Plantations Without Pillars: Archaeology, Wealth, and Material Life at Bush Hill

Summary

"The results of archaeological investigations conducted at Bush Hill plantation (site 38AK660) by personnel with the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program are summarized in the following monograph. Bush Hill plantation is located near Upper Three Runs Creek in Aiken County, South Carolina on the Savannah River Site, a nuclear research facility operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Data recovery excavations were conducted at the site between 1996 and 1999 in response to the development of the Three Rivers Regional Landfill and Technology Center. Occupied between circa 1807 and 1920, the site, containing the archaeological remains of a planter’s dwelling and houselot, was owned by four generations of the George Bush lineal family. The enslaved residents of Bush Hill plantation raised livestock and produced numerous subsistence crops as well as cotton. To date, Bush Hill is the only antebellum plantation on the Savannah River Site, or in the surrounding middle Savannah River valley, that has been the subject of data recovery excavations. Consequently, the archaeology conducted at the site is significant because it provides important information regarding the material conditions experienced by a 19th-century planter family in the region."

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Aiken County

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina

Contributor(s): Dennis Ryan; Bruce Rippeteau; Jonathan Leader; Mark Brooks; Richard Brooks; Mark D. Groover; Elizabeth Scott; David Crass; Kenneth Sassaman; Monica Beck; Farrah Brown; Sally Brown; Christine Crabtree; Tammy Forehand; Chris Gillam; Mary M. Inkrot; George Lewis; Patrick Lowe; Judd Marrs; Bruce Penner; Keith Stephenson; Kristin Wilson; George Wingard; Kevin Eberhard; Adrienne DeBiase; Joey Smith; Jill Trefz; Patrick Brown; John Huffman; Larry Potter; Lois Potter; Dean Scott; Sam Smith; Charlie Tope; Shirley Hightower; Dennis Hendrix

Field Director(s): Melanie A. Cabak

Sponsor(s): Savannah River Operations Office, United States Department of Energy

Prepared By(s): Savannah River Archaeological Research Program, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina

Record Identifiers

Savannah River Archaeological Research Papers(s): 11

Notes

General Note: "A detailed case study of Bush Hill plantation, a prosperous plantation in Aiken County, South Carolina, was presented in this monograph. Several themes were explored in this research report. Foremost, this study critically evaluated stereotypes regarding material life among planters on southern plantations. Further, at the site level, archaeological investigations at Bush Hill examined the relationship between wealth and material culture within a lineal planter family. Archaeological data also provided insight into land use changes among the Bush family. A regionally based research design for plantation archaeology was also proposed in this study."