From the Earth

Recent Article (with co-author Kelly Goldberg):

From the Earth: Spirituality, Medicine Vessels, and Consecrated Bowls as Responses to Slavery in the South Carolina Lowcountry.” The Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage. 2019

Abstract: 

People enslaved on the rice plantations of the South Carolina Lowcountry struggled to create community and to protect the health and well-being of themselves and their families.  Archaeological comparison of different forms of handbuilt, low-fired pottery from the Carolina Lowcountry with practices in West and Central Africa suggests captive workers were using the pottery as necessary receptacles for preparing herbal medicines and for making charms similar to those of the Bakongo in Central Africa.  African ethnographic evidence indicates that pottery is linked to conceptions of gender and power, and these ideas were likely incorporated in the ethnogenesis of the Gullah people of Carolina.   Historical records and archaeological research suggest the central part of the Cooper River may have been a figurative cross-roads for the enslaved people of the region.  Archaeological and ethnohistorical research of enslaved people of the Carolina Lowcountry is only beginning.   

Keywords: Colonoware pottery, Bakongo, Gullah, trans-Atlantic slavery, medicine vessels, Carolina Lowcountry, gender, power   

For a limited time, free downloads are available. To request a free download, contact me via the Contact button on the Main Menu of this website. For subscription information to the Journal, or to purchase a copy of the article, contact the publisher, Taylor and Francis, at the website below:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21619441.2019.1690843