Interpreting the Shared Yard Spaces of a 19th Century Plantation: Kingsley Plantation, Jacksonville, Florida, 1814-1860

Summary

Kingsley Plantation, located on Fort George Island in Jacksonville, Florida, offers archaeological insight into the lives of enslaved Africans living in Florida. The site, owned for many years by Zephaniah Kingsley, a merchant and sometime slave trader, features an array of still-standing historical structures including an arc of tabby slave cabins. The most recent excavations at the plantation have been conducted through the University of Florida’s field school each summer since 2006. These efforts included complete excavation of the interiors of four slave cabins. In the 2012 and 2013 field seasons, excavations turned to an as yet unexamined element of the site: yards surrounding the cabins. Investigations of perimeters of cabins, units extending from front and rear doorways, and other nearby spaces provide new insight regarding the landscape. They afford exploration of a space that is both public and personal, revealing elements of the secular and the supernatural.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Theorizing African Diaspora Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-52,05