Conjuration in the American South: An Investigation into Conjure Bottles Recovered from St. Rosalie Plantation, Site 16PL107

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The Plantation in the Right-of-Way: Data Recovery at St. Rosalie Plantation, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

“Conjure bottles” are artifacts that relay aspects of a ritual practice born from the overlay of African and Indigenous cultures in North America. While some of these practices may be well understood anthropologically they rarely are reflected clearly in the archaeological record. In 2022-2023, Goodwin & Associates completed Phase II and III archaeological investigations of the St. Rosalie Plantation. During those investigations three bottles were recovered that are believed to represent conjure bottles. This paper will provide an introduction to conjure bottles as an African-American folk practice while providing context from St. Rosalie Plantation and other archaeological sites in North America.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Plantation in the Right-of-Way: Data Recovery at St. Rosalie Plantation, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow