Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1987

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Anthropology

Major Professor

Charles H. Faulkner

Committee Members

Jefferson Chapman, Michael H. Logan

Abstract

This thesis is an archaeological study of two rice producing antebellum plantations that existed on the Waccamaw River in Georgetown County, South Carolina during the nineteenth century. Although many avenues of investigation attend this study, such as environment, history, and spatial organization, the main orientation lies in the identification and differentiation of socioeconomic status among the plantation inhabitants.

Within any complex society there are marked degrees of social stratification and differential access to material possessions. This thesis proposes that differential patterns among groups of specific artifacts, i.e., kitchen refuse, architectural remains, tobacco pipes, firearms, and animal remains, will reflect socioeconomic identities of plantation participants: administrators, managers, and laborers.

The archaeological information obtained from the plantations, primarily Richmond Hill, argues convincingly that patterns of socioeconomic status exist within a number of artifact categories, especially the kitchen refuse and architectural remains. The results of these findings are formulated into explicit hypotheses for future testing at other antebellum plantations.

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