The Most Inhospitable of Environments: Enslaved Life in the Rice Fields of the Santee Delta

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Wetlands" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Located between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Santee Delta is a unique wetland habitat characterized by tidal marshes and low-lying barrier islands. Situated between the North and South Santee Rivers, the delta is a critical stopping point for a number of migratory birds and is also a popular duck hunting destination. However, historically, it played an important role in the British Atlantic world as it was also the heart of rice culture in the colonies. Once a thriving industrial complex centered on the growth and processing of rice, this wetland environment was home to thousands of enslaved people whose labor and knowledge of rice cultivation enriched the white planter class that owned these lands. Though much of the above ground evidence for processing areas and settlements are gone, there is archaeological evidence of this industry and the people that built it. By using a multiple lines of evidence, this paper will show how people utilized this remote and inhospitable landscape and why we should care about it today.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology of Wetlands   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39322.0