Residue Analysis of Clay Tobacco Pipes from an Eighteenth-Century St. Eustatius Plantation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "NSF REU Site: Exploring Globalization through Archaeology 2019–2020 Session, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This study examines clay smoking pipes recovered from an eighteenth-century plantation sugar works (SE095) on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. The pipes are used to date the assemblage and gain a better understanding of acquisition, smoking, and discard practices of enslaved Africans who labored on the plantation. Results from residue analysis on pipe bowls gives insight into what people at the sugar works were smoking, confirming whether it was tobacco, a combination plants, or other substances being smoked in the pipes. The results of the preliminary study pooled with residue analysis provide a clearer picture of the site history for the sugar works as well as the day-to-day personal activities of the enslaved Africans who lived and labored on the plantation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• NSF REU Site: Exploring Globalization through Archaeology 2019–2020 Session, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33613