A Chesapeake Family and their Slaves
A Study in Historical Archaeology

This book is a unique archaeological study of a British aristocratic family in eighteenth century Chesapeake.

Anne Elizabeth Yentsch (Author), Julie Hunter (Illustrated by)

9780521467308, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 May 1994

472 pages, 98 b/w illus. 18 maps 44 tables
24.8 x 17.5 x 2.4 cm, 0.965 kg

'… charts in great detail a revealing course through the colonial period of North America … weaves together folklore, historical documents and archaeology to produce a classic study about a time and place that we thought we knew, but only now are beginning to understand'. New Scientist

Analysing the material remains left by Maryland's colonists in the eighteenth century in conjunction with historical records and works of art, archaeologists have reconstructed the daily life of the aristocratic British family of the governor of Maryland. In this large household people from different cultures interacted, and English and West African lifestyles merged. Using this fascinating case-study, Anne Yentsch illustrates the way in which historical archaeology draws on different disciplines to interpret the past.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Permissions
Preface
Part I. Starting Points: Region, Town and Site: 1. Transforming space into place
2. Beginning the research
Part II. Ruling the Province: 3. On behalf of his lordship
4. Governor Benedict Leonard Calvert
Part II. Big Features and Topological Dimensions: 5. 'A house well built and with much strength'
6. Ordering nature: the Calvert orangery, garden and vista
Part IV. Mosaics Built From Little Artifacts: 7. Touches of Chinese elegance: pottery and porcelain
8. Social distinctions in daily food
Part V. Building Black Identities
9. The face of urban slavery
10. West African women, food and cultural values
Part VI. Artifacts In Motion: 11. Putting meat on the bones
12. Hunting, fishing, and market trading
Part VII. Time Markers and Social History: 13. Generations of change
14. Charisma and the symbolics of power
Part VIII. The Vitality Of Cultural Context: 15. Archaeology as anthropological history
16. Archaeology, a topical discourse
Bibliography
Endnotes
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD]