites to determine what the most appropriate basis for material and theoretical comparison is. The author posits an occupation of the Mill Village by industrial slaves, while a domestic slave presence could be indicated at the Simpson Lot. The author recommends that archaeological analysis of non-plantation slave sites focus on the economic limitations experienced by inhabitants as indicative of social dynamics and power structures. This not only reflects the capitalist world system's effect on labor group relations, but the impact of agency on the negotiation of socioeconomic influence independent of variables like race, status, or ethnicity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions) 2017   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 104