Charles E. Orser

Archaeology and slave resistance and rebellion

The archaeology of New World slavery has exponentially expanded during the past two decades to become perhaps the most influential area within todays historical archaeology. As part of this research endeavour, archaeologists have examined many kinds of sites and have made diverse and important contributions to the literature. Sites associated with fugitive slaves have been studied, but not as frequently. We argue that the archaeology of slave resistance and rebellion should be a key element of New World slave archaeology, and we promote the excavation of runaway polities, or maroons, as excellent arenas for such a study. We present an example from Palmares in northeastern Brazil as part of this exploration.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PLANTATION SOCIETY: REPLACING STATUS AND CASTE WITH ECONOMICS AND POWER

The identification of artifacts and artifact groups that indicate class, status, and ethnic divisions in past societies has been, and rightly will continue to be, an important line of investigation for archaeologists. Studies of this kind are important in all archaeology, but this kind of research might be initiated best in historical archaeology because of the added social information provided in historical documents. Within historical archaeology, the plantation has been one kind of site where the investigation of the material associations of past social groups has been especially pertinent, and where such study is particularly illustrative of the problems encountered by archaeologists. Prominence may be given to plantation research if for no other reason than to demonstrate that distinctly different social groups are known to have lived and interacted on plantations. Of course, the most diverse social groups on plantations were planters and slaves. The obvious social differences between slaves and their masters have led some archaeologists to search for these distinctions in the archaeological deposits left by both groups. As the number of archaeologists interested in plantation research grows, and as this line of inquiry becomes more common, the findings made at plantations will assume a more prominent place in general archaeological theory. The purpose of this paper is to address the difficulties archaeologists have had analyzing the relations between plantation social groups by focusing on the recent research of Otto (1975, 1977, 1980, 1984) and Moore (1981, 1985). An alternative perspective on the plantation is offered, and a different method of analysis is illustrated. The subject of this paper is the antebellum plantation in the American South, but the ideas presented perhaps are applicable to all plantations in the New World.

Toward a global historical archaeology: An example from Brazil

Schuyler has recently argued that historical archaeologists can make their greatest contribution to knowledge by preparing “historic ethnographies,” detailed studies of specific communities. Even though Schuyler’s view has merit, no study of the modern world—including historical archaeology—can be truly complete without considering the many connections that were normally maintained by inhabitants of historical sites. Historical archaeology must be a global, broadly conceived field that looks beyond the site to the wider world. The runaway slave community of Palmares in Brazil illustrates this position.

Beneath the material surface of things: Commodities, artifacts, and slave plantations

Archaeologists understand that artifacts can be studied from many different perspectives. Among such analytical possibilities, viewing artifacts as commodities—objects produced for exchange within concrete social contexts—provides an excellent way for historical archaeologists to conceptualize the important roles material objects play in capitalist societies. This perspective accepts that artifacts have both economic and social lives. Within the historic period, slave plantations provide an excellent research universe in which to evaluate the applicability of the artifacts-as-commodities approach.

On plantations and patterns

South’s pattern concept has acquired prominence in archaeological research since its explanation in the late 1970s. Nowhere has this prominence been greater than in plantation archaeology. Unfortunately, the pattern concept is inappropriate for the analysis of plantation remains because its scope is too large and its perspective is mainly synchronic.

Plantation Status and Consumer Choice

In all of American history, the southern plantation stands alone as unique. Caused mainly by the presence of slaves before 1865, and tenancy after that date, this distinctiveness has intrigued scholars for many years. Although American archaeologists have been slower to study plantations, research on plantations has been growing recently (Fairbanks 1984; Orser 1984). Nonetheless, even though great strides have been made in illustrating the material culture used at plantations, fewer archaeologists have been willing to confront the more difficult problems associated with plantation social position, economic ranking, and consumer choice. These deficiencies are unfortunate because an understanding of these sociological questions is consistent with the goals of anthropological historical archaeology.In all of American history, the southern plantation stands alone as unique. Caused mainly by the presence of slaves before 1865, and tenancy after that date, this distinctiveness has intrigued scholars for many years. Although American archaeologists have been slower to study plantations, research on plantations has been growing recently (Fairbanks 1984; Orser 1984). Nonetheless, even though great strides have been made in illustrating the material culture used at plantations, fewer archaeologists have been willing to confront the more difficult problems associated with plantation social position, economic ranking, and consumer choice. These deficiencies are unfortunate because an understanding of these sociological questions is consistent with the goals of anthropological historical archaeology.

An Archaeology of Eurocentrism

Abstract The role of Europe and Europeans in the archaeology of post-1500 history has recently been critiqued. Some research has been pejoratively labeled Eurocentrism. This paper addresses the problems with adopting an emotional understanding of Eurocentrism and argues instead for its archaeological examination within the framework of an explicit multiscalar modern-world (historical) archaeology. An example comes from seventeenth-century Dutch settlements located in and around present-day Albany, New York.

Symbolic Violence and Landscape Pedagogy: An Illustration from the Irish Countryside

Archaeologists know that landscapes can provide powerful clues about past social interaction. Landscapes are never truly passive because they offer many socially relevant services to the individuals and social groups who inhabit them. Much of what landscapes do is symbolic. Pedagogy can constitute an important function of a landscape, particularly in the hierarchical societies investigated by historical archaeologists. The demesne constitutes an especially evocative pedagogic landscape in an Irish setting. A detailed examination of Coopershill demesne in County Sligo, Ireland, demonstrates the power of landscape pedagogy and the role of symbolic violence in helping to shape it.

Network Theory and the Archaeology of Modern History

In my book A Historical Archaeology of the Modern World (1996), I outlined a general approach intended to help forge a truly global historical archaeology. The gist of my argument was that after about A.D. 1500, conscious agents of colonialism, capitalism, Eurocentrism. and modernity created a series of complex, multidimensional links that served to tie together diverse peoples around the globe. My arguments were, in essence, that it was the interaction of these diverse peoples that created the many historical manifestations of the modern world, the world which we in fact now inhabit. Central to my argument was the idea that men and women, in the course of their daily lives, create and maintain the connections that precipitate both cultural change and cultural continuity over time. I argued then that historical archaeology, to have a truly significant place in today’s scholarship, should embrace the issue of global connections, providing empirical studies demonstrating the origin and earliest development of globalization,modernization, and colonialist expansion. I still believe in the essential validity of my general research program (Orser, 1998c), but having outlined the general approach, it is now appropriate to devise a concrete framework for conducting archaeological studies of the sort I advocate. Among the many approaches that might

Beneath the Surface of Tenement Life: The Dialectics of Race and Poverty during America's First Gilded Age

Life during the first Gilded Age in the United States (1865–1925) was a time of considerable social differentiation between rich and poor. Newly arrived immigrants with little money were often relegated to substandard housing in American cities. In this study, I argue that some nonwealthy immigrants were racialized as poor, and I investigate whether this racial categorization created homogeneity in housing and material culture. I use the Five Points district in New York City as my point of investigation, confining my analysis to the late 19th century. My findings are that both tenement housing and artifact possession were generally homogeneous when the analysis is performed at the societal scale.