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Ceramic Technology As An Indicator of Acculturation in The Early Colonial Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

Thomas C. Loftfield  and
Michael S. Smith
Thomas C. Loftfield
Affiliation:
Department of AnthropologyUniversity of North Carolina at Wilmington, 28403, USA
Michael S. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 28403, USA
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Abstract

Typological and petrographic analyses of unglazed red earthenwares recovered from the archaeological site of Charles Towne on the Cape Fear in North Carolina reveal the presence of pottery imported from Barbados. These sherds suggest that a ceramic industry had developed in Barbados during the middle 17th century. Additional data reflect on the process of acculturation by which African (slave) potters working in Barbados created vessels of English design. A few sherds from Charles Towne suggest that in the absence of an established ceramic industry, African (slave) potters may have reverted to traditional methods of manufacture including coiling and open firing. This hypothesis is compared to data obtained in New England, Virginia, South Carolina, Jamaica, and Barbados to refine the concept of acculturation as evidenced in vernacular ceramic manufacture.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 352: Symposium – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology IV , 1995 , 579
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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References

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