An Archaeological Approach to the Tobacco Industry in Puerto Rico.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the early 20th century, agriculture was one of the most important industries in the economy of Puerto Rico. The production of crops such as sugar cane, coffee, tobacco and minor fruits (mostly plants like plantain, tubers, rice and corn). Traditionally, archaeological research in the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico has mainly focused on sugar cane and coffee production, while very little attention has been given to tobacco. This case study can be used as an example of a successful study of a generation of tobacco producers in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico; using oral history, population census and cadastre and property data. The combination of these sources is used to write narratives about who were these tobacco workers, household composition, gender roles, material culture, spatial distribution and the changes to land usage within a small farm.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Primary Sources and the Design of Research Projects

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25864