Laboring under an Illusion: Aligning Method and Theory in the Archaeology of Plantation Slavery

A rich body of thought—developed by archaeologists and others—points the way toward dynamic understandings of who humans are, yet archaeology struggles to be more than a handmaiden. Arguably, the problem is one of method rather than theory: what counts as data, how we archaeologists categorize things, and what our problems are. This paper examines labor relations in the early Virginia colony via locally made clay tobacco pipes. These artifacts, often treated as emblems of ethnic identity, are here used to understand a society in the process of transforming its pluralities into the categories that we take for granted

Where Tradition and Pragmatism Meet: African Diaspora Archaeology at the Crossroads

The trope of “tradition” dominates archaeological studies of the African diaspora. Much of the information archaeologists have about traditions on the African continent or in the early diaspora comes from historical documents and from ethnography. Here, the author argues that pragmatism provides a model for analysis that allows archaeology a degree of independence from these allied datasets. Archaeologists, like other social scientists, confront the problem of the relative importance of social learning (i.e., tradition) vs. structure as forces shaping cultural expression in the African diaspora. An analytical strategy inspired by pragmatism is here applied to beads recovered from Tidewater Chesapeake slave quarters occupied in the 18th and early 19th centuries in order to demonstrate that tradition is only part of the story

Community Engagement in Archaeology (Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology)

Pre-production proof of: Agbe-Davies A.S. (2014) Community Engagement in Archaeology. In: Smith C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. Online ISBN 978-1-4419-0465-

Introduction: Toward an Engaged Feminist Heritage Praxis

We advocate a feminist approach to archaeological heritage work in order to transform heritage practice and the production of archaeological knowledge. We use an engaged feminist standpoint and situate intersubjectivity and intersectionality as critical components of this practice. An engaged feminist approach to heritage work allows the discipline to consider women’s, men’s, and gender non-conforming persons’ positions in the field, to reveal their contributions, to develop critical pedagogical approaches, and to rethink forms of representation. Throughout, we emphasize the intellectual labor of women of color, queer and gender non-conforming persons, and early white feminists in archaeology

Up in smoke: Pipe -making, smoking, and Bacon\u27s Rebellion

Clay tobacco pipes made in the early colonial Chesapeake draw on traditions found in contemporary clay tobacco smoking pipes from Native America, Europe and Africa, yet they also exhibit a mix of material, formal, and decorative attributes that make them unique. A critical approach to classification provides answers for as yet unanswered questions concerning the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of these pipes. Can one recognize particular production styles and generate testable hypotheses about the connections between pipe-makers and pipe-users? Can we find evidence for exchange such that these pipes offer a window into early industry in the American colonies and the production of a commodity for the local economy? This dissertation analyzes the attributes of artifacts excavated from sites in a single county in Virginia from the second half of the 17th century. Here, the pipes are distinguished from one another based on decorative and technological criteria. These findings are used to demonstrate the extent to which locally made pipes were commodities whose distribution flowed along the social networks of major planters, politicians, and owners of labor. These networks are identified in the context of a brief uprising known as “Bacon\u27s Rebellion.” The social upheaval exemplified by this local event is linked to international, long-term trends such as shifts in colonial administrative policy in England, and the transition from indentured servitude to slavery. Unlike other aspects of the economy, the local pipe trade does not appear to have been dominated by provincial elites. The Virginia-made pipes are used to explore the nature of local social relations as well as the connections between this region and the rest of the Atlantic world

Up in smoke: Pipe -making, smoking, and Bacon\u27s Rebellion

Clay tobacco pipes made in the early colonial Chesapeake draw on traditions found in contemporary clay tobacco smoking pipes from Native America, Europe and Africa, yet they also exhibit a mix of material, formal, and decorative attributes that make them unique. A critical approach to classification provides answers for as yet unanswered questions concerning the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of these pipes. Can one recognize particular production styles and generate testable hypotheses about the connections between pipe-makers and pipe-users? Can we find evidence for exchange such that these pipes offer a window into early industry in the American colonies and the production of a commodity for the local economy? This dissertation analyzes the attributes of artifacts excavated from sites in a single county in Virginia from the second half of the 17th century. Here, the pipes are distinguished from one another based on decorative and technological criteria. These findings are used to demonstrate the extent to which locally made pipes were commodities whose distribution flowed along the social networks of major planters, politicians, and owners of labor. These networks are identified in the context of a brief uprising known as “Bacon\u27s Rebellion.” The social upheaval exemplified by this local event is linked to international, long-term trends such as shifts in colonial administrative policy in England, and the transition from indentured servitude to slavery. Unlike other aspects of the economy, the local pipe trade does not appear to have been dominated by provincial elites. The Virginia-made pipes are used to explore the nature of local social relations as well as the connections between this region and the rest of the Atlantic world