Lowcountry Urban Landscapes in the Greater British Caribbean

Summary

Archaeologists and architectural historians have long argued that Charleston’s Town Houses and urban landscapes were social stages for the Lowcountry’s gentry classes. But beyond their roles as socio-cultural theaters, cities and town played myriad economic, symbolic, and defensive roles in early modern colonial society. The challenge is understanding the intersection of these interpretive themes as realized through material cultural and the built environment.

To begin to formulate more complicated understandings of Greater Caribbean urban landscapes, this paper takes a wider view of Charleston’s urban landscape through a comparative dialogue with its contemporary British colonial towns in the region. By examining port towns such as St. George’s, Bermuda, and Bridgetown, Barbados within the frame of Charleston, scholars can come to be a deeper understanding of not only the varying roles of urban landscapes but also their material connections in the Greater Caribbean region. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond and Between the Plantation; The Archaeology of "Everything But" in the American Southeast   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 692