Pit Cellars and Ethnic Identity in Tennessee.

Summary

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

Pit cellars are pits excavated into the ground that are found in association with historic structures and were typically used to store food or personal items. These pits are important to archaeologists for the information they provide about related buildings and the households that used them. Pit cellars were also regularly constructed by their users and offer a unique perspective to analyze identity. Many different ethnic groups used pit cellars in North America including Indigenous groups, African Americans, and Euro Americans. In Tennessee, excavations have uncovered a number of these features at a variety of locations dating from the late 17th to mid-20th centuries. This presentation discusses previously excavated pit cellars in the state and their use by different groups. The choices different ethnic groups made about their construction and use is examined to understand if they were a materialization of ethnic identity and boundary maintenance.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Pre-Recorded Video Presentation Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow