That Sherd with the Fingerprints: Altering Public Perceptions of Ceramics and Slavery in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Artifacts are More Than Enough: Recentering the Artifact in Historical Archaeology", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

One of the benefits of archaeology is our ability to use individual artifacts to tell complex narratives that alter how people view the past. For instance, local ceramic production in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley has long been seen by both scholars and the public as something inherently white, with white potters making pots for white families. This framing omits the lives and contributions of enslaved and free Black Shenandoahans, who together made up 25% of the region’s population. This paper discusses recent attempts to counter this narrative by highlighting a single artifact from an enslaved quartering site at Belle Grove Plantation—a sherd from a large crock or pan with three excellent preserved fingerprints left by its maker—using a combination of archaeological science techniques, historical research, and these fingerprints’ ability to capture the public’s imagination.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Artifacts are More Than Enough: Recentering the Artifact in Historical Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow