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Dissertations and Theses by Andrew Wilkins

The potential of portable X-ray fluorescence analyzers for archaeological soil chemistry is evalu... more The potential of portable X-ray fluorescence analyzers for archaeological soil chemistry is evaluated. Specifically, measurements of total soil phosphorus levels taken with the portable XRF device are compared statistically and spatially with
measurements of available phosphorus levels determined by the control method, the Mehlich 1 extraction. The soil used in this study is from plowzone contexts of the Oval Site (ST92) at Stratford Hall Plantation, an undocumented eighteenth-century
farming complex that includes both domestic and work spaces for enslaved African- Americans and white employees. In addition to the test of portable XRF devices, this work applies the soil chemical data generated by that methodological experiment to
address specific questions about the site’s layout, function, and occupants.

The comparison of results from these methods shows that portable XRF analyzers have serious potential for successful application in archaeological soil chemistry. Moreover, several advantages of this new technology over traditional methods
include resilience to interference of modern fertilizers, ease of use, cost of analysis, and field portability. The application of soil phosphorus analysis to the Oval Site provides evidence about organic refuse deposition on site that is used to support and
clarify the identification of a barn and kitchen or slave quarter. Consideration of these structures, in addition to the remains of what appears to be an overseer’s house, allows for a discussion of the site’s significance as the physical context for the residential and work-related interaction between slaves and white employees on the eighteenth-century plantation landscape. The archaeology of ST92, including this soil chemical study, highlights the contrast between that past landscape and the modern reconstructed landscape at Stratford Hall Plantation, which obscures the histories of subordinate populations in favor of the memories and materials of the elite white plantation owners.

Papers by Andrew Wilkins

Society for Historical Archaeology, 2015

ed. They argued that much of what had been taken for natural or absolute were culturally relative... more ed. They argued that much of what had been taken for natural or absolute were culturally relative social constructions: “...there are no such things as purely spatial processes; there are only particular social processes operating over space” (Massey 1985:11). Rather than viewing spatial constructions and the built environment as purely particularistic or in broad cross-cultural generalizations, scholars since the 1980s have viewed the relationship between environment, however constructed, and human behavior as inexorably entangled and mutually influential (Gregory and Urry 1985; Sanders 1990:46). The post-processual critique in archaeology came to similar conclusions about

i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Laura and Gene Goley, the owners of the farm on which Wingo's is located, have ... more i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Laura and Gene Goley, the owners of the farm on which Wingo's is located, have kindly hosted excavations that have taken place for over a decade. I thank them for their generosity and enthusiasm for the work we have done.

Paper presented at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference January 7-11, 2015 Se... more Paper presented at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference January 7-11, 2015 Seattle, WA

Studies of plantation landscapes often focus either on the siting of mansions, quarters, and other structures across the planation at a large scale by the owner, or the attempts of the enslaved to exert control over the small-scale spaces of their own house-yards and quarters. This paper seeks to add to the consideration of how the examination and comparison of small-scale landscapes can add to a discussion of the creation and negotiation of racial and class-based boundaries on plantation contexts. Through a fine-grained spatial analysis of features, artifacts, and soil chemistry distributions, we reconstruct the micro-landscape of the Oval Site, a mid eighteenth-century overseer’s complex at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Through historical context and comparison of similar sites, our interpretation of the Oval Site leads to a greater than expected degree of socio-economic variation and mobility within the often narrowly conceived role of an overseer.

This paper explores the identification and interpretation of overseers in the archaeological reco... more This paper explores the identification and interpretation of overseers in the archaeological record of colonial and antebellum plantations. While plantation landscapes have traditionally been split into opposing conceptions of owner and slave, white and black; this study attempts to incorporate overseers and their spaces as the intersection of those landscapes, critical to the negotiation of race and power. Archaeological studies of overseers have been relatively limited and few attempts have been made since the 1970’s to reconsider how overseers can be identified and understood archaeologically. Past attempts to distinguish between overseers, poor whites, and slaves using artifact patterns revealed the need for a more contextual and comprehensive approach. Taking examples of overseer’s sites from archaeological excavations, reports, and historic maps this paper integrates social space theory to investigate how the layout of overseer’s quarters in relation to both slave’s and owner’s dwellings correlates with and informs the relationships between those groups and the roles of overseers in plantation society.

Slavery is and has been a key focus in the development and definition of human rights concepts. A... more Slavery is and has been a key focus in the development and definition of human rights concepts. As a component of the African diaspora, the study of new world slavery has also been a principle theme in the development of the field of historical archaeology. Despite this common ground the historical archaeology of the African diaspora, and slavery in particular, has not often been framed in the same terms and models as modern studies of human rights, nor do modern human rights studies in anthropology typically include an archaeological perspective. With the theme of this panel centered on discussion of holistic and collaborative approaches to disaster, displacement, and human rights studies, this paper seeks to broadly draw the historical, thematic, and even theoretical connections between the two fields currently separated by the boundaries of academic disciplines. In order to do so, I will first review impact the institution of slavery, and in particular the efforts to abolish the slave trade, had on the concept and practice of human rights, and then explore more recent impacts of human rights concepts on the study of slavery within the field of historical archaeology.

Saunders Point (18AN39) is a mid to late 18th century rural house site associated with a plantati... more Saunders Point (18AN39) is a mid to late 18th century rural house site associated with a plantation owner, located on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. As such, it offers a view of the zooarchaeological record at a specific time and place in Maryland that has not yet been
included in larger-scale contextual research. Furthermore, the site was excavated as part of a salvage project in the 1960’s, and the collection has received little attention since becoming part of the collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory. This paper uses faunal, ceramic, and documentary evidence to evaluate 18th century foodways at the Saunders Point site within a larger historical context, and evaluates how those practices played a roll in constructing the social relationships created and maintained by the site's occupants.

In circa 1640, John Mottrom was the first European colonist on Virginia’s Northern Neck, establis... more In circa 1640, John Mottrom was the first European colonist on Virginia’s Northern Neck, establishing his home in the area now known as Coan Hall in Northumberland County. In order to provide a context for that settlement as a part of the archaeological investigations of Coan Hall (44NB11) now underway, this paper investigates both the spatial and social environments in which Mottrom and his contemporaries would have found themselves. Through a digitization and analysis of topographic, archaeological, and historical data we reconstruct the settlement pattern and socio-economic circumstances of early colonial settlement in the area. This reconstruction serves as a context in which to interpret the archaeological findings at Coan Hall, illuminating how the historical processes of Native displacement, land acquisition, and labor importation shaped the settlement and community of early colonial Northumberland County.

This research tests the hypothesis that the relative proportion of soil phosphorus fractions in a... more This research tests the hypothesis that the relative proportion of soil phosphorus fractions in anthrosols changes over time, and that this change can be used to establish relative chronologies of archaeological deposits. In order to test the hypothesis, soils from a stratified historic deposit at Mount Vernon, the South Grove midden, were analyzed for total soil phosphorus using portable X-ray fluorescence. Those data are combined with available phosphorus data that has been previously generated, and the ratio of available phosphorus to total phosphorus plotted against the artifact- and document-derived temporal phases of the South Grove midden deposits. In addition to the methodological experiment, soil chemical levels of the layers are assessed in order to evaluate the continuity and change in the use of the midden over time.

Society for Historical Archaeology, 2015