Patterns in Local and Global Coarse Earthenware Sources in the Early Colonial Chesapeake

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeological Imaginaries, Regional Realities: 50 Years of Work in the Chesapeake", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Locally produced, lead-glazed coarse earthenware ceramics are ubiquitous in archaeological assemblages from Chesapeake households. Between the 17th-19th centuries, ceramic industries in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Alexandria, and eastern Virginia thrived despite the popularity of imported European ceramics, and consumers of all types—enslaved, free, poor, and elite— sought locally-made coarse earthenware for food preparation, serving, and storage. Recent research has contextualized local coarse earthenware production and use in the 18th century using attribute and compositional data. We broaden this work by analyzing locally produced and imported sherds from four 17th century sites excavated at Flowerdew Hundred, a 1000-acre plantation tract located on the southside of the James River in Virginia. Comparing Flowerdew ceramics with data from 10 additional Chesapeake sites in the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS), highlights the differences in wares produced in eastern Virginia in the early 17th century with expanded production in urban areas in the 18th century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Archaeological Imaginaries, Regional Realities: 50 Years of Work in the Chesapeake

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow