The Pickett’s Mill Farmstead: An Archaeology of the Inarticulate Whites

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists often use both archaeological data and historical records to assist in their reconstruction of the past. However, historical records are usually written by a small portion of the population and this written history is usually about themselves and not a representation of the whole. The inarticulate Whites are a group of European descent people that are not represented in written history. This is because the written history of the South is that of the Planter class and also because the inarticulate Whites passed down their histories and traditions orally. Unlike their plantation owning neighbors, they are typically land rich but cash poor farmers. In popular history, they are usually depicted as dirty, lazy, and uncultured. But the analyses of the material possessions of the inhabitants of the Pickett’s Mill farmstead in Paulding County, Georgia, paints a different picture. This paper will utilize this archaeological data to illuminate the lifestyle of its inhabitants as well as contribute to the fragmentary history of the inarticulate Whites of Upland Georgia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26075