Estate Bellevue: A Study of a Small-Scale Caribbean Cotton Plantation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeologies of Enslavement" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This paper presents of findings from Estate Bellevue St. John, USVI, a small-scale cotton plantation.  Cotton estates represent a distinct but understudied variant within the Caribbean plantation landscape.  This study takes advantage of the well-preserved spatial layout at Estate Bellevue to explore details of life for both planter and the enslaved.  This study focuses on the recovery of information related to the scale and spatial patterning of 18th century cotton estates with a focus on cotton production and household-based evidence of craft production among the enslaved laborers, using taskscapes to identify the spaces and activities.  The project provides an important counterpoint to data generated from sugar estates.  In the process, it broadens our understanding of variation in the experiences of Africans and Europeans in the Caribbean and the broader Atlantic world.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Archaeologies of Enslavement

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 419