‘Stretching the Soup with a Little Water’: Improvisation at the African American Community of Timbuctoo, New Jersey

Summary

This paper delves into the work at the African American community of Timbuctoo, New Jersey. The community was founded circa 1825 and operated as a terminus along the underground railroad. From 2010-2011 a group of descendants, scholars, volunteers and Temple University archaeologists conducted Phase III excavations of the Davis site located within Timbuctoo. Once the home to William Davis (1836-1914) after its abandonment (circa 1930s) the 12x16 feet foundation was used as a community trash midden. The 15,000+ artifacts recovered from the Davis site date between 1870s-1940s and reflect a complicated narrative of life at Timbuctoo. Through contextualizing the documentary and archaeological records with the oral histories of the community this paper offers a multifaceted interpretation of individual practice at Timbuctoo. Specifically, this paper focuses on the confluence of epoch structures of race and class, and yet challenges this repressive narrative through a discourse of individual desire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Enslavement and the Black Diaspora   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-73,08