Historical Archaeology

 The subject of this weeks lesson was Historical Archaeology, the study of sites and cultures that post date the arrival of the Europeans in the New World after 1492.  This focuses on the impact that colonialism had on Indigenous populations as well as other peoples that migrated to the Americas.  There are three main themes to Historical Archaeology: Hidden History: Seeks to rectify an injustice by documenting the experiences of minority or subjugated populations whose lack of access to literacy often left their voices out of traditional historical texts. Correcting Inaccuracies: Seeks to set historical records of events straight in cases where the records may be biased. Reexamining History: Seeks to determine whether our explanations of the past, or whether national “stories” of how a nation came to be, are accurate or whether the story masks the processes that led to and propagate inequalities.
We discussed the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island, the only remaining colonial period plantation house with slave cabins and barn still standing in Florida.  Unlike other plantation owners, Kingsley allowed the slave to maintain their African culture without trying to Christianize them. There are even surviving ledgers documenting each of the slaves and where they came from in Africa.  There were several spiritual or supernatural findings at the site including blue beads, a buried farm tool, and an animal sacrifice. 

We also discussed the lost African-American cemeteries of Florida and those that are located in Bay County. These include the Balboa cemetery that is now covered by the Goodyear tire shop, and a possible cemetary located under the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly both located on 15th Street. We discussed Camp Amache , on of the best preserved of the 10 Japanese internment camps of WWII.  I found this one was interesting as my grandparents had a neighbor that forced into one of these camps.  I was too young to understand the impact that these camps had on our citizens that were forced into them.  We finished the discussion with the investigation sites of Chinese railroad workers from the late19th century. Nearly 12,000 Chinese were hired to build the railroad, and re-examining cultural items have given researches a new perspective on the everyday life of these people.  

The "Death's Head" style grave marker.  These always reminded me of something that you would have seen on a pirate flag. 

 

Remembering the Forgotten Chinese Railroad Workers

Peterson, V. (2019, Aug 22) Remembering the Forgotten Chinese Railroad Workers. https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/chinese-railroad-workers-utah/  

This article is about how archaeologists are helping modern descendants of Chinese railroad laborers commemorate their ancestors. It opens with a example of two Chinese brothers departing China to work for the railroad company: 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, only moving inches a day, many workers ending up injured or dead. 150 years later, the author has an opportunity to meet the decedent of these brothers, who is now a physician in California. In 2019, the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association held a 150th anniversary ceremony marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in Utah and remembering the estimated 15,000 Chinese men who built it.  

Due to racial prejudice, many of these workers have been erased from history and very few of them were even named in the railroad's payroll ledgers.  Archaeologist have been study the railroads work sites for over 50 years but it wasn't until 2012 that a concerted effort began to truly study these sites.  The findings are giving the descendants of these workers a sense of pride that their ancestors were part of one of the most important advancements and epic undertakings in American History.  

Secrets of a Brothel Privy

Goldfield, A. (2018, March 6) Secrets of a Brothel Privy. https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/archaeology-boston-north-end/ 

This article is about a site study of a 19th-century Boston brothel outhouse and how it can reveal clues about the past.  Archaeologist Jade Luiz has been piecing together artifact from the outhouse to reconstruct the lives of women who were sex workers in the mid-1800's. It appears that they were cleaning out the brothel and many of the items found were discarded to seal off the outhouse, so many of the artifacts are in amazing condition.  Among the discoveries were bone handle tooth brushes, perfume bottles, lotion and tooth-wash bottles other items that were used to maintain personal hygiene.

Other finding suggest that the food was better that one could expect from common boarding house.  Where these would have included cheap stews and roasts, this brother had cherries, peaches, pork, and chicken. It would not have been a tough decision for the woman of these times to choose a career as a sex worker, as these woman could make more money in one night that a factory worker would make in a week.  And considering the lack of OSHA at the times, you probably had just as much risk working in the factories than you would in the brothel.  

 

New research from ECU suggests Blackbeard ran the QAR aground on purpose

ECU News (2020, July 16) New research from ECU suggests Blackbeard ran the QAR aground on purpose. https://news.ecu.edu/2020/07/16/new-research-from-ecu-suggests-blackbeard-ran-the-qar-aground-on-purpose/ 

This article follows the study of the shipwreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, the flag ship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard.  Legend has always speculated that Blackbeard intentionally ran the Revenge aground on a sand bar near Beaufort, NC in 1718 but it was never proven why.  The study, being conducted archaeologists with the NC Department of History, has found that the ship had sustained major damage and some of the leaks had tried to be repaired with lead sheeting.  The findings align with legend that the ship was intentionally grounded.  These finding along with historical records suggest that Blackbeard actually acquired the Revenge after it had been repaired numerous times due to damage sustained during a privateer voyage in 1711-1712.  

This article weans a lot, since I grew up in this area of North Carolina and on the legends of Blackbeard.  We always heard that he grounded the Revenge to keep it out the hands of the British Navy, this adds an interesting twist that Blackbeard actually acquired a ship that was already badly damaged.  We grew up fishing this area and had fished on the wreck site not knowing it was the Revenge until it was discovered in 1996.  I was actually able to attend a viewing of some of the artifacts when they were first found, including one of the ships main anchors.