The Use of Primary Sources in Plantation Archaeology: the Case Study of Hacienda La Esperanza.

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.

Research at Hacienda La Esperanza, a nineteenth century sugar plantation in the municipality of Manatí, Puerto Rico, was conducted to study the material culture of its enslaved population and document their unwritten experiences. The use of primary sources proved indispensable during the early research design stages of the project. First, 19th century property maps and court proceedings were used to select loci within the property that were later surveyed using ground penetrating radar. Results of the GPR study were crucial in the identification of a trash midden that served as the basis for the material culture analysis. Furthermore, population census and court proceedings also provided valuable information that aided in the interpretation of the artifacts and the experiences of the enslaved.

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): 26284