Kitchen Space in the Wing of Offices at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

Summary

The Wing of Offices at Poplar Forest was excavated over the course of several years in the late 1980s and 1990s. Originally consisting of a kitchen, smokehouse, and possible laundry and storage spaces, subsequent owners of the property tore down the Wing and replaced it with two outbuildings. The re-analysis of kitchen related materials has demonstrated patterns of refuse disposal reflecting both the use of the space during Jefferson’s lifetime and the later occupation. Relationships to other spaces through ceramic crossmends, such as the lawn and agricultural gullies, highlight the movement of objects across Jefferson’s landscape as well as the movement soils in the process of physically altering or adding to that landscape. These kitchen artifacts also help elucidate how Hannah, Jefferson’s enslaved cook, experienced the space as she used the open hearth and the masonry stove to prepare meals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Boxed but not Forgotten (Again!): The Importance of Collections-Driven Research   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 802