Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Kenneth G Kelly

Abstract

Colonoware, a broad category of low-fired, handbuilt ceramics representing Native American, African American, and European traditions, is a tangible result of the interactions between Native Americans and African Americans in the South Carolina Lowcountry during the Colonial Period. The colonowares found in association with the Lord Ashley Settlement site (38DR83A), dating from 1674 to around 1685; and the pre-Drayton occupation, dating to the 1720s; and the John Drayton occupation, dating from 1738 to 1779 located at the Drayton Hall site (38CH225) provide an opportunity to explore the nature of the interactions between Native Americans and African Americans at these locations. Two broad types of colonoware have been found in association with each of these occupations. These include colonowares primarily associated with urban and plantation contexts occupied by enslaved African Americans and those primarily found in association with historic Native American sites. Creolization and stylistic approaches are used to interpret how a comparison of these colonowares contributes information about the interactions and social boundary construction, maintenance and shifts between Native Americans and African Americans at these occupations. This research reveals that the interactions between Native Americans and African Americans varied through the Colonial period and were shaped by trade, slavery, and warfare. Colonoware is found to reflect the way in which enslaved people enacted their agency by constructing and negotiating social boundaries through the emphasis and de-emphasis of Native American, African and European traditions and the creation of new traditions.

Rights

© 2011, Martha Brooke Brilliant

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