Personal Practice: Adornment and Personal Goods from the St. Amelia Plantation (16SJ80), St. James Parish, Louisiana

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Research on Glass Beads and Ornaments in North America" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The material traces of those within certain spaces, such as the “Big Houses” of southern Louisiana’s plantations, are not restricted to the wealthy. Enslaved peoples, wage-laborers, and many others labored throughout the home. Here we utilize personal artifacts from Phase III data recovery excavations at the St. Amelia Plantation main house (16SJ80), in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Through an analysis of these personal goods, we integrate historical research to better understand the diversity and movement of people, enslaved, emancipated, and those among the family, within the house. We further contextualize and compare the presence of glass adornment items to similar historical archaeological sites within southern Louisiana. Drawing from ethnohistorical and archaeological data, it is possible to evaluate personal practices, from prayer to play, and personal adornment to politics, to better understand the many people who lived and worked throughout the plantation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Research on Glass Beads and Ornaments in North America   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35758.0