Clay, Culture, and Chains: Unearthing Underrepresented History through Pottery Production on St. Croix, USVI

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While scholars have long studied the pottery production of African peoples in the Caribbean during the colonial era, there has been minimal archaeological research on the ceramics used by enslaved African and African-descended peoples on St. Croix, USVI. This paper represents the culmination of thesis research to conclusively establish defining characteristics of Afro-Crucian ceramics during the Danish colonial era. With the ceramic assemblage excavated by the Estate Little Princess Archaeological Project Field School (2018-2023), I utilize a combination of LA-ICP-MS testing and macroscopic examinations to determine key components such as paste recipes, potential clay sources, and vessel types. This research is bolstered by a collaboration with St. Croix's Caribbean Earth Skills program to conduct an experimental project comparing contemporary locally-produced pottery with identified Afro-Crucian ceramic vessel types. Contextualized by participatory ethnographic research and archival records, this historical archaeological approach builds the capacity to recognize and memorialize the experiences and everyday contributions of Afro-Crucians whose persistence against the confines of slavery irrevocably shaped the development of St. Croix.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40041.0