Nineteenth century stoneware manufacturing at Pottersville, South Carolina: the discovery of a dragon kiln and the reinterpretation of a southern pottery tradition

The focus of this research project was the Pottersville kiln site (38ED011) located in Edgefield, South Carolina (circa 1810-1850 C.E.). That production center was founded by Abner Landrum and is renowned as a first place of the manufacture of alkaline-glazed stoneware vessels in the Americas. The founding ceramic entrepreneurs of the Pottersville kiln attempted to produce porcelain and other products during a period of limited trade interaction with China. The Pottersville proprietors drew upon ceramic knowledge rooted in generations of pottery production, the proceeds of earlier European industrial espionage in China, and failed European attempts to create products to mimic Chinese porcelain. Elemental analysis of the molecular composition of clays and ceramic product samples was conducted as a portion of this project. That elemental study indicates that Edgefield kilns were constructed in locations to take advantage of high-quality kaolin resources. The clay deposits discovered in South Carolina were similar in quality to those located adjacent to Chinese manufacturing centers and the Cornwall mines of England that were exploited by Staffordshire potters. The availability of such high quality clay was a factor influencing the difference between success and failure in the production of porcelain and related ceramic products. Clay quality was not the only factor that held a key to the successful production of porcelain. To transform clay into porcelain, molded objects were fired in a kiln to temperatures that exceeded 1,400 degrees Celsius. The Pottersville ceramic entrepreneurs constructed a kiln capable of being fired to high temperatures and based their design upon centuries of technological expertise. Based on earlier archaeological and documentary research, the typical kiln for production of alkaline-glazed stoneware in the American South during the late 1800s was known as a “groundhog” kiln. Such groundhog kilns were of modest size and were derived from earlier European kiln designs. In 2010-2012, I conducted archaeological investigations to study a number of Edgefield pottery centers and in particular to investigate the Pottersville kiln’s architectural features in attempt to understand 19th century kiln technology. Upon conclusion of a 2011 archaeological field school focused on the Pottersville kiln site, I found that the kiln displayed similar widths to a groundhog kiln. Astoundingly, though, the excavations revealed that the Pottersville kiln was 105 feet in length -- five times longer than a typical groundhog kiln. Field work at two related kilns in the area of the nineteenth-century, Edgefield pottery district, revealed that two members of Abner Landrum’s extended family also built and operated such larger-scale kilns in the antebellum period. To understand the unexpected scale of these production structures, the project focus was expanded to include potential architectural influences based upon non-European kiln designs, including the Chinese “dragon” kiln. The increased dimension of the Pottersville kiln, coupled with the results of regional, elemental analysis, led to a careful consideration of the ways in which enslaved laborers were deployed as a part of this rural, industrial enterprise. In China, porcelain production activities were of such an industrial scale as to support entire cities. Due to the immense scale of Chinese production centers employing multiple dragon kilns, entire communities participated in a full array of production process from mining clay through producing porcelain objects. At the Pottersville kiln, to ensure a dedicated, long-term work force, enslaved laborers were forced to participate in all facets of production. Those manufacturing steps included the chopping of fire wood, quarrying and preparation of clay, turning the vessels, and loading and unloading of the kiln. The deployment of enslaved labor for industrial means runs counter to the perceived notions slavery and industry in South Carolina. Entrepreneurs of the Pottersville kiln were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts to create porcelain; however, the site was the first full-scale ceramic operation in North America where a porcelain-like, alkaline glaze was developed and applied to stoneware vessels. Those stoneware vessels were made of high-quality kaolin clay and fired in these South Carolina kilns at temperatures of 1,200 degrees Celsius. Within the Edgefield district, ceramic history, technology, invention, and industrial slavery coalesced to produce a utilitarian vessel identifiable to this day throughout the American South. Due to these factors, the Pottersville kiln has been recognized as nationally significant based on historical and documentary evidence and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Supporting postpartum weight loss in women living in deprived communities:design implications for a randomised control trial

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is a life stage where excess weight gain may occur and the postpartum period is often characterised by weight retention. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the feasibility of undertaking a randomised controlled trial of a weight loss intervention (WeighWell) in postpartum women living in areas of social disadvantage. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study aimed to recruit 60 women who were not pregnant, 6-18 months postpartum with a BMI >25kg/m(2) living in areas of deprivation within Tayside, UK. Recruitment strategies focused on visits to community groups; writing directly to postpartum women living in areas of deprivation and primary care teams who covered the most deprived 15% of the population and advertising in community settings. The 12 week intervention used motivational interviewing techniques to promote an energy deficit diet and increased physical activity, delivered by 3 face to face consultations plus 3 structured telephone calls. RESULTS: Of 142 women screened, 63 were eligible and 52 (83%) were recruited and randomised to an intervention (n=29) or comparison group (n=23). Over the 12 week intervention, body weight changed significantly by −1.6 ± 2.0kg in the intervention group compared to +0.2 ± 2.2kg in the comparison group indicating the potential efficacy of the intervention. Loss to follow-up was 24% in the intervention group and 39% for the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the development of a definitive trial that embraces personalised recruitment strategies and the development of approaches to improve retention over a clinically relevant intervention period

Engineering online and in-person social networks to sustain physical activity: application of a conceptual model

BACKGROUND: High rates of physical inactivity compromise the health status of populations globally. Social networks have been shown to influence physical activity (PA), but little is known about how best to engineer social networks to sustain PA. To improve procedures for building networks that shape PA as a normative behavior, there is a need for more specific hypotheses about how social variables influence PA. There is also a need to integrate concepts from network science with ecological concepts that often guide the design of in-person and electronically-mediated interventions. Therefore, this paper: (1) proposes a conceptual model that integrates principles from network science and ecology across in-person and electronically-mediated intervention modes; and (2) illustrates the application of this model to the design and evaluation of a social network intervention for PA. METHODS/DESIGN: A conceptual model for engineering social networks was developed based on a scoping literature review of modifiable social influences on PA. The model guided the design of a cluster randomized controlled trial in which 308 sedentary adults were randomly assigned to three groups: WalkLink+: prompted and provided feedback on participants’ online and in-person social-network interactions to expand networks for PA, plus provided evidence-based online walking program and weekly walking tips; WalkLink: evidence-based online walking program and weekly tips only; Minimal Treatment Control: weekly tips only. The effects of these treatment conditions were assessed at baseline, post-program, and 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was accelerometer-measured PA. Secondary outcomes included objectively-measured aerobic fitness, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, and neighborhood walkability; and self-reported measures of the physical environment, social network environment, and social network interactions. The differential effects of the three treatment conditions on primary and secondary outcomes will be analyzed using general linear modeling (GLM), or generalized linear modeling if the assumptions for GLM cannot be met. DISCUSSION: Results will contribute to greater understanding of how to conceptualize and implement social networks to support long-term PA. Establishing social networks for PA across multiple life settings could contribute to cultural norms that sustain active living. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0114280