Reinterpreting a Nineteenth Century Dairy Agricultural Landscape

Summary

Site 44FX0543, located in the western Piedmont region of Fairfax County at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, has had a long debated function by archaeologists and historians. A problematic interpretation of the site function as an enslaved African American dwelling dating to an unknown temporal period of ownership was the result of misinterpretation of landscape, previous archaeological investigations, and the likely misinformation gained through second-hand oral histories of the parkland. The research conducted for this thesis meant to confirm or reject the previous interpretations pertaining to the function of the site. Background research, primary documentary sources, previous artifact assemblages, new artifact collections, and regional site comparisons synthesized to conclude that the building did not serve as an enslaved laborers dwelling. In addition, the thesis research presented here argues that the Machen family built the structure in the third quarter of the nineteenth century as a feeding house to support their growing dairy agricultural operation.

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