Anthropology

An Introduction to the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS)

Speakers:

Elizabeth Bollwerk, Ph.D. & Lynsey Bates, Ph.D.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello

The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) is a Web-based initiative designed to foster inter-site, comparative archaeological research on slavery throughout the Chesapeake, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean. The project’s goal is to help scholars from different disciplines use archaeological evidence to advance our historical understanding of the slave-based society that evolved in the Atlantic World during the colonial and ante-bellum periods.  This talk will provide an introduction to DAACS, outline our collaboration with the Historical Archaeology division of the Florida Museum of Natural History, and demonstrate how we are analyzing DAACS data to reconsider the role of Colonoware ceramics excavated from enslaved settlements in Virginia and the South Carolina.