Date Awarded
Summer 2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Anthropology
Advisor
Michelle Lelièvre
Committee Member
Kathleen J. Bragdon
Committee Member
Martin D. Gallivan
Committee Member
Jennifer Kahn
Committee Member
Craig N. Cipolla
Abstract
This dissertation summarizes all research findings pertaining to 2017-2018 Archaeological Excavations at Camden Farm, Virginia. The goal of the project was to seek out a previously unexcavated Indigenous house site within the property’s “Post-Contact” (i.e.,1646 - ~1720 A.D.) Rappahannock Indian village in order to analyze structural morphology and the suite of artifact assemblages relating to domestic production, consumption, and exchange practices. Findings were compared to a previously excavated house site from the same village, in addition to similar domestic contexts dating between the “Late Woodland II” and “Contact” (A.D. 1200-1650) periods from the Virginia’s James River valley. The results of this comparison suggest that “Post-Contact” Rappahannock households re-negotiated fundamental political-economic relationships that defined elite and commoner class roles for the centuries. Moreover, archaeological evidence suggests that these re-negotiations appear to reflect mediation between long-term historical trajectories of the Rappahannock community and short-term life choices aimed at navigating Virginia’s 17th century colonial landscape. All of these historical developments would not have been possible if not for the work on one key, often-overlooked demographic group: Indigenous women.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-gsc1-p931
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Nieves, Josue Roberto, ""These Their Women Bear After Them, With Corne, Acorns, Morters, And All Bag And Baggage They Use:" An Archaeological History Of Indigenous Households Along The Rappahannock River, Virginia" (2021). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1627047828.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-gsc1-p931
