A Macrobotanical Analysis of a Root Cellar at the Belle Grove Enslaved Quarters

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This study explores the relationships between food choice and resistance at a 19th century plantation in the United States. In 2017, archaeologists excavated two features at the Belle Grove enslaved quarters in Middletown, Virginia— a root cellar and borrow pit that was filled in when a log cabin burned down. By using comparative collections, the preservation of the macrobotanicals has allowed for an in-depth analysis of the foods that enslaved individuals consumed and shows evidence of enslaved individuals participating in the socioeconomic landscape of the Shenandoah Valley. These data sets have also allowed for analysis of food preparation techniques and methods of procurement, providing evidence of ways that enslaved individuals navigated the power structures of the plantation system in the American South.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow